I read so many fun books this year :)

YA Fantasy

I loved most of the YA I read in 2022. Most of it was quite dark and of the thriller or adventure genre in some way. Several were inspired by folktale or fairy tale, so if that’s your jam read the following immediately. My top three picks include:

• The House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig. Inspired by the fairy tale of the twelve dancing princesses, but with a very dark twist, It stuck with me. I listened to this on audiobook.

• The Akata Series by Nnedi Okorafor is some fantasy you may have never seen before. The audiobook is so wonderful! Some have called it the Nigerian Harry Potter. Read it. Now.

• Rise of the Empress series by Julie C. Dao is an East Asian fantasy inspired by Snow White with an archetypal quest motif in the later half. The first book is wicked, but so worth it.

Thrillers Intended for Adults

• The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas is about a family’s buried secrets. It was worth it. A fun and easy read.

• If memory serves, A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham and We Sang in the Dark by Joe Hart are both psychological thrillers about (somewhat) mentally unstable, high achieving, highly educated women trying to solve murders related to their complicated past. A Flicker in the Dark is about a woman who’s father was found guilty as a serial killer when she was a teen. We Sang in the Dark is about a woman who escaped from a religious cult as a teen and what happens when her long-thought-dead sister reappears.

If you know of any other thrillers like that - with highly educated or complicated protagonists, conspiracy or cult themes, and maybe a supernatural element if done right, please PLEASE let me know. I love a good mystery, especially when it’s a little on the weird side.

Nonfiction

You should read Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, a book by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. and Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A. The audiobook is fabulous.

What did you read last year?