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TTT: Year-End Top Ten

Lori

Not gonna lie, y’all. The top five were easy—-I only had five 5-star reads this year. But I had probably thirty 4-star reads, and culling those to five was a process. And five years from now, I might look back and think I got it wrong.

Numbers one and two were also ridiculously hard because I loved them both so, so, so much. I almost tied them, but, in the end, I think that Daisy Jones left me wanting so much more of that universe that it sneaked ahead. By, like, a millimeter.

So, that’s my ten. I can’t wait to see yours!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

29 thoughts on “TTT: Year-End Top Ten”

    1. I think part of the reason I liked TBFTW was that I’ve seen Hester in so many of Coben’s books that I felt like we were old friends, and it was nice to get a more complete back story for her.

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  8. I’m starting to feel like the only one who refused to exercise self-discipline, haha. It certainly does make more of an impact when you keep it to a top 10, even if they end up not all staying with you after a couple of years. I’ve only read one of these but they all sound really good.

    (Daisy Jones didn’t land in my top 25, for lack of characters I wanted to hang out with and a format that limited how beautiful the writing itself could be, but I did like it and I can see why it appeals to so many people. There is definitely more to explore from that universe!)
    –RS

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  9. My year end top ten is rather dominated with a pair of series I absolutely loved – and the 7 books that got 5 stars from me this year. I did decide to restrict this to only new books; rather than fill the list with old favorites I revisited during some low spots this year.

    The Lord of Stariel (Stariel, #1) by AJ Lancaster
    The Prince of Secrets (Stariel, #2)
    A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) by Naomi Novik
    The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)
    The Court of Mortals (Stariel, #3)
    The King of Faerie (Stariel, #4)
    Riley Thorn and the Corpse in the Closet (Riley Thorn, #2) by Lucy Score
    Heaven’s River (Bobiverse, #4) by Dennis E. Taylor
    Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door (Riley Thorn, #1)
    Descent Into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941–A Navy Diver’s Memoir by Edward C. Raymer

    Special Mentions

    Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s Dragon (Jane Austen’s Dragons, #1) by Maria Grace
    The Bygone Dagger by Joseph Lallo

    (These probably weren’t the 11th or 12th most enjoyable books I read, but I really did quite like each series)

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  12. I wanted to read Project Hail Mary (still keep thinking the title is Hail Mary as I don’t know why they make the word project so small in the title) but now reading more reviews, I find I don’t want to read it. I guess being a mood reader is not a very good thing.

    Actually, I would have like to know why you choose these books other them being your favorite. I find people don’t always like the same things even if they like the same book.

    Since you have Daisy Jones as #1, I now is certain we’ll never have the same taste in books but it’s okay. We all enjoy different things and books is one of them.

    Have a lovely day.

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    1. I didn’t put as much detail as I might have otherwise since I’m out of town for the holiday, and my time isn’t quite my own this week. But let’s take a look. #10, Red White and Royal Blue got the nod over the seventeen other queer novels I read because I thought it was incredibly charming, and accessible to folks who might be new to the genre. Riley Thorne is the better version of those Stephanie Plum books that everyone likes but me, so I never miss an opportunity to recommend it, or its sequel. The Last Thing He Told me was a freight train from start to finish, and did not end the way I expected, which was refreshing. I loved the relationship between the leads in The Soulmate Equation, and the end hit me square in the feels. The Boy From the Woods featured a supporting character from Coben’s Myron Bolitar series, and was vintage Coben, with twists and turns all over the place. Shadowed Steel was the first book in this series that didn’t feel like an introduction, the first one that felt like a worthy successor to its parent series, the Chicagoland Vampires. Beach Read was a lovely slow burn, and the relationship felt real in a way that I don’t see a lot. Someday, Someday was a queer love story, but so much more, touching on the opioid crisis, conversion therapy, and neurodivergence. Project Hail Mary was a fun ride, with a language component that made my linguistics-major heart sing.

      And Daisy. Well, I just couldn’t get enough of her. I get that the book isn’t for everyone, but it stuck with me for months, making it hard to read anything else that I felt didn’t measure up to its emotional resonance.

      So, that’s a quick look at why these. 🙂

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  18. Ok, Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door sounds like a lot of fun! I’m definitely adding that to my TBR 😂 I’ve also seen Project Hail Mary on *so* many lists this week… I think I need to bump that up on my TBR in 2022 and read it ASAP cos everyone loves it so much! The same goes for Beach Read (can’t believe I haven’t read that yet) and Soulmate Equation! I hope you have a great year of reading in 2022 😊

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