I spent more than half of the last year behind in my Goodreads goal for the year and saying I needed to read more of the shorter kids’ books on my TBR to fill in the gaps. It wasn’t until December that I finally pushed through some of those shorter books and wasn’t behind anymore.
I read 128 books in 2021, hitting my Goodreads challenge of 125 books on December 18th. My total page count was 38,809, making my average book length for the year 303 pages.
Below are the books I read in 2022. The link is to my review for that book, and a link to the book on Goodreads is at the bottom of each review.
January
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs (4 / 5)
Weave a Circle Round** by Kari Maaren (3.5 / 5)
The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket (2.5 / 5)
The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen (4 / 5)
Genius Camp* by Chris Grabenstein (4 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban** by J.K. Rowling (3.5 / 5)
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun (4 / 5)
Until Leaves Fall in Paris* by Sarah Sundin (5 / 5)
Project Hail Mary** by Andy Weir (5 / 5)
Kitty Hawk by Roland Smith (4 / 5)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 / 5)
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket (2 / 5)
February
In Search of a Prince* by Toni Shiloh (3.5 / 5)
Things We Couldn’t Say by Diet Eman with James Schaap (5 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire** by J.K. Rowling (4.5 / 5)
Winnie-the-Pooh**(*) by A.A. Milne (4.5 / 5)
The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket (3.5 / 5)
The Canyon Quest by Jim Ware (3 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix** by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
Already Gone by Ken Ham & Britt Beemer with Todd Hillard (5 / 5)
Swept into the Sea by Chris Brack & Sheila Seifert (3 / 5)
Crocodile on the Sandbank** by Elizabeth Peters (4.5 / 5)
The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket (3.5 / 5)
The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse (2 / 5)
March
Pithea** by Kristi Drillien (5 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince** by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
The Great Gatsby** by F. Scott Fitzgerald (2 / 5)
Outcast** by Kristi Drillien (5 / 5)
Journal 29 by Dimitris Chassapakis (2.5 / 5)
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (2 / 5)
The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket (2.5 / 5)
The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs (3 / 5)
Islands and Enemies* by Marianne Hering (3.5 / 5)
April
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (5 / 5)
Treasure Hunters by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3 / 5)
Behind the Lights* by Helen Smallbone (4 / 5)
The Alamo by Roland Smith and Michael P. Spradlin (3.5 / 5)
The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers (4 / 5)
Gospel Reset by Ken Ham (4 / 5)
Between Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman with Ken Abraham (4.5 / 5)
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 / 5)
May
The Bride of Ivy Green by Julie Klassen (4.5 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows** by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
An Ivy Hill Christmas** by Julie Klassen (5 / 5)
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (5 / 5)
The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket (3 / 5)
The Cat Who Sniffed Glue by Lilian Jackson Braun (4 / 5)
I Can Only Imagine by Bart Millard (5 / 5)
Creation Museum Signs by Answers in Genesis (5 / 5)
The Desolations of Devil’s Acre by Ransom Riggs (2 / 5)
June
Legend of the Desert Bigfoot by Jake & Luke Thoene (4 / 5)
The Curse of the Pharaohs** by Elizabeth Peters (4.5 / 5)
Caleb’s Story by Patricia MacLachlan (4 / 5)
Treasure Hunters: Down the Nile by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3.5 / 5)
The Apostle’s Sister* by Angela Hunt (3.5 / 5)
Distant Stars* by Kassandra Garrison (3 / 5)
Night** by Elie Wiesel (5 / 5)
The Men We Need by Brant Hansen (5 / 5)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (5 / 5)
July
The Windy City by Roland Smith & Michael P. Spradlin (4 / 5)
The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (3.5 / 5)
Secret of the Forbidden City by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3.5 / 5)
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp (4 / 5)
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket (3 / 5)
Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game* by Chris Grabenstein (4.5 / 5)
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo (3 / 5)
Peril at the Top of the World by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2 / 5)
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (4.5 / 5)
Quest for the City of Gold by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2.5 / 5)
August
The End by Lemony Snicket (2 / 5)
Freedom’s Song* by Kim Vogel Sawyer (3 / 5)
A Seven Letter Word by Kim Slater (3.5 / 5)
All-American Adventure by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2.5 / 5)
A Treacherous Tale* by Elizabeth Penney (2 / 5)
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters (2 / 5)
The Debutante’s Code by Erica Vetsch (5 / 5)
Trapped in Hitler’s Hell by Anita Dittman with Jan Markell (4 / 5)
September
The Plunder Down Under by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (3 / 5)
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (5 / 5)
The Librarians and The Lost Lamp by Greg Cox (4 / 5)
Alcatraz by Roland Smith & Michael P. Spradlin (3.5 / 5)
Ready to Return by Ken Ham with Jeff Kinley (5 / 5)
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (3 / 5)
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (4 / 5)
Ready Player One** by Ernest Cline (3 / 5)
Millstone of Doubt* by Erica Vetsch (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
The Ultimate Quest* by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein (2 / 5)
Revenge of the Phantom Hot Rod by Robert Vernon (4.5 / 5)
Messenger by Lois Lowry (2.5 / 5)
October
I Want to Punch You in the Face But I Love Jesus** by Sherri Lynn (5 / 5)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (4 / 5)
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau (3 / 5)
Jurassic Park** by Michael Crichton (5 / 5)
Quest for the King’s Crown* by Robert Vernon (4 / 5)
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts** by Lilian Jackson Braun (4.5 / 5)
The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase by Greg Cox (4 / 5)
The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep (3 / 5)
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (1 / 5)
The Cat Who Lived High by Lilian Jackson Braun (3.5 / 5)
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (3.5 / 5)
November
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (3 / 5)
Lightning** by Dean Koontz (5 / 5)
The Librarians and the Pot of Gold by Greg Cox (3 / 5)
The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
Son by Lois Lowry (3 / 5)
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
The Sisters of Sea View* by Julie Klassen (3.5 / 5)
Addie McCormick and the Stranger in the Attic** by Leanne Lucas (5 / 5)
December
The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal** by Lilian Jackson Braun (4.5 / 5)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness** by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (3.5 / 5)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (5 / 5)
The Big Lie by Bill Myers (5 / 5)
Ruth by Ellen Gunderson Traylor (5 / 5)
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (3.5 / 5)
North! or Be Eaten** by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (5 / 5)
Cozy Up to Christmas by Colin Conway (2.5 / 5)
Addie McCormick and the Mystery of the Missing Scrapbook by Leanne Lucas (5 / 5)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 / 5)
The Monster in the Hollows** by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale by Philip Van Doren Stern (3.5 / 5)
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (4 / 5)
The Warden and the Wolf King** by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
The Cat Who Moved a Mountain by Lilian Jackson Braun (4 / 5)
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (4 / 5)
This list includes 15 ARCs (marked with a *) and 26 re-reads (marked with a **). I’m not going to try to pick my single favorite book from the year, but I did post about my top 10 favorites already. During the last year, I started 17 series and finished 10 series, caught up on 8 series (meaning the author plans to release more in the future), and decided not to continue 3 series (after being at least 2 books into the series). I currently have 10 series in progress. And for the first time since I started blogging about reading in 2019, I did not DNF a single book!
Here is a break-down of the ratings I gave (there were a few books I read twice during the year, so I only counted them once each):
1 star: 1
1.5 stars: 0
2 stars: 9
2.5 stars: 7
3 stars: 18
3.5 stars: 17
4 stars: 29
4.5 stars: 9
5 stars: 24
Average rating: 3.75
Even though I was behind all month, I’m going to raise my reading goal up (but only by 5), setting my goal for the year on Goodreads at 130 books. Some of the short kids’ books I read were the first in a series, which means I should have an easier time getting those quick ones in. If I come to regret it, I can always lower it.
My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here. I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads, if anyone is interested in that.
What did you read last year? Let me know in the comments, and even feel free to link to your own summary post!