Books List 2022

 This year (2022) I'll be starting a new series of annual posts here listing books I finished over the year and whether or not I recommend them. For books (other than poetry) to qualify for this list, they must contain at least 10,000 words of content or, if word count is uncertain, be at least 30 pages if primarily text or 100 pages if containing heavy art content. Rereads shall be listed apart from new reads.  Children's picture books will not be counted in my total due to their short length. I shall, however, list recommended picture books I read. I will not be assigning number ratings, as I have not constructed a system for weighing and evaluating my thoughts and did not take notes for that purpose as I read. If I feel the need, I shall write a fuller review of some of these entries. I made lists the previous few years as well, and if I can dig them out and recall what my feelings were for those books, I'll make a post collecting those as well. For now, here is the key to my "commentary." For more details on a particular reaction, please use the comment section.


Comment Key:

Yes = This book is recommended. If an exclamation point is included, then take that as an "absolutely yes" or other such enthusiastic descriptor.

Maybe = While I think it's a book is good, some element causes me to hesitate giving a general recommendation.

Sure or Meh = Neutral. I neither recommend nor discourage reading the book. "Sure" is closer to a recommend, but with little feeling behind it.

Not Really = I don't recommend it, but I don't have strong feelings about the book.

No = Don't read it. An exclamation point indicates strong negative emotion.


These ratings might be combined (e.g. Sure/Maybe) if I'm conflicted about which to give.



Books Read: 50*


Physical Books: 25

  • Ask Your Husband by Stephanie Gordon- Maybe
  • Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God’s Holy Ones by Scott Hahn- Sure
  • The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis- Yes!
  • Alien Game by Rod Walker- Yes
  • Our Births, Our Stories compiled by Heather Baker- Maybe
  • Malice by Keigo Higashino- Yes
  • The Cat Who Saved Books by Sousuke Natsukawa- Not really
  • Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan- Meh
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events 1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket- No
  •  A Series of Unfortunate Events 2: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket- No
  • Heidi by Johanna Spyri- Yes!
  • The People of the Talisman by Leigh Brackett- Sure/Yes
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury- Yes
  • Centrism Games by Rachel Fulton Brown and Dragon Common Room- Maybe/Not really
  • How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn- Yes!
  • Still Amidst the Storm by Conor Gallagher- Not really
  • The Way of Trust and Love by Fr. Jacques Philippe- Yes
  • The Long Moonlight by Razorfist- Not really/Meh
  • Lepanto by G. K. Chesterton (ed. Dale Ahlquist)- Maybe
  • The Decline and Fall of Sacred Scripture: How the Bible Became a Secular Book by Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker- Yes
  • Called to Life by Fr. Jacques Philippe- Sure
  • Saintly Moms: 25 Stories of Holiness by Kelly Ann Guest- Sure/Maybe
  • Fire & Light: Learning to Receive the Gift of God by Fr. Jacques Philippe- Yes
  • My Happy Marriage by Akumi Agitogi- Sure/Maybe
  • Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin- Maybe/Yes


EBooks: 22

  • Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini- Yes
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- Not really/Meh
  • 4th Generation Warfare Handbook by William S. Lind- Yes/Maybe
  • The Return of the Great Depression by Vox Day- Yes/Maybe
  • We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson- Meh
  • The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams- Sure
  • House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig- Yes/Maybe
  • Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher- Sure
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events 3: The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket- No
  • From Barsoom to Malacandra: Musings on Things Past and Things to Come by John C. Wright- Yes
  • The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis- No
  • Son of the Deathless by Nicholas Kotar- Sure
  • Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams- Meh
  • Turn the Bottle Over by Carissa Gobble- Yes
  • The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh- Yes
  • Spellbreaker by Charlie N. Holmberg- Meh
  • Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins- Yes
  • The Midnight Ground by Eric Dontigney- Maybe
  • The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin by L. Jagi Lamplighter- No
  • Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien- Yes!
  • Young Man’s War by Rod Walker- Yes
  • Chasing Shadows: Back to Barterra by J. M. N. Reynolds- Meh


Rereads: 3

  • Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper- Yes
  • The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney- Maybe
  • The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham- Yes!


Audiobooks: 1

  • The Heliand by anonymous- Yes! (note: I have this under audiobook because my husband read it out loud for us. There is no official audiobook for this, even though there should be!)

Recommended Picture Books:
  • The Donkey Who Carried the Ark by Handdrawn Bear
  • The King's Colt by Handdrawn Bear
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle


*Audiobooks are not counted in the total list, not because they are a less valuable or legitimate way of getting through a book but because they engage a different physical sense and part of the brain and, therefore, do not count in my mind as "reading." Listening to books as a preference over reading, however, is perfectly fine.

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