Favourite Books of 2022 

I adore this channel. What a great way to start my day! Hope you have a wonderful reading year in 2023 💖

I just love BookTubers’ best of the Year book videos! Thank you!

Just discovered your channel this morning, Simon. I'm really going to enjoy watching all your videos and I'm going to be adding so many of your choices to my TBR list!

I look so forward to your list each year. Keep the good books coming. Happy 🎉New Year’s

Great to see you on cracking form, I hope you enjoy your reading in 2023. I'm on the same page about being excited to get on and leave 2022 behind. Happy New Year!!

Happy new year Simon. Has been great watching you this year, you always bring new titles to my attention. Xx

🌳 I am adding many of these books to my list to read, thank you for sharing. _The Island of Missing Trees_ was my fav book of 2022. Happy New Year, Simon! on we go...🌳

What a fabulous list, The Island of Missing Trees is on the top of my pile for January. Happy New Year to you, and happy reading. I would love to have more reviews like this, and more chats with Louise! 🐏🌴

Absolutely loved Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, the ending, the final sentence! Looking forward to the next one!

Love your passion for these books! Happy New Year! 🎉

Yes! I loved you and your mum's buddy reading the booker short list. Hoping you will again in '23 🤗

Happy New Year! My favourite for 2022 was also Island of Missing Trees. Thank you for introducing me to books by Elif Shafak. I've only read one other by her so far (10 mins 38seconds) and that was a previous year's favourite. I just adore her writing. I think I might try Blue Hour. Thank you for all the content you continue to bring us. It was your channel that got me back into, and excited about, reading again.

Great wrap up The island of missing trees was my top of 21 my top this year was lessons in chemistry! I loved violets and adore Elizabeth strout and have Lucy by the sea to read and I can’t wait! I have a few that you have that are on my TBR so I must read. Thank you for your continued joy of books happy new year 😊

Missing Trees was my #2 fave of the year; The Heart’s Invisible Furies edged it out of 1st by the tiniest of hairs. Glad to see it at the top of your list though. Great reading year!❤

These videos are also some of my favourites! Love hearing about your favourite reads of the year! (I’m also loving this editing style). This was quite a different reading year for me and while I enjoyed a lot of what I read, I only had a few stand out books: The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams; Dear Mrs Bird (and Yours Cheerfully), AJ Pearce; Rooted, Sarah Langford; and a couple of Dorothy Whipple books.

Wishing you every happiness and success in 2023, Simon. I've added The Marriage Portrait to my to read list. I enjoyed lots of books in the last year, but it's a series that I have decided to put at number one - The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. They are giving me the comfort and cosiness I have really needed.

🌲🌳Nothing has captured my heart this year in the new books, a lot of re reads for 2022. I'll be checking the hauls and lists for 2023 🌴☘️

your videos are such a delight! Happy new year, Simon :')

Not going to miss the opportunity to thank you again for recommending Violets 😊 I also thought HMRC was completely fab - here’s to a great year of reading ahead ! 😊

Thanks so much for this list, Simon. Loved Jess Kidd's The Hoarder - your recommendation, I think. HNY as everyone seems to be writing.

🎄 🐑 Happy New Year!! I hope your year is filled with 5⭐️ reads! Looking forward to watching and listening in 2023!!

Just finished Stone Blind - it was wonderful - loved her descriptions of Perseus😂. Also loved The Marriage Portrait, definitely one of my top 10 in 22. look forward to seeing you and your mum on lots of new adventures in 23!

I love how our favourite book was the same!! Love this!

The Island of Missing Tree was my favourite read last year too! Amazing book I loved it. Looking forward to The Marriage Portrait its on my list this year as I love Hamnet and I took love the way Maggie's writing it going :)

Happy New Year! Obsessed with this outfit💜 my favourite fiction book in 2022 was The Prophets by Robert Jones JR and my favourite non-fiction read was Wild Swans by Jung Chang 😊

Lucy by the Sea is the second book that I read this year and I also found myself thrilled by the mention of her other characters. Indeed, I'm now hoping to get to The Burgess Boys sooner rather than later. After that I haven't read any of the books mentioned here, but there are a fair few that I have on my shelves and I'm looking forward to even more now so thank you for that.

Happy New Year 🥳 Thank you sharing your favourites. I particularly appreciated your thoughts on Stone Blind, which I'm planning to try. I started Her Majesty's Royal Coven but it was during some health issues so I think the timing was wrong. I'm definitely going to pick it back up this year. I love your enthusiasm for Elif Shafak. I have a few of her books to read. I hope you have a great 2023 of reading 🌳🐑

What a fun video and I'm very enthusiastic about many of books mentioned. I must say you have such an engaging personality for this that even your comment section is the best! 😃 yay 2023 🎉🤸‍♀️🤸‍♂️🤸‍♂️. My reading '22 was a short 2 months but I read many v good books...faves were Piranesi & Hamnet & Memory Police...& am thrilled about a full year of reading! I do have Missing 🌲🌳🌴s on hold at library. Best wishes for super duper 23 , 🐑.

OMG! The Island of Missing Trees is my #1 read of the year as well! It was so rich, so poignant! I was entranced from the scream! Anyway, Happy New Year Simon! All the very best to you and your mum! I would love to see both do a reading blog of the same book and edit it into one video. Thanks for all your humour, I bloody love it! #numberonebooktuber 🌳🌲🌴🇨🇦❤️

Wonderful. Happy new year! Lessons in Chemistry for me, no contest.

Happy Newyear, Simon!

So thrilled that you have discovered the genius that is Elizabeth Strout. Right with you on historical fiction. In addition to the O’Farrell, my top reads of 2022 include The Whalebone Theatre, Trespasses and To Paradise, historical fiction all (although of course the Yanagihara is much more). Also big on backlists these days, more so in some cases than current releases. I have you to thank for Alex Hyde’s Violets and for The Night Ship and for much else. Happy New Year!! 🌴🐑

Thanks for all the great recommendations. I will definitely be picking up Fool of Death, Stone Blind and Her Majesty's Royal Coven.

Glad you loved I’m a Fan - I just picked up that edition as well, and very curious to get into it!

Happy New Year, Simon! As always, I got a lot out of this video - I’m always keen to hear about your favourites and why. I enjoyed Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo and Nancy Tucker’s The First Day of Spring this year. I haven’t gone through all the books I read to decide if they are *the* favourites, but they were memorable enough to come instantly to mind. 🌳 🐑

Am reading The Marriage Portrait at the moment and am lost in that world. Totally agree with you about Lapvona.

Happy new year Simon 🎉 🍾 🥂

Happy New Year, Simon! 🌳🐑

The Island of Missing Trees was in my top 10 of the year as well. I think about that book all of the time!

Thank you. Ran across this video of book reviews. Took out audio book of Island of Missing Trees- Loving it. Thanks for this recommendation.

🐑🌴 love your list! Just read 2 of them. I have some catching up to do 😅

Maybe that was the year that came to change your heart about ships in books, who knows? 😅 Glad to see Akwaeke Emezi on your list, I absolutely enjoyed Freshwater. Happy new year, Simon 😊

I luv you going on about the wonderful Elizabeth Strout !! 😄 I’ve read all the Lucy Barton books, apart from the last one; which I’m ‘saving’ for the moment to savour, after I’ve finished some library books 📚 😌

Your shirt is very nice looking. Lovely color on you. I am interested in the Elizabeth Strout books because I loved Olive Kitteridge. Glad to see Stone Blind, Lapvona, and A Marriage Portrait as favorites as they are already on my shelves, but as soon as I allow myself a purchase Her Majesty's Royal Coven sounds like one I want in my life.

Hi, I really enjoyed The Island of Missing Trees, I also loved Her Majesties Royal Coven, my daughters loved this too and we are going to buddy read the next book that follows on from this, which I am really excited for. This is such a good list of some fantastic books. Thank you🐑🌲xx

🥕Love to see your top books of the year and so happy to see so many of my favourites authors on the list. Loved Elif and have so many of her books earlier books still to read. Love Lucy Barton books but I did start with Olive and she got me hooked on Elizabeth Strouts writing...which is so exquisite in my humble opinion. And also love that you have discovered Damon Galgut, I have read everything since I was bought the Booker short list in 2003. But saying all that, did find some new authors in your review which is fab! 🥕

🌲 ❤️ loved Violets and only picked it up through your recommendation so thanks.

So glad you mentioned the mosquito! I was telling my boyfriend about it and he thought I was bonkers. My fave book of the year too. Blew me away🌲

Fab list. Must get to some more of these ❤ Also, now I know why you were so remote in Wales 😂😂😂😂 JOKING 😂😂😂❤❤❤ 35:40

Thank you Simon for adding another four books to my TBR list. 😂 Totally agree with your #1 choice, I am not too sure about # 2. Just finished Lapvona and I am still trying to decide if I enjoyed it or not. Another highlight this year was Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt. I love how she tackled some very dark subjects. Let’s hope this year will be as good as 2022!!

Yes Lapvona is so great!! 🎉🎉🎉

I have not read The Night Ship, but I loved Jess Kidd's Things In Jars. I have not read The Marriage Portrait but I loved both Hamnet and The Hand That First Held Mine. I sense a theme. Happy New Year! 🐑🐑🐑

🌲One of my favourite books last year was Greenwood by Michael Christie. As a western Canadian it really spoke to me. The trees were almost a character themselves.

Such a fab 15! I also loved Lapvona, it was just brilliant! Like my favourite book of the year - Where I end by Sophie White, it really pushed my (already pretty broad!) boundaries. My number two was Intimacies by Lucy Caldwell which is a collection of short stories, her writing about human emotions is sublime. I'm defo going to read Blue Hour after hearing your recommendation🐑🌴

Great list! You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty is on my tbr soon! Adding Stone Blind to my list now too. I've had a copy of Her Majesty's Royal Coven for ages and still need to pick it up! Beautiful to see Shafak as your top - didn't click with this one as much as others, but her writing is incredible!! My top book was Open Water :)

Your author spotlight videos are fantastic- please do not hesitate to put out any for authors you love.

I've read Olive Kitteridge and it's great - think you'll enjoy it. I need to read more Elizabeth Strout! Her majesty's royal coven is on hold for me at the library. Listening to stone blind on audible at the moment 😊 I'd love to see more back list books next year, I like hearing about books that are older as well 👍🏻 Happy New year lovely x 🌳🐑

I can't wait to read The Marriage Portrait. It looks like it will check off all the boxes for me

Interesting what you say about boat books and seasickness, I'm currently (and finally) reading Life Of Pi, and I can feel the nausea of constant movement in the teeth of the waves!

being here in korea, it's embarrassing to admit that i haven't read #5.. will need to get to it! what an incredible year of reading for you! happy new year ✨🥂

What a great video! Did you realize you had two books called Violets in your top 10? I can’t wait to read some of these. I was surprised that I haven’t read a single one of your faves!

Great list Simon. Lucy By the Sea and Limberlost, made my top reads of the year. I seemed to be drawn more to audiobooks this year and both were brilliant on audiobook. I wish I'd read Stone Blind from the page because the audiobook narration didn't work for me. The Promise was a great book, an important book to read, just didn't make my top ten. Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz was my top favourite. I read it from the page and it was so unexpected I loved it to bits. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver was another audiobook that I thought was brilliantly done and I enjoyed it immensely. The Island of the Missing Trees is a great book, a favourite of mine from last year, it's the only one of all the books mentioned that is a keeper on my shelves. Although I might pick up Limberlost and Lucy by the Sea and Here Goes Nothing - at a later date. Happy Reading in 2023 🌳

I was wondering if Missing Trees would remain your number 1, as you predicted when you read it! I loved this book. Was a highlight read of my year, too!

My favorite read was How to Lose the Time War. Such an amazing little book. A close second was the first 3 novellas in the Murderbot Diaries…they were so compelling ! 🌳

i adored lapvona too, incredible book. your 'Simon catnip spectrum' made me laugh because that's me as well, was actually thinking of lapvona for the 'dark/twisted/messy' side before you mentioned it! lanny by max porter and nettle & bone by T kingfisher would fit for the opposite side of 'haunting but hopeful' i think ☺️

The Island of Missing Trees was my favourite book of 2021. I love her writing. My No 2 this year was her novel Honour and was pushed out of the top spot by A Woman is no Man by Etaf Rum. I hear she has a new book coming out this year, so can't wait for that. Loved Violets by Alex Hyde and Still Life by Sarah Winman too!

The Marriage Portrait is on my list but not yet on my shelves. Sarah Dunant wrote The Birth of Venus and Blood and Beauty, both set in Italy in the late 1400s into the 1500s. Beautiful writing!!

🌴🐑 one of my favorite books of the year was Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer. Happy New Year!

Delighted to see Jess Kidd on your list! Unfortunately, The Night Ship was my most disappointing read of 2022. I absolutely loved her other 3 adult novels and The Night Ship was my most anticipated release.. but I just could not get on with it. I’m not sure if it was the dual timeline (never a fan of those) or what, but I DNF’d at 40%. 😢 Added a handful from your list to my TBR! Happy new year! 🎆

Hi Simon loved hmrc and amari which is middle grade also enjoyed other Juno Dawson books each so different from the other xx

Happy New Year! May it be everything you've hoped and more!

Karamazovs Brothers by Dostoyevski was a big thing for me last year. I love everything by E.Strout, especially love her Olive Kitteridge. Lucy I’ve read only the first one and I was happy to discover how many sequences of Lucy’s story there were.

I’ve got The Night Ship from my library and I’m really excited to read it! The Island of Missing Trees is one I’ve been interested in too so this is the push I need to finally pick it up. 🌴 Hoping this is the year I finally read some Natalie Haynes too because I think I’ll really love her books.

Happy New year, Simon. Yes, loved The Promise. very unusual I thought. Oh yes, Violets was excellent. I haven't been able to read Lapvona because of that cover. I enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry very much and The Sentence. Okay - tell me honestly how often do you feel tempted to slap that bottom on the shelf behind you? I think it looks really slappable. 🌳🌳🌳

I adored the Island of Missing Trees too. I’m a little biased because I have Greek Cypriot heritage and family who were impacted by the war and lost their homes, but I think regardless of that connection, it was so beautifully and cleverly written and I loved how the Fig Tree becomes a character and you learn about the Cypriot land that was being fought over in a real literal way. My dad is obsessed with his own fig tree in london so that definitely chimed with me too!

Ok, now I wanna hear everything about this boat book fear 😂 Moby Dick? Alone (Chaboute)? The old man and the sea? This could be an interesting video!

We do share our top book with 'The Island of Missing Trees', simply superb. My other 2 in my top 3 this year were 'Tender is the Flesh' and 'Earthlings '. Good stuff.🐏🐑🌲🌳🌴🌵

The “Island of Missing Trees” was a great story🌲🌴🌳

I didn't love Limberlost, despite Robbie Arnott's beautiful writing. It just felt to me like it had been done before. Of the 6 from your list that I have read, only The Marriage Portrait is in my top 10. It's interesting to see how often Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the Wonder and Violets are turning up on the top lists this year. I shall add them to my already growing list for the coming year. Happy 2023 to you!

Violets sounds amazing

Thank you Simon I have read some great books in 2022 V favourites were Sacred Country -Rose Tremain - The Wild Silence - Raynor Wynn - Dear Reader - Cathy Renzenbrink - and the fabulous Alison by Lizzy Stewart 🐑🌳

I definitely think Ethan Frome is worth a read. I'm due for a re-read since the last time I cracked it open was maybe 5 years ago. But it was perfect for winter...definitely sullen and reflective.

Also Happy New Year 🎊

It’s still my No 1 favourite too 🌳 😊

I loved The Disappearing Spoon, Doc, Horse, and just now Demon Copperhead (this will be a classic.)

Oh My GOD! I just finished Blue Hour last week...LOVED IT. You are right, it's potentially triggering for some people but she is a gothic writer and she is fearless. It's interesting though, I didn't get a sense of place. It didn't feel like Australia to me.

What a list! Need to get on the Juno Dawson hype. Have just ordered You Make a Fool of Death With Your Beauty. With Elizabeth Strout, do you need to have read them in order, or are they just loosely linked together but you can read as standalone? Can't work it out haha.

Still Klara and the Sun at number 1 for me, honorable mentions Hamnet, Lucy By The Sea and old books by O.Douglas.🌲🐑

I know I’m 2 weeks late anddddd you get a sh**ton of book recommendations, but nature and human nature = Bewilderment IMO covers both exceptionally & relevant to the present time. If you’ve not read, ofc. In TØP 3 of 2022 for my reads.

Yup! We don’t want anyone being stingy with book recommendations! 😅🎉

Definitely wouldn't want to live in Lapvona lol, or eat the grapes!! Missing Trees was beautiful. I have just discovered Larissa Bedrendt, amazing books covering Aboriginal history through a family saga style are great

🌳 My top five books this year were: Lessons in Chemistry, Violets (Alex Hyde), The Dance Tree, Lily (Rose Tremain) and The Promise. I blinking loved Her Majesty's Royal Coven too. I enjoyed Stone Blind but it didn't make my top books as I felt like I was being told what to think about the characters. 🐑

💜📚💜

Also very interested in Damon Galgut's The Promise, not long read Wide Sargasso Sea and it sounds like similar stories of family decline and race relations. Sounds like I'd need a clue or two though!

“This year? It’s gone.” LOL

Just wondering if you've ever read any novels by Ruth Rendell? I've read tons of books but I still reckon her early novels are among the best crime stories ever written. I'm currently reading Make Death Love Me.

Yes! The Island of Missing Trees. Absolutely. The other book that is top of my list is Kate Atkinson's "Shrines of Gaiety". Kate Atkinson is a hit and miss for me (no offense Kate Atkinson). This was brilliant. Re blacklists: My best wasJohn Boyne's "Next of Kin".

🌳

Also dying at '202020' hahahaha 🐑

Uh oh, 3 books on your list I didn’t love 😬 I do really want to read both Violets though!!