I ended 2022 with 53 completed books, a handful of ‘did not finish’ and no audiobooks, I did give The Boys a try on audio but ran out of time and enthusiasm. They first 2 chapters were good.
This year I read no books that I considered a 10, although one was close. I rate on an unbalanced scale of 0-10 for fiction:
- 10 - Engaging story, good flow, relatable characters, superior writing and impactful.
- 9 - Similar to a 10 but not the complete package. Missing at least one component or cohesion.
- 8 - Above average. Something consistent in story, characters or writing stands out.
- 7 - A good, enjoyable read. Most books without real flaws land here.
- 6 - Has a deficiency in characters, writing or a flawed or inconsistent storylike. It could also be part of a series that is floundering or a book that is twice as long as it should be.
- 5 and 4 - Bad books. Something is wrong with the book or the author. The most typical culprit here is book that proclaims to be one thing, but in reality is something else. A book can also land here if there is another similar book in timing and topic that is vastly superior by comparison.
- 3 and under - These should have been ‘did not finish’ but I was too slow to realize it.
- ‘did not finish’ - Books get disgarded for 2 reasons:
- For some reason it’s a bad book for me and is dropped never to be picked up again.
- The book and I did not meet at the right time and may get read at a different time later on.
Nonfiction rates on the same scale with adjustments for story and characters. The last book I rated a 10 was nonfiction - Educated by Tara Westover which I read in Nov 2020. If you need something to read today read Educated.
Since I started recording my reads in 2001 I only found 9 books worthy of a 10.
Four books of 53 scored a 9 this year, and I give unreserved recommendations to 3 of them:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towels. This was my best book of the year. Beautifully written from beginning to end, Gentleman brought me along with Count through his life, not as an observer.
The Fisherman by John Langan. It’s rare to come across a story as original as this one. When I finished Fisherman I could not think of a similar book. The uniqueness of this story combined with excellent writing and an emotionally relatable protagonist made this a great read. Although this book is sometimes characterized as horror, I found it more of a dark retelling of a legend.
Fairy Tale by Stephen King. This book was almost a 10. Although flawed, Stephen King can write. Fairy Tale had some dark themes but was much more 11/22/63 than ‘Salem’s Lot. This story had perfect peaks and valleys and such a great pace that was a joy to read and felt like a book of half the length. For a Stephen King book it also had a pretty satisfing ending.
Gentleman beat Fairy for my book of the year due to stickiness. Fairy Tale was a great read, but I’ll be thinking about Gentleman in Moscow for a long time.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. Book 6 in the Outlander series. With the exception of Jack London I generally avoid rereads. I was at a point with this series where I needed a refresher before reading new book #9 and reread this one. What an incredible feat to keep these characters and this epic going over so many books and pages. The flow if this book is perfect. Slow when it needs to be and quick when it should be this book crescendos just right.While this book is a strong 9 I don’t recommend this unless you have already read its predecessors.
Note: While I do enjoy discussing books it is not my intent to do book reports. Please check out something like Goodreads if you want summaries.