Here’s a broadly-applicable statement — 2022 was a mixed bag. It’s true of the books I read too. Going back to 2003 when I first started keeping up with this, I’ve used a 4-star rating system that is entirely subjective. Here’s a list of the books I read in 2022 and the rating I assigned to each.
Fiction
- Brandon Sanderson, Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archives), 3 stars
- Stephen King, Billy Summers, 3.5 stars
- Gillian Flynn, Dark Places, 3 stars
- Brandon Sanderson, Edgedancer, 3 stars
- Brandon Sanderson, The Alloy of Law (Mistborn), 3.5 stars
- Brandon Sanderson, Shadows of Self (Mistborn), 3.5 stars
- Bonnie Kistler, The Cage, 3 stars
- Brandon Sanderson, The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn), 3.5 stars
- Stephen King, The Outsider, 3 stars
- Peter Straub, If You Could See Me Now, 2.5 stars
- Stephen King, Elevation, 3.5 stars
- Stephen King, The Wind Through the Key Hole (The Dark Tower), 3.5 stars
- Michael Crichton, Dragon Teeth, 3.5 stars
- Brian Panowich, Like Lions, 3.5 stars
- Emily St. John Mandel, Sea of Tranquility, 3.5 stars
- James S. A. Corey, Leviathon Wakes (The Expanse), 4 stars
- Michael Crichton, Next, 3 stars
- John Scalzi, The Kaiju Preservation Society, 3.5 stars
- James S. A. Corey, Caliban’s War (The Expanse), 4 stars
- Martha Wells, All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries), 4 stars
- Martha Wells, Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries), 4 stars
- Martha Wells, Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries), 3.5 stars
Non-Fiction
- James Scott Bell, How to Write Dazzling Dialogue, 3 stars
- Matthew McConaughey, Greenlights, 3 stars
- Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers, 3 stars
- Dean Wesley Smith, How to Write a Novel in Half a Month, 2.5 stars
- Jon Krakauer, Under the Banner of Heaven, 3.5 stars
- Jennifer Hilt, Horror Trope Thesaurus, 3 stars
Books I Wrote
I also published three books in 2022. I’d be remiss not to include those in the list as well. I certainly read them (several times) before they entered the world. I will refrain from rating them though. That’s a bridge too far, even for me.
