10 BOOK PICKS of 2022
2022 has brought us some incredible reads by some acclaimed and first-time authors. Don’t miss reading these top 10 books of 2022. They are just fabulous and entertaining!!
Fiction:
Reminders of Him
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Reminders of Him is an engrossing novel by #1 New York Times best-selling American author, Colleen Hoover. She is best known for her novel – It Ends with Us, published in 2016.
Her latest publication is about a melodramatic tale of a young mother, Kenna who returns to town after serving 5 years of a sentence for the unintentional murder of her boyfriend, Scotty with whom she had a daughter, Diem while in prison. Kenna yearns to meet Diem, who is 4 years old now and under the guardianship of her grandparents. The story goes through a roller coaster of emotions as Kenna faces tough resistance in meeting her daughter from Scotty’s parents, who believe her responsible for their only son’s murder.
Kenna finds the only sympathetic shoulder in a local bar owner, Ledger. She later finds out that Ledger was Scotty’s best friend. The two somehow form a connection and fight all odds for a happy ending.
It is a book that you may not leave till you finish and will make you go through a myriad of emotions.
Young Mungo
Genre: Gay Romance
Douglas Stuart is a Scottish-American writer who won Booker Prize, in 2020 and many other awards for his debut novel, Shuggie Bain.
Young Mungo is an evocative and dangerous love story of two Glaswegian teenage boys, James and Mungo set in the early 1990s. Though both belong to warring sectarian backgrounds, they become best friends who find love amid family dysfunction, community conflict, and adult predation. It vividly portrays the working class life, and violence between warring sectarian gangs and takes us to Mungo’s world which is sprawling yet claustrophobic.
Douglas Stuart’s writing is vigorous, profound, descriptive, and incredibly well-written. This book addresses several poignant issues that are universal.
The Maid
Genre: Mystery Thriller
This is the debut novel of Canadian author, Nita Prose, which is an easy read and well-written. It has no sex or gory murder scenes. It is a sweet murder mystery story with not many twists yet engaging.
It begins with the discovery of the dead body of a Real Estate tycoon in a hotel suite by Molly Gray, a maid who works in an upscale boutique hotel. She is a targeted murder suspect. Molly is a simpleton who takes pride in her cleaning work and does it with perfection. The story hints at her being autistic. Grab this book at the earliest to learn how Molly gets her name cleared of the murder through connection to the human heart.
The book has a good message of being kind, empathetic, and accepting towards people who are different from us.
How High We Go in the Dark
Author: Sequoia Nagamatsu
Genre: Science Fiction
Sequoia Nagamatsu is an American novelist, short story writer, and professor.
This novel fast-forwards us to 2030 when scientists discover 30,000-year-old settlements in the melting permafrost of Siberia due to Climate Change. These ancient people were suffering from a virus at the time of their demise. This virus remained highly contagious on thawing even after so many years. The novel has different interconnected stories told from different people’s perspectives at different periods of how they are coping with the virus and adapting to it; all aiming to navigate the reality of mass death, fear, and grieving.
Non-Fiction
Book: His Name is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Genre: Biography
It is a biography by two prize-winning Washing Post journalists, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. They have deftly covered the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, and explained racism in the United States. It has interviews with Floyd’s friends, family, and members of his local community and also delves into his different aspects of life like parenting, drug addiction, and convictions.
This is a must-read book on how one man’s tragic end brought about a global movement for change.
Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong
Genre: History
Louisa Lim is an award-winning journalist. She covered China and Hong Kong for more than 2 decades as a correspondent for BBC and NPR.
The book covers the unique history, culture, and identity of Hong Kong. The history of how it was colonized by the British, the story of British Hong Kong, its struggle to find its identity following the handover to China, and the background of the protest movement.
This is a unique book as it is one of the few books which has been written from the perspective of a Hong Konger. It is a must-read for anyone interested in this subject and topic.
The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicines and the New Human
Genre: Science
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 2011 and The Gene, #1 New York Times best-seller, comes the fourth spectacular book.
In this book, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee has explained complex subjects like Biology in a lucid manner such that a person with a non-scientific background can also understand. He takes us through the discovery and description of cells in our body – how they function within themselves and within an organ and the body as a whole. A major portion of the book covers cancerous cells, cancer treatments, and how they behave with the healthy cells of the body.
Sweat: A History of Exercise
Genre: Fitness
William Hayes is an American non-fiction writer and photographer.
The author tracks down historical books across the globe and traces the history of exercise back to ancient times. This book is of interest to exercise enthusiasts, and people interested in public health. He also discusses how he got into different types of exercises at different points in life.
Fen, Bog, and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and its Role in the Climate Crisis
Genre: Climate Change
Annie Proulx is an acclaimed American author and journalist of nine books.
Annie Proulx through her research elucidates the three types of wetlands, their history, the importance of wetlands, and the vital role they play in preserving the environment by storing the carbon emissions that accelerate Climate Change.
Why should I worry when I can face the world?
Author: Shibu Nair
Genre: Self-help
Shibu Nair is an Indian motivational speaker and inspiring writer.
This is a book that anyone can relate to with its simple inspiring examples and anecdotes. If read, understood, and practiced, then it can help overcome our worries and bring happiness. The author provides a unique, research-based approach to controlling our worries.
-Nivedita Chitnis is a corporate HR Generalist, independent writer, and editor. She has co-authored books and writes for Indian Newspapers.
