2022: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2022, my second full year of remote working, I managed to surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 55 books, an increase of one book over last year and my second consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I surpassed last year’s total with a mere three days remaining in 2022.  I read (or listened) to 19,328 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the third time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, fifteen were non-fiction and, of the remaining 40 novels, only two were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 44 e-books and three audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 37 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

A little more than half of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 31 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Adam Nedeff Kelsey McKinney Simone St. James Laura Dave
Jeff Warren Carlye Adler Matt Paxton Jordan Michael Smith
Alyssa Milano Alex Finlay Taylor Jenkins Reid Emily Ratajkowski
Samantha Downing Dave Grohl Mary Lynn Rajskub Stephanie Perkins
Michael Schur Joseph Henrich V.E. Schwab Brianna Madia
Jimmy Piersall Richard Whittingham Richard Osman Colleen Hoover
Jenette McCurdy Sally Rooney Josh Malerman Alice Sebold
Katie Mack Penn Jillette Elin Hilderbrand Nita Prose

Alex Finlay, Simone St. James, Karin Slaughter, Megan Goldin, Jeffery Deaver, and Richard Osman were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2022.

16 of the books I read were released this year, while only two of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1953.

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Book 52 (of 52) – Random

Random – Penn Jillette

A Vegas native hits a lucky roll of the dice and pays off his father’s gambling debts, saving his and his family’s lives.  Feeling that his life has changed, he decides to give up all planning and decision making, leaving his life’s choices up to the dice.  Will randomness keep him alive against the three things trying to kill him: the mobster who his dad owed money to, a thief who masterminded a casino heist, and the raging novel corona virus.

Magician Penn Jillette brings us Random, his second novel.  A long time Vegas resident, Jillette brings his knowledge of the town and its vibe to the book.  The plot, however, could have used a little more work.  It’s an intriguing idea, but the execution is a little lacking, with the dice rolling getting a little boring the more often it happened.

And there we have it, book #52!  For just the second time since I started this “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge back in 2010, I made it to the finish line, and with a couple of weeks to spare.  Now, I go after my personal record of 54 books, set all the way back in 2021.