{"id":7035973,"date":"2026-08-10T01:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/hits-and-misses-of-2022-all-by-my-shelf\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T01:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T01:43:06","slug":"hits-and-misses-of-2022-all-by-my-shelf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7035973","title":{"rendered":"Hits and misses of 2022 \u2013 All By My Shelf"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I look back on my reading in 2022, it strikes me \u2013 a little to my surprise \u2013 that there aren\u2019t that many books that I absolutely loved<\/em>. There was plenty of stuff that was engaging, readable, admirable even; but not a huge amount of material that I would thrust into a friend\u2019s hand and say (nicely), \u201cRead it!\u201d Anyhow, here are my hits, misses, and in-betweens of the year. (And, as ever, the year of publication has limited impact on the year that I actually read it \u2013 I\u2019m happy to admit that I\u2019m a couple of years behind the times.) <\/p>\n
Hits<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
There\u2019s probably not much left to be said about this history of the Sackler family \u2013 including Valium, Librium, OxyContin etc. \u2013 that hasn\u2019t already been said. But it\u2019s worth opening the book, choosing a single page at random, and then assessing that page in terms of just how much research (and legal input) was required just to get that one page written and published. (And then multiply that by 450 pages.) <\/p>\n
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Quirky and original, a novel that entwines the story of the first Oxford English Dictionary with that of the Suffragettes and the First World War (and that\u2019s also the order in which I enjoyed these topics the most, too). Slightly slower-paced than some would like, perhaps, but a love of words shines through and it\u2019s entirely unlike anything else I read last year.<\/p>\n
In-betweens<\/h2>\n
The Dead Line by Holly Watt<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
There\u2019s nothing essentially wrong<\/em> with this, but it was a bit of a letdown after Holly Watt\u2019s first book, To The Lions<\/em>. The setup is excellent \u2013 a plea for help from Bangladesh, found hidden in clothes made for the British high street \u2013 but the pace doesn\u2019t quite match that of the author\u2019s debut. And there\u2019s an interminable chase through a derelict ship that seems like it goes on for chapter after chapter (although checking back it\u2019s only 30 pages or so).<\/p>\n
Girl A by Abigail Dean<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Again, this is a perfectly decent; in fact it\u2019s mostly very well done, offering an insightful glimpse into the lives of a group of siblings who escape their abusive home. But the twist, dear me\u2026I obviously won\u2019t give anything away here, but if you didn\u2019t see it coming (and you will have), then you will have seen it a dozen times before. <\/p>\n
Misses<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Tim Marshall\u2019s previous book, Prisoners Of Geography<\/em>, was a deserved bestseller, looking at how the quirks of physical geography \u2013 Russia\u2019s lack of access to a warm-water port, for example \u2013 had played their part in shaping the political landscape. This follows a similar format (ten maps, ten chapters) but, crucially, it forgets to add a hook. There are no \u2018prisoners\u2019 of geography here; just potted histories of ten countries or areas. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but it\u2019s not a patch on the previous book, and has \u2018rushed follow-up\u2019 written all over it. <\/p>\n
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Sometimes a thriller comes out of nowhere, and fully justifies the hype surrounding it \u2013 Gone Girl<\/em> or The Girl on the Train<\/em>, say. This one had all the hype, but is just a bit \u2026 meh. The set-up is unconvincing, the characters unengaging, and I\u2019d pretty much forgotten it a day or two after finishing it. (It has ratings of 3.4 on Goodreads and 3.8 on Amazon, which are definitely on the low side for such a successful book.) <\/p>\n
When I look back on my reading in 2022, it strikes me \u2013 a little to my surprise \u2013 that there aren\u2019t that many books that I absolutely loved. There was plenty of stuff that was engaging, readable, admirable even; but not a huge amount of material that I would thrust into a friend\u2019s hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7035974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15047,22071,2064],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7035973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-hits","tag-misses","tag-shelf"],"yoast_head":"\n
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