2.27 Priority - Five Star Reads

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write about a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-seventh day of the month is "Priority."

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This is the first year I've kept track of my star ratings, so here are my five-star reads for 2022. I'll do another post a little later that details how many books I read, average stars, and the like, but let's start with the books I loved this year.

A Queen in Hiding and The Queen of Raiders (The Nine Realms #1 and #2) by Sarah Kozloff - I listened to these audiobooks and was really caught in the worldbuilding. It's a (slightly) more feminist A Song of Ice and Fire if that sort of thing interests you.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary - A five-star romance novel doesn't happen every day in my life, but this one had such lovely characters and I love how they fell in love without seeing each other and I just adored it. 

Deliliah Green Doesn't Care by Ahley Herring Blake - Another smart, delightful romance novel. I have the next one in the series on hold at the library and I hope it lives up to expectations.

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez - An interesting graphic novel about Hall's search for more information about slave revolts, part research memoir and part history. So fascinating.

Woodrow on the Bench: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog by Jenna Blum - If you're a caretaker for an elderly or chronically ill pet, this book should be a must read for you. I found it hopeful as we were in the midst of Hannah's worst moments. Funnily enough, after I read this, I saw it featured on a display at Hannah's neurologist's office. I think we're through the worst of Hannah's illness (FINGERS ALL CROSSED), but this book was so helpful and affirming.

The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Watson - A fictionalized oral history of an interracial rock group. I cannot sing this book's praises high enough.

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey - An alternate United States in which hippos are pets. Nothing will ever be more appealing to me than a story about a person's love for their pet.

Voice from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich - So hard to read, but very powerful to hear voices from all kinds of people whose lives were disrupted or destroyed by the catastrophe of the failed nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. 

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley - I never would have read this if I had not done the Pop Sugar reading challenge and I would have been the worse for it. Such a truly astonishing debut novel.

The Green Bone saga by Fonda Lee - I gave all three books in this series, Jade City, Jade War, and Jade Legacy five stars. This combination of The Godfather meets Bruce Lee is truly everything I didn't know I wanted to read.

Dawn and Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis #1 and #2) by Octavia E. Butler - So many great themes in these books. Such great writing about important topics in a non-preachy way. Butler is the queen of science fiction for a reason.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #1 and #2) by Becky Chambers - Rereads of books I just adore and will probably reread again in 2023. Such smart, heartwarming science fiction.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - Another audiobook read for me. Just a truly heartwarming fantasy story about the importance of found family.

The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and  Penric's Progress (World of Five Gods) by Lois McMaster Bujold - I remain mystified by the number and reading order of the World of Five Gods, but these books are so great. I loved being in this world and enjoyed the complex characters and the snarky writing.

Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Corey - A fitting end to one of the best sci-fi series ever written. This writing duo really landed the plane and I could not have been more thrilled.

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - A gem of feminist fantasy! A true gem! If you have a teen girl who loves fantasy, give her this!

Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly - I don't think it's fair that some people can write like this, but I'm so glad that I get to reap the rewards of such brilliant, succinct, funny writing.

Twenty-four five star reads in 2022. Not too shabby! (Obviously I'll update this if I read another five star book between now and the end of the year.)

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Another twenty-one books got 4.5 stars:

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Every Heart A Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #1 and #2) by Seanan McGuire

The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickles

The Inheritance and Other Stories by Robin Hobb

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

The Black Gryphon (Mage Wars #1) by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon

A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

The Ink Black Heart (Cormoran Strike #6) by Robert Galbraith

The Royal We (Royal We #1) by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch

The Evening and the Morning (Kingsbridge #0) by Ken Follett

My Name is Lucy Barton (Amgash #1) by Elizabeth Strout

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To see what Bestest Friend has to say about priorities, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.