This is a list of the books I read in 2022, along with varying lengths of thoughts about them. I've never written an end-of-year-books-list before, but I've found many many books via people writing about them online, so I figure I may as well do it so that someday, someone browsing this may find something that they'll want to read. Additionally, people are always asking me about what I'm reading. I'd like to be able to point them to this, because in the moment I often forget a recent read that I really enjoyed.

These are in no specific chronological last-read order, or in any order at all.

I've given up entirely on the x/5 rating system I've decided it is an afflictive fucking plague on human decency. Instead, I'll just say who I think would like the book. I thought about doing a recommend/no-rec system, but if I like the book so little that I'd recommend it to no one at all, then it's unlikely that I'll read it, since I'll give up 50 or 100 pages in. I used to hate to give up reading a book if I wasn't enjoying it, but I'm more aware now that I've got a very limited set of time on this planet, and I will not spend that time grinding through books that I don't like. Thus: these are all recommended, and even if you aren't the audience who I think would like them, if the description tickles your fancy, you may enjoy it a lot!

The Toppest of the Top

I said I wasn't going to indulge in the barbaric 5-star system, and I won't, but I will elevate a few volumes. These were incredible. 2022 was a very difficult year for me, and these are the ones that gave me true hope, or wisdom, or kinship, or, barring all that, simple solace.

The Book of Joy - The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams

Dialogues between The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on joy, suffering, loss, love, and the rest of the varied spectrum of emotive experiences that encompass being human. These two are well-versed in the highs and lows of life, and I find it incredible that this glimpse of their wisdom is shared with the rest of us.

There are a million things to glean from this book, but the one that has stuck with me the most is that joy is a choice. You choose to cultivate it. The Archbishop spends 2-3 hours each morning in prayer, and the Dalai Lama spends 3-5 hours each morning in meditation. These are practices aimed at building one's kindness, empathy, compassion, gratitude, and focus. The Archbishop and Dalai Lama are not so wonderfully compassionate and kind human beings by accident of birth or position: they are there by practice. I find this very reassuring, since it means that you do not have to "be born that way". You can choose to aim your ship in that direction on your own. Certainly some people will have their "happiness setpoint" (base-level, if such an approximate concept makes sense here, which it doesn't) set higher or lower by genetics and circumstance, but you can always choose to move from that universe-given point towards joy and kindness. This was and is and continues to be, a revelation for me. I am in the midst of finding my own joy and compassion practices, and they do make a huge difference in my day to day experience of life (when I am consistent with them!!!).

I recommend this book above all else that I read this year, and recommend it to anyone.

The Copenhagen Trilogy - Tove Ditlevsen

A collection of 3 of what I'd call "autobiographical novellas" that detail the author's growing-up and early-adult experiences in Copenhagen. I loved everything she writes about, but her words about her relationships with her cold and violent mother and her tired and passive father have the biting clarity of a mountain stream.

I recommend this to any person who might describe themself as enjoying "literary fiction", or perhaps just "fiction".

Bewilderment - Richard Powers

This is the story of a father trying to raise his 9yr old son after the mother is killed in a car accident. Powers writes beautifully about the natural world and what humans are doing to it. Highly recommended to anyone who can deal with heartbreaking stories: this shit is insanely sad. Like as sad as the ending to Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms, maybe worse. So empty and bleak that you wonder if it's even worth continuing forwards if this is what life may have in store.

So yep, go give it a read! hahahaha oh god

The Passenger - Cormac McCarthy

McCarthy might be my favorite literary fiction author, and I've been waiting for another book of his for a long time. The Passenger does not disappoint. On the surface, this is a novel about a guy who is drifting through life after the loss of his only sister. But below the surface, there is a lot more going on: I think the book is really about the relationship between the conscious and unconscious human minds. How they work together (and don't work together). I loved this book. I liked it so much I'm going to re-read it early next year so I can think through again all the things that it made me think of.

No, I've not yet read Stella Maris (the sequel/prequel/companion?companion! to The Passenger, which came out a month after The Passenger). As I said, I'm going to re-read The Passenger first, because I still have a lot of thinking that I want to do on it before I go forward with Stella Maris, which may answer some of my questions on The Passenger that I want to posit my own answer to, first.

I recommend The Passenger to anyone who enjoys Cormac McCarthy novels. If you've not read him, I'd suggest starting with The Road, and branching out to the rest of his books afterwards.

The Last Wish - Andrej Sapkowski

I love The Witcher books so much I don't have words sufficient to express said love. I've re-read the whole series (8 books) 4 times in 4 years. They're a whole world apart from the western fantasy novels that most English readers are familiar with. This is a huge plus to me: I don't find myself enjoying hardly anything in the fantasy genre these days. There are very very few enduring works written in fantasy. The genre seems to repulse depth.

The Witcher books are also translated (from Polish), and my love for translated works is passionate and enduring. I've a theory that there are thoughts that simply do not occur in English as a language, or perhaps as a culture (or perhaps only the American culture), that do in other languages and cultures. I think this because of reading translations, in which I occasionally get an imperfect glimpse at a thought that I've never seen expressed in my language & culture. I love these moments more than most other moments I have when reading.

The Last Wish is the first Witcher book chronologically, and I recommend it to anyone who reads fantasy but actually hates fantasy. Do with that what you will.

Perhaps the Stars - Ada Palmer

Perhaps The Stars is the conclusion to Ada Palmer's debut 4-book series called Terra Ignota, and the collected 4 books are the most unique and compelling work I have seen in science fiction so far (and I have read a metric fuckton of science fiction over the years). I loved these dearly. Palmer is a serious scholar of history and philosophy, and I think I probably missed a ton of references and context for her story. Whenever I re-read this, I plan to go read the "single major most important but still short and actually readable" works from all of the philosophers whose thoughts form such an integral backbone to these novels. (I've not decided what to do about the important figures who have no such "give me 50-200 pages of summary-level info on your philosophy" works)

These are incredible, but they are not what people call "easy to read" (I personally think that is a good thing, and a huge compliment, but I know many people would disagree. Said disagreers could not be more wrong, but that's for another day). I'd recommend these to avid sci-fi readers, and also people who enjoy literary fiction but find science fiction intolerable but who like the thought of enjoying some/one? science fiction and would be willing to give it a chance.

Everything Else That, As A Reminder, Was Still Great And Recommended

A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles (Pronounced Uh-More Tolls)

This was a terrifically fun read about a high-flying Russian aristocrat who is imprisoned in a hotel in Moscow during much of the Soviet period of history, and his raising of a child who is abandoned there. Highly recommended to anyone.

Small Gods - Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is to fantasy what Douglas Adams is to science fiction. If that means something to you, then you'll know whether or not you'll like it. If it doesn't, then I highly recommend acquainting yourself with one of either author's books for dazzling displays of the kind of wry and world-weary British wit that makes you laugh out loud while reading.

Indestructible - John R. Bruning

Pappy Gunn was a retired military pilot, flying for a civilian airline in The Philippines when the Japanese joined World War 2. His family was captured and sent to an internment camp by the Japanese, and this is the story of his own personal fight to try to get to the camp to get them back, and how his ingenious engineering skills aided the war effort in the Pacific Theater.

Recommended to anyone who likes planes, flying, engineering, or WWII.

The Dawn of the New Everything - Jaron Lanier

This is an autobiographical account of Jaron Lanier's early life, and his pioneering research in virtual reality. I hate the current cultural gestalt on what VR is and will be, and I expected to dislike this book, but I loved it. While it is billed as being about virtual reality, I think it is most emphatically not a story about virtual reality. It is the story of a boy whose parents narrowly survived the Holocaust and emigrated to America. It is the story of a boy whose mother died in a car accident when he was 7. A story about his growing up desperately poor in the Arizona desert, in a Geodesic Dome that his father let him design and build as their house. It is a story about what human perception is. How it functions and malfunctions, how it can be tricked and bamboozled. Most importantly, it is a deeply, deeply human story. You are keenly aware of the existence of Jaron's mind on the other end of these words.

I loved this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who is fascinated by human perception. By sensory input, in all its glorious forms. Excepting those, of course, who actually like VR in the year of our lord 2022. Anyone who actually likes VR in 2022 can go fuck a horse-avatar of Zuckerberg in the "metaverse" and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.

The Guide - Peter Heller

The River - Peter Heller

I'm putting these together, since they are related: Same author, and a main character from The River is the main character in The Guide. I don't quite know how to categorize these. Perhaps I'd say that they are thrillers as written by a man who is an avid outdoorsman and lover of nature, as opposed to lawyers or oceanographers, the traditional penmasters of thrillers (in my opinion), but that doesn't quite cut it. Let's try a better sentence: Peter Heller is like a modern Louis L'Amour mixed with Hemingway mixed with Clive Cussler. His earlier works, The Dog Stars and The Painter, are some of my favorite pieces of fiction. I like them more than The Guide and The River, but I think these two are still excellent, and I'd recommend them to anyone.

To Sleep In a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini

It's 2006, and I'm 13, and for the first time, I'm going to school instead of being homeschooled. My teacher for English and History has a couple bookshelves and beanbags piled into a corner of the room, and there are dedicated times each day for reading. I find two books on her shelves that will change my life forever: Tolkien's The Hobbit, and Christopher Paolini's Eragon. They are my introduction to fantasy, and shatter and remake my tiny brain a hundred times as I read them. I've had many more world-shattering moments over the years with books (and in other domains too: music, movies, food, etc), but reading those two books is the first time I can remember that incredible feeling of "Holy shit, I didn't even know a thing like this could be done".Thus, when I saw Paolini had written a new book, I had to check it out. Based on my foggy recollections, I'd still recommend Eragon to kids and teens, but I do remember reading the last book in the Eragon series in the later years of high school and thinking "I've grown beyond this".

Well, so did Paolini. TSISS is an unrecognizable shift away from Eragon. It is a fun and frenetic space-opera, with the key adult elements that were missing from Eragon and make it (Eragon) somewhat shallow for adults. TSISS is also a little, say, forgettable. The protagonist is imbued with godlike powers almost immediately, and while the action is fun, it's fun in the way a Michael Bay movie is fun. The first quarter of the book, you think, This is fun. And then the remaining three quarters, you think, Well, this is repetitive and drawn-out.

I wrote a lot more on this book than I intended to thanks to 6th grade nostalgia, and a lot more than is due given my lackluster opinion. I'd still recommend it to avid readers of sci-fi who have the reading budget to plow through 800 pages of easy reading, but god, there are literally thousands of better books out there.

The Light Perpetual - Andrej Sapkowski

Sapkowski is best known for The Witcher series, but he wrote a lesser-known trilogy in the mid-2000's called The Hussite Trilogy: a historical fantasy centered around a young physician and magician named Reynevan, who is ensnared in the various insane/inane religious wars that raged across Europe in the early 1400s. These books are probably less known because they were only translated into English in the last few years, but they are enormously fun, and like Sapkowski's Witcher series, lack most of the things that I hate about Western fantasy. They also contain a large amount of actual places that still exist in Germany, Poland, and the modern-day Czech Republic (Bohemia & Silesia in the book), and I looked many of them up while reading and they are beautiful and have castles and I really want to go visit them someday.

Sitka - Louis L'Amour

Louis L'Amour wrote books that weren't entirely set in the American west! Who knew!? I didn't! This one takes us to Alaska and Russia, and I found out from the friend I borrowed this from that L'Amour wrote a few books that were set in Europe and even a science fiction novel, and I'm looking forward to reading them someday. Not much to say here: L'Amour novels are what they are. I love them, and if you haven't read one, I highly recommend checking them out. Westerns: tight, terse, and macho. What's not to love? (I'm sure a huge list of people could come up with a huge list of what's not to love, but whatever.)

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - Paul Hoffman

This is a book about math, via a biography of one of the most famous mathematician's ever to live: Paul Erdos. Erdos was a Hungarian-born Jew who had to flee the Nazi regime in Germany. He never married, and spent the majority of his life traveling between universities and friend's houses to collaborate on math problems and papers. He is (as far as I know) the most prolific mathematics publisher (as in, academic papers) to live, and lived a wonderfully eccentric existence.

Hell, I'd recommend this to everyone.

Termination Shock - Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson is one of my all-time favorite science fiction writers. I've read a lot (maybe most?) of his books, and this one isn't my favorite. Still fun, but not even remotely peak Stephenson. Recommended to prolific sci-fi readers with reading budget to burn.

Upgrade: A Novel - Blake Crouch

I can't even remember how I found this. Basically the movie Limitless with a different script. I'm not really sure I recommend this at all except for those who want a quick and shallow airport thriller (sometimes it is on the menu, you know?) and can't get a hold of anything else.

Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman

Quick easy fantasy read, perfect airport/airplane book. Recommended to all who are at an airport/in an airplane, even if you can get a hold of something else.

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

Andy Weir wrote The Martian, which many people saw the movie adaptation of. Project Hail Mary is in a very similar vein: lone scientist/science-doer must overcome all sorts of obstacles to survive. This one raises the stakes over The Martian: the entire fate of the human race is at stake. Recommended for those who enjoyed The Martian, book or movie.

The Name of the Wind (3x? 4x? re-read) - Patrick Rothfuss

Ah yes, my old friend. I (and the rest of the world) have been waiting 12 years now for The Doors of Stone, the 3rd installment of this trilogy. I re-read Name of the Wind && The Wise Man's Fear every few years, though I didn't get around to Wise Man's Fear this year. I still love them greatly. I still recommend them to anyone. I still wish Doors of Stone was out.

Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX - Eric Berger

This was really really fun. The book is exactly what the title says, I can't really add anything. Recommended to anyone who loves rockets, planes, space, engineering, etc.

Inhibitor Phase - Alastair Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds is another favorite science-fiction author of mine, and I generally read anything he puts out. In fact, I checked his blog just now and found out he has a new one out called Eversion, so I'm gonna go get that immediately.

Reynolds had a career in astrophysics prior to becoming a novelist, and his books tend towards the science-heavy, which I really enjoy. I still love his old work the most, but this is set in his Inhibitor universe and it is fun for anyone who loves that world. If you haven't read any of his books, and want a wonderful space opera, I'd save this one for later and start with Revelation Space.

Started Yet Thus Far Unfinished

Dream of the Red Chamber - Tsao Hsueh-Chin

This is one of the most famous pieces of Chinese literature, and I've had my eye on it for years. I held off because Dream of the Red Chamber is apparently just under 3000 pages spread across 5 volumes. Well, I mentioned it to the local bookstore owner, and he decided to order a copy, so I decided I'd buy it. I got 3/4s of the way through before I realized the mistake: he'd accidentally ordered a VERY abridged translation that carried the whole story in about 400 pages. This is not what I was after. I stopped reading it, and ordered the first proper volume of the series. I've not started it. I did enjoy the sizable fraction of the abridged edition, but mostly for the reasons I enjoy any translations: seeing different thoughts expressed than I'll ever encounter in English work. The story itself is somewhat like a Chinese Jane Austen novel - the social machinations and various idiocies of a large and wealthy family. Fun sometimes, but generally sort of empty. The existences of the upper crust can be horribly boring and vapid.

The Darkness Around Us Is Deep - William Stafford

A collection of poetry. Picked this up because I saw that he'd lived in Oregon for a long time, and I was knocked out of the desire to do any novel-reading for several months owing to the death of a close friend. Poetry is prime warmth against the numbing cold of losing someone. I haven't made it all the way through, I keep picking it up and re-reading poems and not making it further. I imagine I might finish it next year, because I really love the hell out of it. You can tell because of how beat to shit my copy already is: I've been taking it everywhere.

A Small Review I Accidentally Wrote Because I Thought I Read The Book In 2022, But I Didn't, It Was 2021, But Here It Is Anyway, Since I Wrote It

Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa

Musashi. What a book. It is a semi-fictionalized account of the most famous samurai of Japan: Miyamoto Musashi, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This book is an epic, clocking in just under a thousand pages, and it handles the petty themes of human life beautifully. I should note that it has blindspots. The women are so paperthin as to be puppets, and the way Musashi himself observes and interacts with the world seems to be through a very limited lens of violence and peculiar feudal-Japanese honor. Still, I enjoyed it enormously, and I often think about the philosophical moments in the book. As a translation, Musashi may be the closest thing I, a native-English monolingual philistine, will ever get to knowing how thoughts may be expressed in early 1900's Japanese describing early 1700's Japan, the understandings that were present in that culture(s). I love those moments.

If you are an avid reader, enjoy kilopage novels, and have an interest in feudal-era Japan or samurai, you'll probably enjoy this, otherwise, I highly doubt you will.