2022 Year in Review
What an exceptional reading year for me, I have never read so much in my life 206 books read in one year. For me that’s crazy, and very unexpected and also was very exhausting if I’m being honest. I never want to read that much in one year again, it was a little too much, Heee.
I went into 2022 planning on reading around 60ish books, I set my goal at 30 to not put pressure on myself and if I went higher that was great, but oh boy did I over excel that number rapidly.
I wanted to continue to write my own books as I have so many started but I never really seem to find time to finish them. On that side I failed epically I didn’t write much at all this past year. It’s sad but it’s just how it is for me.
I read some absolutely incredible books I swear the book quality has gotten so much better the last few years, I’m finding so many books to fall in love with, stories that stay with you, send you on the most amazing adventure, chill you to the core, make your heart thudder, keep you thinking long after or are just so entertaining. It’s hard when you come to the end of the year and have to decide on favourites, I had so many books this year that were just so incredible.
8 TOP Favourites Books of 2022
1- The Painters Butterfly by Rebecca Weber
Summary: A young foster child discovers a magic easel that brings paintings to life and learns the true meaning of family and home.
What if art could come alive and guide you home? Twelve-year-old foster child Nova longs to find her one true home. When jealousy of her art ability upends her most cherished placement, Nova’s dropped in the middle of nowhere to live with painter Mr. Russell in his ramshackle farmhouse. While exploring, Nova sneaks into the attic and discovers a magical easel that brings paintings to life. She puts her art skills to the test and gets caught in a whirlwind adventure, complete with rainbow butterflies, a devious leprechaun, and a journey to the rainforest. Following the magic, Nova stumbles upon an underground cellar that houses a startling secret. She’s forced to choose: escape to a prior foster home, or mend her relationship with Mr. Russell. Nova makes a dangerous mistake when she strikes a match of revenge. She must survive the inferno to learn the true meaning of home.
Where to buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Barnes & Nobles, Blackwells,
Read My Review: Coming Soon
Release Date: 7th February 2023
About The Author: Rebecca Weber is a Midwestern girl with a lifelong passion for books! She spends most of her time nurturing her two Boston Terrier fur-babies and flipping houses with her realtor husband. It took fifteen years to find the courage to craft her debut novel, The Painter’s Butterfly, but now she’s never letting her feather pen go! While she misses teaching preschool-aged children their ABC’s, Rebecca is thrilled to have the chance to reach middle graders worldwide with her fantastical stories. Words are magic and you have the power to change the world too. Chase the dreams calling out to your soul!
2- Our Sister, Again by Sophie Cameron
Summary: On a small island off the Scottish coast, Isla and her family are grieving the loss of her older sister Flora, who died three years ago. Then they’re offered the chance to be part of a top-secret trial, which revives loved ones as fully lifelike AI robots using their digital footprint.
Isla has her doubts about Second Chances, but they evaporate the moment the ‘new’ Flora arrives. This girl is not some uncanny close likeness; she is Flora – a perfect replica. But not everyone on their island feels the same. And as the threats to Flora mount, she grows distant and more secretive. Will Isla be able to protect the new Flora and bring the community back together?
Where to Buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Barnes & Nobles, Waterstones, Little Tiger,
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 12th May 2022
About The Author: Sophie Cameron is a YA and MG author from the Scottish Highlands. She studied French and Comparative Literature at the University of Edinburgh and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Newcastle University. Her debut novel OUT OF THE BLUE was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2019. She lives in Spain with her family.
3- The Mystery of Raspberry Hill by Eva Franz & A. A. Prime
Summary: The grown-ups all think she’s going to die soon-she can see it in their eyes. Still, when poor twelve-year-old Stina is sent to remote Raspberry Hill Sanatorium she can’t believe her luck. She gets to ride in a real motor car to the hospital, which looks like a magnificent castle hidden deep in the forest. But as Stina explores the long, echoey corridors of her eerie new home, she begins to suspect that the building is concealing a dark secret. How did the old East Wing burn down? Why doesn’t her mother reply to any of her letters? And what are the nurses all so afraid of? Stina is determined to solve the mystery of Raspberry Hill-but as she edges closer to the truth, she finds herself in terrible danger…
Where to Buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Waterstones, Pushkin Press
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 13 October 2022
About Author: Eva Frantz is a Finnish radio and TV presenter and author. She was already an award-winning writer of crime novels for grown-ups when she wrote The Mystery of Raspberry Hill, her first book for children, which won the prestigious Runeberg Junior Prize. Although set in Finland, this book was actually inspired by a visit to Hampton Court Palace in London, which is said to be haunted by many ghosts.
About Translator: A.A. Prime is an award-winning translator from Swedish to English. Her previous translations for Pushkin Children’s include Maria Turtschaninoff’s Red Abbey Chronicles trilogy.
4- Jordie and Joey Fell From The Sky by Judi Lauren
Summary: When another kid at school tried to force Jordie to show him the “crop circles” on his back that prove they’re aliens, it’s Joey who takes the kid to the ground. And when they got kicked out of their foster home because Joey kissed the other boy who lived there, it was Jordie who told him everything would be okay. As long as they’re together, it will be. So when the principal calls their current foster mother about the fight, the boys know she’s done with them. From spying in their file, they also know they’re going to be separated. Facing the world alone rather than without one another, the boys use money Joey won during dares and follow Jordie’s plan to get to Roswell, New Mexico, so they can discover once and for all what the circles on their spines mean and if they might just have family who crash-landed there. And maybe, just maybe, the government is holding them hostage at Area 51. For Jordie and Joey, it’s family or bust.
Where to buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Barnes & Nobles, Waterstones, Jolly Fish Press
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 19th April 2022
About The Author: Judi Lauren has been reading since she could first hold a book. Following her passion for working with books, she became an assistant editor at Entangled Publishing, and is now an editor at Radish Fiction. When not editing, she writes books for kids and teens about family, friendship, and surviving impossible things.
5- The Girl in White by Lindsay Currie
Summary: Mallory hasn’t quite adapted to life in her new town of Eastport yet. Maybe it’s because everyone is obsessed with keeping the town’s reputation as the most cursed town in the US.
And thanks to the nightmares she’s had since arriving, Mallory hardly sleeps. Combined with the unsettling sensation of being watched, she’s quickly becoming convinced there’s more to her town. Something darker.
When Mallory has a terrifying encounter with the same old woman from her dreams, she knows she has to do something–but what? With Eastport gearing up to celebrate the anniversary of their first recorded legend Mallory is forced to investigate the one legend she’s always secretly been afraid of . . . Sweet Molly.
Where to buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Barnes & Nobles, Sourcebooks
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 6th September 2022
About The Author: Lindsay lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and three kids. She loves coffee, Halloween, Disney World and things that go bump in the night! She is the author of Scritch Scratch, What Lives in the Woods, The Girl in White, and The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street. Visit her online at lindsaycurrie.com
6- The Tide Singer by Eloise Williams
Summary: In the wake of a tempest hitting her town, Morwenna is left to take care of a stranger washed ashore. The storm is just another of many that have plagued the town for years – people blame the tide singers, legendary sea people who are said to charm storms with their singing. Morwenna has never believed the tales, but when she is left alone with the stranger, she realises this is no ordinary girl. Can the stories be true? Can the girl control the tides with nothing more than her voice? Her arrival brings danger of a different kind, and Morwenna must draw on all the courage she has in order to stop a conflict that could destroy her home…
Where to buy: Amazon U.K., Amazon US, Barnes & Nobles, Waterstones, Barrington Stoke
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 3rd March 2022
About The Author: Eloise Williams grew up in south Wales. She now lives in Pembrokeshire, very close to the beach where she walks her dog, Watson Jones. She worked in the theatre in wardrobe, then studied Drama, and worked for over ten years as an actress before studying for a Masters in Creative Writing at Swansea University.
7- The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger by J. T. Williams
Summary: Twelve-year-olds Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle are from different worlds – Lizzie lives in Westminster in her dad’s tea shop, while Belle is an heiress being brought up by her aunt and uncle at grand Kenwood House – but they both share a love of solving mysteries.
And when their eyes meet in the audience of the Drury Lane theatre one night, both girls are sure they’ve seen something suspicious on stage.
Lizzie and Belle soon find themselves on the trail of a mystery – and becoming best friends. But can they work out what’s going on in time to prevent a murder?
Where to buy: Amazon U.K., Barnes & Nobles, Waterstones, Farshore
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 16th June 2022
8- Xavier in The Meantime by Kate Gordon
Summary: Sometimes Xavier wakes up feeling hopeless. Every new doctor … this will fix it. Removing him from school … this will fix it. The therapy group … this will fix it.
And his dad moving out. Maybe, this will fix it. Despite his positive affirmations, the black dog never really leaves him. It watches from the corner of his room, never straying too far away—waiting for the perfect opportunity to sink its teeth in.
But Xavier has a plan—one he hopes will help all the kids in his support group. Enlisting the help of best friend Aster, he tries to convince his dad to turn the family sheep farm into a therapy retreat for the group session kids. But he is up against decades of tradition, his parents who are on a “break,” and the spectre of the black dog.
Can Xavier learn to cherish the moments in between the struggles—the moments in the meantime?
Where to buy: Amazon US, Yellow Brick Books
Read My Review: Here
Release Date: 3rd February 2022
What’s to come to my blog in 2023
Not quite as much, I still plan on reading and adding my reviews to the wonderful books that I find, however I doubt I will read as much as I did this past year. I definitely need to slow down, I went a little crazy and so a break is needed before I read loads of amazing books again.
In terms of other reviews, I will be slowing down on them as well, last year I posted so many movie and tv reviews and that’s great but again takes a lot of time and effort and I want to only upload ones I think are worthy of the review, rather than each one I watch. It’s so hard sometime having to review everything I watch, just because it’s fun doesn’t mean it’s easy to do.
Musical Theatre reviews I wish I had more scheduled in this department, I’m currently only seeing 2 shows this year and it sucks, (though I’m excited to see them both, they are Annie & Jersey Boys) theatre is my happiest place, the only place I feel safe, happy and relaxed but I have no means of travelling to see shows further away from me. It’s the most expensive hobby ever and I have to wait for things in my local theatre to be stuff I want to spend what little money we have on actually seeing. So as it stands just two shows to review and enjoy.
My blog will probably be back to how it used to be as I cannot post every day like I was, it got way too much and was so hard to keep up with and gave me so much stress. I will post as and when I have a review ready and do my best to keep it as active as possible. I’m sure as the year goes on there will be loads of things uploaded still, so please stick around it means a lot to have any of you here.
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