Top 5 +1 books of 2022 (so far)
This post COVID world we’re now living in has certainly had an impact on getting my book lists out. Thanks to everyone who has asked me for my list — which are the Top 5 +1 top books I’ve read for the year.
‘Project Hail Mary’ — Andy Weir (USA, 496pp) Published 2021
I usually shy away from ‘Sci-Fi’ reads, but I’m glad I was convinced by all the great reviews on this one to have a go. The result was yes — sci-fi — but with unexpected warmth and humour. For those who have read Weir’s other books, you’ll know to skip over some of the more head bending maths and science, and instead focus on the narrative, which this time has our hero lost in space and who must work out what has happened so he can save mankind. But it’s the bizarre extra terrestrial relationship that blooms that really gets you — and grows on you fast the longer you read.
The Lincoln Highway — Amor Towles (USA, 784pp ), Published 2021
Don’t be fooled — this isn’t a Great Road Trip book. Nor is it anything like Towles’ previous periodic master piece ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’. Instead think of it more like a classic adventure in the vein of The Odyssey- except this time set in the 1950s with a rough and troubled cast of characters. It’s high adventure, it’s love, it’s a touch of magic realism and it’s fantastic.
Cantoras — Carolina — Carolina de Robertis (Uruguayan-American, 337pp) Published 2019
Wowwee — this book absolutely took my breath away with its beauty, tenderness and grit. Opening under the context of the 1970s dictatorship of Uruguay,, this is a novel of five ‘cantora’ women. Women who love each other, other women, their country, their families and how this all unfolds over the next 30 years. Captured my head and my heart throughout.
The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois — Honoree Fanonne Jeffers (USA, 801pp) Published 2021
I have to admit I was a little daunted at plunging into this nearly 800 page tome.. but this book just kept giving, and giving. I’m not skilled enough to give it the review it really deserves, but it’s a rich family story, a history of slavery, of Black America, of family and of a fascinating protagonist Ailey.
Here Goes Nothing — Steve Toltz (Australia, 383pp) Published 2022
I loved Toltz’s previous winner ‘A Fraction of the Whole’… but this was something else. Not for everyone — but if you are after a book that combines ‘Boy Swallows Universe’ with ‘The Good Place’ some elements of Helen Garner’s ‘The Spare Room’ plus a dose of COVID 2.0 meets the Walking Dead — then this is for you. I reckon I loved it until the last 5 pages — which were totally WTF!?
The Island of Missing Trees — Elif Shafak (Turkish-British, 350pp) Published 2021.
I was introduced to this amazing author through her previous masterpiece ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’. Here she goes from a moment before death, to a love story entwined in the idea of trees. Just wonderful.
