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I logged more reviews in 2022 than in 2021, but still didn't quite make it to fifty, but still, what a year in books!
I'm shocked because more people are reading now than ever and I've realized I'm going to have to make a FAQ page (that will come eventually!) now and I'm just so grateful for all of you. This is a long-form blog in the 2020s and yet I seem to strangely be gaining readers and believe me when I say I don't take it for granted even for a second. You reach out to me on social media, you leave comments here, and you help fulfill part of what I wanted in this project, which is to talk about the books I've read (and books in general) with other people. Even if you don't talk to me, either through social media, elsewhere, or leaving a comment here, I still appreciate your reading more than you possibly ever know. Of all the places to spend time on this here internet, you chose here. Thank you so much!
What a year! Alice Hoffman was lovely about my reviews of her work on social media again (I don't post about reviews to get the attention of authors, but it's still quite dazzling whenever it happens), one of the books featured (notice I said featured, not reviewed) was by a dear friend (!!!!!), and there were so many wonderful stories I read that informed me and captured my attention and were wonderful and made me think, and I'm delighted to revisit them again here. I also got to read many I've been wanting to read forever, and even if some books weren't worth the wait, some really were and they're the ones that matter.
I also want to shout out some books that I read this year that didn't make it here, in part because some of them I've read before and some I wasn't sure I'd read, but there were also plenty that were new to me, and all were incredibly entertaining. I'm talking about the amazingly prolific Mary Downing Hahn, who's talented enough to write scary stories for a YA audience that will still frighten a jaded, true crime-consuming adult. I loved her books as a child and I'm happy to report they hold up wonderfully well as an adult and she's vastly added to her resume.
And there were some books that absolutely frustrated me in a way that feels historic and that I'm going to remark upon separately, books so bad they convinced me I could write a better book, so I am (!!!!!). That in and of itself is something for which to be grateful, certainly. That and I think some of you out there love the ones I hate more than you do the ones I love (and I'm not going to lie; sometimes it's satisfying to rip into a bad book, at least it makes up for wasting my valuable time with the book itself).
I should say in the interests of fairness, I am excluding a book from consideration that was a special edition, as it was written by a friend of mine (a fact I will keep mentioning and you can't stop me) and thus wouldn't be fair to categorize it.
But without any further ado, let's get down to it!
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine
Nine Perfect Strangers
Room
Apples Never Fall
The Grownup
Delicious! (with caveats)
Sharp Objects
Where the Crawdads Sing (with some MAJOR caveats)
The House of the Spirits
Haywire
The Soul of a Woman
Happy-Go-Lucky with some BIG caveats, and it's complicated.
Bohemian Magick
The Witch Haven
The Fault in Our Stars
Green Angel
Hour of the Witch
¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons
The Ugly Cry: a Memoir
The Once and Future Witches
Educated
The Book of Magic (Alice Hoffman, I love you and your work, but this isn't a sequel to Practical Magic, it's a whole other book.)
Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft From the Margins
POSSESSED: The Life of Joan Crawford
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Homicide at Rough Point
Melania and Me
It Gets Worse
Missing Witches
Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft From the Margins
Nine Perfect Strangers
POSSESSED: The Life of Joan Crawford
Apples Never Fall
A Killer By Design
The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Fairies
Delicious!
Where the Crawdads Sing
Helter Skelter
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Happy-Go-Lucky
Homicide at Rough Point
Melania and Me
It Gets Worse
Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York
Missing Witches
Barack and Joe
The Book of Magic
Witchery: Embracing the Witch Within
Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft From the Margins
POSSESSED: The Life of Joan Crawford
A Killer By Design
The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Fairies
Helter Skelter
Homicide at Rough Point
Melania and Me
It Gets Worse
Missing Witches
Barack and Joe
Rodham
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine
Apples Never Fall
Sharp Objects
The House of the Spirits
Helter Skelter
Haywire
The Soul of a Woman
Bohemian Magick
The Fault in Our Stars
Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York
Missing Witches
The Ugly Cry: a Memoir
Educated
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine
Room
The Grownup
Sharp Objects
The House of the Spirits
Haywire
The Witch Haven
Hour of the Witch
Educated
The Book of Magic
Witchery: Embracing the Witch Within
Midnight at the Blackbird Café
POSSESSED: The Life of Joan Crawford
A Killer By Design
The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Fairies
Helter Skelter
The Hundred-Foot Journey
Happy-Go-Lucky (I said it was complicated!)
Homicide at Rough Point
The Story Sisters
Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York
Missing Witches
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine
Room
A Killer By Design
Sharp Objects
The House of the Spirits
Haywire
The Fault in Our Stars
The Story Sisters
Green Angel
¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons
The Ugly Cry: a Memoir
The Once and Future Witches
Educated
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine (Yes, both depressing and uplifting; it's THAT good.)
Nine Perfect Strangers
Apples Never Fall
The Soul of a Woman
Bohemian Magick
Green Angel
Educated
When We Were the Kennedys: a Memoir From Mexico, Maine
Room
A Killer By Design
The House of the Spirits
Helter Skelter
Haywire
The Fault in Our Stars
Green Angel
Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York
Educated
Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft From the Margins
POSSESSED: The Life of Joan Crawford
Happy-Go-Lucky (David Sedaris, you have a lot of goodwill being David Sedaris, please do not take it away.)
Homicide at Rough Point
Melania and Me
Missing Witches
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch
Thank you all for your patience in it taking me longer this year to process the reviews (and subsequent wrap-up). I cannot wait to tell you all about what I'm reading in 2023!
DON'T FORGET I'M ON BLOGSPOT NOW!
