7 OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022

2022 is drawing to a close having provided readers with some literary gems. New releases from debut authors and seasoned pros, across genres and forms, have impressed critics and delighted readers. Whether you are looking for your own winter escape or a last-minute gift for a loved one, here are seven of the best books released in 2022.

1. TIME IS A MOTHER BY OCEAN VUONG

• Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong released his debut novel back in 2019. Written as a letter to the narrator’s illiterate mother, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous tackled themes of race, masculinity, and the joy of storytelling. It was quickly hailed a masterpiece.
• In 2022, Vuong returned to poetry with the release of the intimate yet universal collection Time Is a Mother.
• An exploration of grief following the death of his mother, the poems in this stunning collection deal with familial love, the violence of bereavement, and the beauty in finding joy in life despite adversity.

2. TO PARADISE BY HANYA YANAGIHARA

• Yanagihara’s second novel, A Little Life, launched her into the literary world as a major new talent. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2015, it was a sprawling tale of brotherly love and buried trauma that became a million-copy bestseller. 
• 2022’s follow-up, To Paradise, has sold equally well and has been similarly lauded. Barack Obama named it as one of his favourite books of the year.
• To Paradise tells three stories in one, set across centuries. From an alternate-reality 1983 New York to a 1993 Manhattan AIDS epidemic and a plague-ridden 2093, each story is connected by the human desire to protect the ones we love.

3. CHILDREN OF PARADISE BY CAMILLA GRUDOVA

• Grudova’s debut novel follows a young woman newly arrived in an unnamed city. Passing the fading glory of a once-majestic cinema – the Paradise – our narrator applies for a job there.
• At first standoffish, she slowly builds friendships with the outsider crew that man the ticket booths and aisles. She is even invited to join their after-hours film club where she is educated about the cinematic greats.
• But soon, a sense of foreboding looms. From macabre visions and occult offerings to a hidden screen that is said to appear and disappear at will, the Paradise threatens to engulf them all. 

4. THE PASSENGER BY CORMAC MCCARTHY

• Arriving 16 years after the Pulitzer prize for fiction winner The Road (2006), The Passenger was the first of two novels released by McCarthy in 2022.
• Salvage diver Bobby Western investigates a sunken jet and its missing passenger while he tries to come to terms with his father’s part in the atomic bomb project and his sister’s deteriorating mental health. 
• As his investigation proceeds, he’ll also be chased by shadowy organisations, both criminal and governmental.
• Taking in New Orleans’ dive bars and Florida oil rigs, this novel of big ideas was followed by the shorter companion piece, Stella Maris.

5. AT CERTAIN POINTS WE TOUCH BY LAUREN JOHN JOSEPH

• Lauren John Joseph’s debut novel opens with our narrator walking for breakfast through Mexico City with a “very handsome American boy whom I had picked up a house party”. As she walks, she realises the date: 29 February.
• So begins a journey a decade into her past as she recalls a passionate affair and a first love that ultimately led to betrayal.
• The exuberance of youth, the spontaneity of art, and the power of first love tangle in a story that pitches from London and Mexico City to San Francisco and New York in this impressive 2022 debut.

6. LIBERATION DAY BY GEORGE SAUNDERS

• American short-story writer George Saunders turned his hand to the novel in 2017. His debut effort, Lincoln in the Bardo won the 2017 Booker Prize. It told the story of Abraham Lincoln’s grief on the death of his son, through the eyes of the quarrelsome ghosts that inhabit the Georgetown cemetery where he is laid to rest. 
• Saunders followed this up with a non-fiction work, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which provided lessons in the craft of story writing for four Russian masters of the art.
• In 2022, Saunders returned to the short story with Liberation Day. The dystopian visions across this funny and playful collection are at once nightmarish, nostalgic, and political. 

7. THE LAST WHITE MAN BY MOHSIN HAMID

• The original idea for Hamid’s latest novel came shortly after 9/11 when the British Pakistani novelist found his “partial membership” to whiteness had been revoked. 
• What emerged, was the story of “Anders, a white man, [who] woke up to find he had turned a deep and undeniable brown.” 
• Anders must come to terms with his sudden change, even as he worries about how it will be perceived by the outside world and those he loves. As its effect on his relationships becomes clear (for better or worse), the phenomenon begins to spread. 
• Hamid has previously been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, for The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) and for Exit West (2017). The Last White Man is his fifth novel. 

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