2022 End of Year Book Survey (& Year in Graphs!)

As I say every year, I’ve adapted this from The Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Survey! I’m just barely sneaking this in during January, but I was waiting for my book announcement, and then I had a whole bunch of already previously scheduled posts to go up. So, better late than never?

2022 READING STATS

Number of Books You Read: 115

This just happens to be the exact number of books I read last year.

(Plus 24 picture books and 6 manuscript readings, neither of which are included in Goodreads, but I track them in my spreadsheet.)

Number of Re-Reads: 1
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy/Paranormal

I think this was pretty on par with my reading numbers for 2021, so no big surprises there, except that it wasn’t particularly evenly distributed. May, November and December were all dismal reading months for me.

No surprises when it came to age range or genres either. I read a lot more MG, but that makes sense since I’m writing MG. And fantasy/paranormal has always been my go-to.

Best Book You Read in 2022?

I wrote a Top Ten Books of 2022 post that covered this quite nicely. Here’s the graphic from that. Check out the post to see it bigger and find out more!

Favorite Cover of a Book you Read in 2022?

I absolutely love these fun MG covers (and the incredible books that go with them!).

Most Surprising Book You Read?  

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh is absolutely riveting and has a twist that packs a real punch!

Most Memorable Character?

I’m going with Coyote from The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. Coyote’s voice captured my attention immediately and her story captured my heart. Honestly, every character in this book was memorable, so it extra-qualifies for this spot.  🙂

Most Beautifully Written Book?

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds manages to pack an incredible amount of beauty and meaning into three (admittedly extremely long) sentences. It’s incredible.

Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book?

The Handmaid’s Tale wins this one hands-down. I don’t know how you could read this book and not think deeply about society.

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until 2022 to Finally Read? 

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab is probably one of my all-time favorites, so why on earth did it take me so long to read Our Dark Duet? Luckily, it was worth the wait. I loved this second book too! (I could have used it for Best Series Ender, but it fit too well here, so I saved it).

Shortest & Longest Book You Read?

I used my pic from my Goodreads Year in Books. I find it funny that it lists Fairy Tale as 24 pages because it was the audiobook version, but it obviously knows that it’s actually a super-long read at 608 pages.

According to Goodreads, Babe Ruth: Baseball’s All-Time Best! by James Buckley Jr. and illustrated by Kelly Tindall is my shortest book, but I actually read quite a few picture books (I don’t put read dates in Goodreads because I don’t want them to count toward my yearly number). The shortest of these was Barnyard Boogie by Tim McCanna, illustrated by Allison Black.

Best Book You Read in 2022 that You Read Based SOLELY On a Recommendation from Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

I would never have heard of Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt if I hadn’t seen various bloggers raving about it over the years. I’m so glad I was convinced because I loved this book!

Best 2022 Debut you Read?

I read a few fantastic debuts this year that I’ve already mentioned (B.B. Alston, Zoulfa Katouh), but one I haven’t mentioned yet is Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown. A really fun read that explores Ghanaian folklore!

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting in a Book You Read This Year?

The Mirrorwood by Deva Fagan definitely wins this one for me. I was immediately entranced by the concept of a girl without a face, and just about everything about the worldbuilding in this book where people are twisted by a magic called the Blight delighted me. You definitely need to go read my review of the book to see details of everything I loved about the worldbuilding!

Best Retelling of the Year?

I absolutely adored The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh, which is a feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong.” Everything about this book was beautiful.

Book that Put a Smile On Your Face/Was the Most FUN to Read?

For me this was definitely In Every Generation by Kendare Blake. I absolutely loved jumping back into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and revisiting my favorite characters (while meeting some new ones).

Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of the Year?

I don’t know that I’d call this book action-packed exactly (though it certainly was in some parts), but it was definitely the most mysterious, creepy and unputdownable. I listened to The Honeys by Ryan LaSala while I trained for the marathon I ran over the summer, and it was a perfect read to keep me entertained and intrigued while I ran!

Hidden Gem of the Year?

For me, this was Missing Mike by Shari Green. This book was published back in 2018, and I don’t think I heard of it at all. This is a travesty to me because I absolutely loved it. It truly stands out in my mind, and I think it might have been my favorite verse novel I read in 2022 (and I’ve labeled it as an All-Time Favorite).

Book that Made You the Most Mad?

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed truly opens your eyes to the life of a refugee, and it’s hard not to feel angry for the main character, who goes through so many struggles and so much disappointment through no fault of his own.

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?

Twins Dani and Dorian from Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur win this category. I love these two!

Best Indie/Small Press/Self-Pubbed Read?

This one’s an easy one: The War on All Fronts by Kim Oclon is a fantastic read that brings the realities of the Vietnam War to the forefront.

SOME MORE GRAPHS:

All of these charts look pretty similar to last year’s. I read a few more of the books I own? Baby steps.

As you know, I don’t post books that would get less than 4 stars (this occasionally includes books that would round up from 3.5 stars), but I do still rate them in my spreadsheet for my own information purposes.

Book You “Pushed” the Most People to Read (And They Did)?

Now that I work at Barnes & Noble, I get the pleasure of “pushing” people to read books I adore four days a week! Honestly, I absolutely love being able to recommend books and seeing people walk out of the store with those books in hand.

The two books I think I successfully sold the most of in 2022 weren’t 2022 reads, though (mostly because paperbacks sell a little easier than hardcovers, especially when it comes to MG). I’m pretty sure I sent the most people home with Alone by Megan E. Freeman (written by one of my best friends, which I suppose is no coincidence—but it’s also a truly fantastic book) and Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie (which sold especially well near Halloween and has the fantastic selling point of being set in Chicago, which lots of my readers appreciate).

Favorite Post You Wrote in 2022?

One of the few discussions I posted in 2022 – DO YOU “SEE” A BOOK AS YOU READ?

Favorite Bookish-Related Photo You Took?

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nicole M. Hewitt (@nicolefictionaddiction)

Best Bookish Event You Participated in (Author Signings, Festivals, Virtual Events,  etc.)?

2022 was still pretty low-key as far as events for me, but I’m heading to the SCBWI conference in NY in February, so I’m excited about that!

Best Moment of Bookish/Blogging Life in 2022?

This. Definitely this.

(Okay, I know the post I’m linking to went up in 2023, but I actually got the publishing deal in August and signed the contract in December, so this was 100% the best thing to happen to me in 2022. It will probably continue to be the best thing to happen to me all the way up through 2025. 🙂 )

Most Challenging Thing about Blogging or Your Reading Life This Year?

Once again, balancing reading, writing, blogging and life (which threw me some curveballs this year). If anything, this has gotten even more difficult this past year, and I don’t see that changing much in 2023, unfortunately.

Most Popular Post This Year on Your Blog (by Comments or Views)?

The most popular thing on my blog is my list of all the Bookish Pre-order Campaigns! Which is fantastic because it’s the thing I put the most time into. Plus, I want everyone to get all of these awesome incentives!

One Book You Didn’t Get To in 2022 but Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023?

I ended up owning four different copies of The Luminaries by Susan Dennard, and everyone’s been raving about it. Have I read it yet? No. I must change that.

Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2023?

I’m really looking forward to Good Different, a verse novel by Meg Eden Kuyatt. And a million others, but that was the first one that popped into my head, so that must mean I’m most excited about it, right?

Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2023?

I can’t wait to read volume 5 of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series! (As an added bonus, I think I’ll break my curse of not reading the final book in a series since it’s a graphic novel and I know my daughter is going to read it immediately).

A 2023 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend to Everyone:

You should all read Seven Percent of Ro Devereaux by Ellen O’Clover (I already reviewed it on the 11th), One Girl in All the World by Kendare Blake (reviewed on the 25th), and School Trip by Jerry Craft.

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If you’d like to see my Goodreads Year in Books, click on the link!

And don’t forget to link your year-end wrap-ups to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up!

Did you write a 2022 wrap-up? Link me up in the comments! If not, tell me one of your favorite things about your blogging or reading life in 2022.

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