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Top Ten Books from 2022

2022 was a pretty good year for me when it comes to reading books as I ended up reading twice as many than I did the previous year. Thus, expanding this list from five to ten was a necessary, obvious move. Here are the best novels that I read this year ranked from ten to one.

10. Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I read almost the entire Percy Jackson series during 2022. This series is intended for teenagers first and foremost, but I still found it wildly enjoyable as an adult. It has its problems, mainly the overly frenetic pacing, but the world building here is terrific and the characters are actually very well developed. It’s a fun modern spin on Greek Mythology. The best installments are the second and the fourth one.

9. King Solomon’s Mines

H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines is an uneven, but memorable adventure tale firmly placed in the Lost World subgenre. While its pacing is far from brisk and some of the author’s views are antiquated nowadays, the portrayal of African tribes and the dangerous, then unexplored terrain of this continent was quite admirable and at times even thrilling. It’s a flawed, but undeniably charming adventure novel.

8. The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita is a classic of Soviet literature that defies easy categorization due to its mixture of many different genres and moods. It’s not always successful in its offbeat structure and tone, but it benefits from having so many different themes, layers and emotions depicted. It’s an epic tale that is particularly strong at satire.

7. Treasure Island

Treasure Island basically established the trope of finding treasure on uncharted islands. It was hugely influential within the adventure genre and its impact can still be felt today. The dialogue can be difficult to adjust to, but the characterization is strong, the adventurous elements are outstanding and Stevenson’s writing is effortlessly engaging.

6. The A.B.C. Murders

This book is rare among Poirot tales in its structure and subject. The structure is a mixture of journalistic and more suspenseful, and although it doesn’t always work, it’s quite admirable nonetheless. Christie here created a very original story that is authentic in its serial killer conceit and hugely entertaining throughout.

5. Death on the Nile

By far one of the most emotionally charged of Christie’s novels, Death on the Nile finds her at her most poignant and moving. The Oriental touches are lacking here, but the characters are uniformly incredible how well developed they are. The highlight is that very touching ending and one of the sweetest dynamics that Poirot has with one of the suspects.

4. Brave New World

Brave New World is a highly influential work of dystopian fiction that is particularly impressive in its prescient themes and narrative. Genetic conditioning and the dangers of consumerism are just some of the many themes explored in this very sophisticated novel that is incredibly written in dialogue as well. It has truly aged like fine wine.

3. Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist is one of the most shamelessly underappreciated works of classic literature that is today criticized for all the wrong reasons when in fact it’s an outstanding work of social drama.  It is difficult to read due to its graphic violence, but it was necessary and brave from the author to depict everything that he did here in such horrific detail. The characters are also meticulously imagined and so real with the exception of the titular protagonist. It’s a book that starts off more comedic, but ends up with heartbreaking tragedy. It’s just phenomenal.

2. The Fall

This philosophical work of literature is complex in emotions and dialogue while it is both thematically rich and timeless in its relevancy. The protagonist’s tumultuous inner thoughts are fascinating to follow while some of the messages are beautiful and extremely important. Some of the ideas here are difficult to grapple with, but they all essentially represent what we are all thinking deep inside, making this existentialist story immensely relatable to everybody reading it. It’s a short novel, but it’s well worth experiencing it.

1. 1984

Brave New World probably aged better, but I personally still prefer 1984 over it. That is because this dystopian novel is much more engaging to read and extremely suspenseful throughout. The eerie atmosphere is incredibly well achieved while it also deals with many crucial ideas, especially focusing on surveillance, brainwashing and the policing of language. Orwell’s writing is skilful while the dialogue and inner monologues are both excellent. It’s just a classic all-around, thus it takes the deserved first sport for this year.