My Favorite Ten Books of 2022

I read so many books over the course of a year and enjoy most of them, but here are ten of my favorites from 2022. (Looking back over everything I've read this year and what still jumps out at me as memorable, it is evident my favorite genre is historical fiction!) If you haven't read these books yet, consider checking them out!

 

 Once Upon a Wardrobe - Patti Callahan - I read Becoming Mrs. Lewis a couple years ago and loved it. That book focused on the woman who ultimately married C.S. Lewis. When I saw Once Upon a Wardrobe advertised, I knew I had to read it. This was such a lovely story! In 1850, George Devonshire is an 8-year-old boy who is dying of a bad heart. He is obsessed with the story of Narnia and begs his older sister Megs, a student at Oxford, to find C.S. Lewis and ask him where the story came from. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about C.S. Lewis or the Narnia books.

A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order - Judith Flanders - Despite its title, this book is not only about alphabetical order (although that subject does come up often and the author gets points for arranging the chapters in alphabetical order). Instead, it is an interesting history of how information and things have been organized in the world. For example, she discusses how the Bible first came to be divided into chapters, how individuals came up with ways to find information in reference works. how clocks were created to order time, how double-entry bookkeeping was developed to organize business transactions, the development of encyclopedias, the creation of library book catalogs, how systems were put in place to organize paperwork in offices, and the creation of the phone book. In the final chapter, she discusses how societies who do not use an alphabet-based language organize their information. This book invited me to think about the development of systems of organization that I have often taken for granted.

 

Her Hidden Genius - Marie Benedict - This is a fascinating fictional portrayal of Dr. Rosalind Franklin, a pioneering scientist who worked to unearth the secrets of DNA in the 1950s. Benedict skillfully examines Franklin's challenges in working in a man's world as well as her devotion to scientific discovery no matter the cost.

 

The Kitchen Front - Jennifer Ryan - This was such an enjoyable leisure work of women's fiction! It's the midst of World War II and food rations are sharply limiting culinary options. This story is about four women vying to be the next host of "The Kitchen Front", a radio show designed to help home cooks with recipes and cooking ideas. Their lives intersect in surprising ways over the course of the contest.

 

Awaken My Heart Prayer Journal - Emily Wilson Hussem - Hussem offers journaling prompts on a variety of important topics. These are not superficial questions, but rather queries that will have you digging deep into your spiritual life. Some of your answers may surprise you. Some of them will no doubt make you feel a bit uncomfortable as you probe painful parts of your past or face the ways that you may be coming up short in your love of God and neighbor. Others may inspire you to keep going when you feel like giving up. At all times, readers are prompted to invite Jesus into their lives, into their reflections, and into their futures.

Laura's Shadow - Allison Pittman - This book is "Little House" fan fiction, but it was a delight to read. Pittman takes a minor character in These Happy Golden Years and creates a story about her and the animosity she held toward the famous author. Mariah was one of Laura's teenage students whom Laura Ingalls Wilder portrayed as Martha in her book. In real life, Mariah was jealous of Laura because Cap Garland was in love with her and Mariah was in love with Cap. When Mariah is on her deathbed in the 1970s, she finally shares her story with her great-granddaughter Trixie. I really enjoyed this book. Even though I was reading it for work, I didn't want to put it down. (Read for a book review publication).

 

The Other Alcott - Elise Hooper - This novel is based on the life May Alcott, the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott of Little Women fame and the prototype for the character of Amy in that famous book. I really knew nothing about May Alcott before reading this and while much is fictionalized, I learned more about the Alcott family. I also greatly enjoyed the story about a young woman striving to be an artist in a man's world. Shortly before her death, May Alcott wrote Studying Art Abroad, and How to Do It Cheaply to help other young women with similar ambitions. 

What Would Monica Do? - Patti Maguire Armstrong and Roxane Beauclair Salomen - St. Monica prayed for his son's Augustine's conversion for 17 years. He ultimately became a great saint, offering hope for all who pray for family members who have left the Catholic faith. This new book is a must-read for anyone praying for someone to return to the Church. It offers hope and consolation. 

The Joy of the Snow - Elizabeth Goudge - A few people have recommended Elizabeth Goudge's novels to me, and I have tried a couple. They were fine, but perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind and didn't really get into them. But when I looked her up online, I saw that she had written an autobiography and that looked interesting. She lived from 1900 - 1984. This book was written in 1974. It is a truly lovely book tracing her life in England, her relationship with God (She was Anglican and her father was a priest), and her life as a writer which she describes with great humility. She seems like a kindred spirit to me (I'd be willing to bet she was a fellow INFJ on the Myers-Briggs personality test), and I enjoyed this book a great deal. 

 

11/27/22 Marmee: A Novel of Little Women - Sarah Miller - I absolutely LOVED this book! I savored every page. It is a retelling of Little Women from Marmee's perspective and follows the original story with a few minor exceptions. It is written in journal format with Marmee recording her life. Miller does a wonderful job of exploring Marmee's character and fleshing out her personality. 

And a Bonus Christmas book!

Christmas Bells - Jennifer Chiaverini - I always enjoy Chiaverini's books. This one is from 2015, but I had never read it. It was a great Christmas story featuring a dual-timeline story - one about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the midst of the Civil War who wrote the poem "Christmas Bells" which was later put to music; the other features various characters facing their own challenges in a modern timeline. As a bonus, it has a whole collection of Catholic characters in the modern story (the author is Catholic). 

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