The Best and Worst Books of Cannonball Read 14

Of course Cannonballers have book recommendations for this time of year. They also are sure to tell you what to give someone who’s on your naughty list.

Take a look through some of the best and worst of Cannonball Read 14. And if you’ve got opinions to add, consider signing up for 2023’s Cannonball Read 15 an annual, memorial book challenge that asks participants to read and review 52 (or 26 or 13) books in the memory of the late, great Pajiban AlabamaPink. Bonus, CBR does all of this while fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Sign up for next year’s Cannonball Read, and you too can stick it to cancer, one book at a time.

Abi

Best:

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake - I ended up reading this like four times and fell madly in love with it. I want to both be and be with Delilah Green, the true lesbian quandary. I had my first tattoo yesterday, and it’s her fault.
Detransition, Baby by Torrie Peters - I haven’t finished reviewing this one. It’s been sitting in my drafts for months, but I can’t figure out how to write it without exposing myself in a way that makes me wildly uncomfortable. This was so hard to read but made me feel so seen, and it’s topic is so dangerous, as the idea of detransition is so often used as a weapon against my community, as an idea that is used to do violence against us and restrict our ability to transition in the first place. But here it is handled with such grace and nuance and the final pages of this are about as affirming despite their trauma as anything I have ever read.
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner - Maybe this should be Nevada, or One last Stop, but to be honest I’m mostly just gonna say one word in all caps to say what sets this one ahead of the pack. SMUT.

Worst:

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers

I read more books this year than basically ever, it’s so good to be reading again. I realise my number does not at this moment reflect this, but I’m going to try and catch up.

ardaigle

Best:

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - (I also would put books 2 and 3 in my top 3: all are as good as the first one!)

Though this book is funny, its heart is as big as its humor. There are many poignant moments and it tackles aging, grief, and heartbreak with grace and warmth. It’s a true testament to the frailty of the human condition and the importance of maintaining deep friendships at every stage of life. This is British comedian Richard Osman’s first novel, and it’s so good I’m a little mad about it. The second book is out already (and I have already checked it from the library) and it looks like at least a third is planned. If he keeps reading writing them, I’ll keep reading them.

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty - This book is like warm apple pie topped with whipped cream and served alongside a generous scoop of ice cream on a summer afternoon: sinfully delicious. I read this book in two days over the course of one weekend. It was a riveting time in my hammock following the twists and turns of the Delaney family. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty of it because this is definitely a book where much of the fun is in being bamboozled by the plot points, but suffice it to say there is a snake in the henhouse of this family of chickens.

Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown - I was already a big Brene Brown fan before I opened this book, so I knew to steel myself for something that was going to teach me, challenge me, and break my brain a little bit. Guess what? That’s exactly what happened! This is not something to read cover to cover but is a manual for understanding and navigating emotions. It’s a good read, great even, but it took me over four months to read by design; I would pick it up, read a section, ponder it a little, and put it down for another day.

Worst:

Lucky by Marissa Stapley - In an unusual turn of events, I think I would like this story more as a movie than a book. Throw this into the Netflix film machine and what would come out on the other end would be glitzy and perfectly fine fun for a Sunday afternoon. If you want something skimmable for your summer beach trip, this would suffice, but altogether it’s pretty one-note and predictable.

I had a super tough time picking a top 3 (as usual) so I would also have put in there Sea of Tranquility, No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, and How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life.

BlackRaven

Best:

Queer as All Get Out: 10 People Who’ve Inspired Me by Shelby Criswell - My Best Books are in no particular order. They are just books that I will remember, and really spoke to me in ways I didn’t expect.
Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story by Catherine Pioli - My Best Books are in no particular order. They are just books that I will remember, and really spoke to me in ways I didn’t expect.

Worst:

Lemonade Code by Jarod Pratt - I had several worst books this year. Not so much because they were bad books, but because they were not “my thing” or “meant for me.” However, this book just did not work for me and I can only see a small handful of younger readers liking it.

blauracke

Best:

Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit
Independent People by Halldór Laxness
Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive by Philipp Dettmer

Worst:

No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley

booktrovert

Best:

Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton - Newton confronts her own family history - the good and the bad - and the result is this book about what she discovers, and the very mechanisms of investigating a complicated family history.
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith - This extraordinary book is a must-read. Clint Smith writes engagingly, crafting a story from the history that he deftly brings into the present. He visits nine locations and explores their historic context with relation to enslaving humans, underscoring how personal and present history is for our lived experience today. His humor, empathy, and unflinching ability to confront the past that built us is akin to spending time with your favorite professor in the best classroom. It’s not always comfortable but it’s so necessary to understand where we come from.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson - This story was surprising and emotional. I loved the characters, flawed though they may be, and the redemptive arc that manages to feel earned without feeling trite. It’s a story about connecting back to the deepest sense of what you are.

Worst:

The Maid by Nita Prose - I had a hard time choosing between this and The All of It by Janette Haier. Ultimately this book won because so many people suggested it would be great - and it had lots of elements that I thought I would enjoy - yet the characters felt flat or full of tropes, and it didn’t match my expectations at all.

And More: Honorable mentions: Cult Classic by Sloane Crosby, The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide, everything by Becky Chambers, but most especially Record of a Spaceborn Few.

Caesar’s Wife

Best:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Last Gundir by Nayef Din
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

Worst:

Books of Blood (Vol 1-3) by Clive Barker

carmelpie

Best:

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen - I don’t think I’ve ever read an author who can sketch a character so well that, when they say or think the briefest of phrases, the meaning is felt so entirely.
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - In the span of a month, I read this book twice. I think I’ve found my new comfort read.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson - I had no idea what I was getting into with this book and I still don’t know what to think about it. Except that it made me gasp and laugh more than anything else I read all year.

Worst:

The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy - This was a 900 word medium post that someone decided to turn into a book. It is horrible. I considered using it as a coaster or potholder, but then I would have to look at it and get angry all over again.

My fourth favorite book is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. The book is a slog, but the way she wrote Theo with Boris and their time together hit me right in the feels. See The Dream Thieves for other coming-of-age yearning and heartbreak.

Classic

Best:

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - This was a heartbreaking book about a woman who really didn’t understand her mother until right before she lost her.
The Furies by John Connolly - I didn’t have the energy to write a long review for this one, but this is peak Charlie Parker. I don’t know how Connolly will eventually wrap this series up, but I am enjoying the ride.
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher - I could read an entire series of books with us just following the dustwitch.

Worst:

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane - As another reviewer/romance author said early this year, I am really tired of women’s fiction books masquerading as romance books.

Dome’Loki

Best:

The Locked Tomb Series: Gideon, Harrow, and Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Tamsyn Muir’s “Locked Tomb Series” is brilliant. Each book is distinct from those that came before it: Gideon is an action adventure, Harrow is a meditation on grief, and Nona is all about the various forms of love. All feature an array of incredible women in a unique world setting of necromancers in a galactic empire, spanning moldering cathedrals to glossy spaceships. The series can be a challenging read at times but it is so, so worth it to put the time in and experience the rich tale Muir has written.
Scandalized by Ivy Owens - When I picked Scandalized up, the booksellers commented that four of the staff had finished it with in 24-48 hours. I brought it home and read it twice in 48 hours. Ali Hazelwood described it as “The most steamy, scorching, smart, sweet, exhilarating, passionate, swoony book I could ever imagine”. and I can’t summarize it any more succinctly than that.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi - This is Scalzi at his finest. A fun premise, witty dialogue, and well thought out world building full of Kaiju. This book often had me laughing out loud and was a treat to read from start to finish. Highly recommend for anyone who has a place in their heart for kaiju or is a fan of Scalzi.

Worst:

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende - This book might not objectively be a bad book, but it wasn’t for me and I did not finish. Within characters’ histories, there is often another person’s backstory, and sometimes even a third person. It’s like a Russian nesting doll of people. Momentum of the main character’s story was constantly brought to a standstill. Resulting in the overall story to advance at a glacial pace.

ElCicco

Best:

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka - Highly imaginative story that manages to be both very serious and sometimes funny. The main action is set in 1980s Sri Lanka and the afterlife, and the action is quite thrilling.
Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian - A feminist re-imagining of the legend of King Arthur and Camelot where the focus is on the women at court (Elaine, Morgana and Guinevere) more than Arthur and Lancelot.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune - This is a lovely story that made me happy. It has a great message and delightful characters.

Worst:

Storm of Echoes: The Mirror Visitor Book 4 by Christelle Dabos - Good lord, this book still makes me furious when I think of it. The start of this series was outstanding. I nearly listed the first book (A Winter’s Promise) as one of my favs of the year. I felt like every thread of the story got ruined in the end.

Other Comments if any:

Honorable mention to the Murderbot books, which I read at the beginning of the year. That is a delightful series. Also, if you like Harry Potter universe fan fic, go check out the works of MsKingBean89 over on AO3. All the Young Dudes (Wolfstar/story of Remus Lupin and the marauders) would have been my #1 pick for last year’s roundup if I had read it before the deadline, and Dress Up In You (Wolfstar/alternate universe marauders) was another of my favs for this year.

Ellesfena

Best:

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe - As good as everyone says it is.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui - Please read this. Everyone should read this, especially Americans.
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman - I’ve really fallen off with reviews this year so I haven’t yet reviewed these, but they were wonderful and I’m sad I didn’t read them a lot sooner.

Worst:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - I’m still mad at this book and probably always will be.

Emmalita

Best:

Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka by Cynthia Shanmugalingam
Diasporican by Illyanna Maisonet
Sabbatical by Katrina Jackson - Katrina Jackson is one of the best romance writers you haven’t discovered yet.

Worst:

Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings - No book has pissed me off more in 2022 than this one. It was going along as a fine but not stellar romance about a couple (Lizzie and Rake) who decide to live together platonically after a weekend fling results in a pregnancy. And then Eddings chooses to make Rake’s tragic backstory that his ex cheated on him and then had an abortion. There is no such thing as apolitical art or entertainment. Choosing to vilify a character who had an abortion in 2022 is insidious. Abortion is health care and the abortion ban is causing real harm to real people. Pop culture that relies on lazy stereotypes about people who have abortions is part of how we got to this point. I will never read Eddings again.

And More: Rambutan and Diasporican are the most exciting cookbooks I’ve read in a long time. They both beautifully combine memoir, history, food and photography. They are both diaspora books, invitations to a culture and cuisine that has been largely overlooked, and defiant declarations that they are still here. The recipes are fantastic. Buy both. They are not interchangeable.

esmemoria

Best:

The Collector by John Fowles - One of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. I’m still haunted by the ending.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut - Vonnegut’s books always give me reasons to live.
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz - I ***loved*** this book. It’s so exciting to discover new mystery authors to love.

Worst:

Suicide Med by Freida McFadden - This book featured an eye growing on someone’s ass as a major plot point.

faintingviolet

Best:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - READ THIS BOOK. Its only 147 pages, and then go and pick-up its follow-up A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. This story features two characters and their journey together. Sibling Dex who is mentally and emotionally tired. They are soul tired. They have an aching within, a want of an undefinable more, a fixation on a thing they cannot have. Then we have Mosscap the robot who volunteered to go alone into the unknown and report back after a two hundred year absense. Mosscap is fascinated by everything. This inquisitiveness, this desire to discover, means it is uniquely placed to provide a sounding board that Sibling Dex needs, and to slowly discover the great mystery of the human condition. Because this novella is a meditation on just that. Chambers captures what informs our natures and uses the small details that tell us so much about who we are, crafting vivid writing to discuss identity and personhood.
The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian - This is a default recommendation for this book and its partner The Queer Principles of Kit Webb because these two function as one larger story. It’s the story of a woman who falls in love with the man writing her blackmail letters, and a man who is the worst blackmailer ever. When she kills her husband and needs an accomplice to help her run away, she turns to the only person she knows who has any experience with crime—her blackmailer. It is a consent-driven love story between two bisexual disasters that focuses on loveliness, not on suffering. This book doubles down on the class warfare of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb and interrogates Rob and Marian’s habits of hiding their problems or needs, of choosing pride over other things. There is so much this book does, and does exceedingly well. I want everyone to read it and its predecessor with a quickness. I promise you’ll be happy you did.
Ten Steps to Nanette: a Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby - If you watched Nanette or Douglas (both on Netflix) read this. It’s so good. There are portions of this book that made me cry, not because of what Gadsby has gone through and survived, but because of the eloquent way she has in describing what can sometimes feel so isolating, and the language she puts to not trusting a diagnosis that feels right because it doesn’t look or feel like you were told it would. Of not feeling at home in your own skin when out in the world, but when you are in your own quiet home feeling deeply yourself. Of all the times that the world insists on being more than you can process in any given moment, how if you have just the right sorts of presentations or coping mechanisms you will have to fight to be taken seriously that you are not - in fact - doing all that well. That you will have to fight to believe yourself, to not let anyone diminish your own lived experience.

Worst:

Always in December by Emily Stone - Correctly labelling genre and providing content warnings matter, folks. I wrote my review of this one angry - it committed the above sins and its overwritten with hollow characters, is emotionally manipulative to the reader, and is fatphobic. I do however provide a point by point list of other things you should read instead, so feel free to click that review link.

And More…My other worst book of the year was Seduction: A History from the Enlightenment to the Present by Clement Knox, a book I found almost nothing but problems with it, including making a chapter about Casanova BORING.

My positive honorable mentions are a slew of Romances (Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade, A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall, Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly, Scandalized by Ivy Owens, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen) and Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, both by Patrick Radden Keefe.

GentleRain

Best:

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton - Such a wonderful and nuanced look on our impact on the planet on each other. Heart breaking, beautifully drawn, rewarding.
Cruddy by Lynda Barry - Every read is better than the last. One of my all-time favorite books.
Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti - Just a delight all around!

Worst:

The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie - Miserable gore with no redeeming value.

Jake

Best:

Normal People by Sally Rooney - As great as advertised, so was the show.
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James - The kind of multi-layered historical fiction I love.
Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois - A must read for every US citizen.

Worst:

n/a by n/a - I’ve written on here about several books this year that have this trope: enough with the evil adoptee/orphan/foster child. Those books are all tied for the worst, even if they aren’t technically the worst.

Jen K

Best:

Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire - I read a lot of good books so there probably 10 I could list as best of the year so this list is in chronological reading order, but my beloved Seanan McGuire had to be in here - Toby Daye had the cliffhanger but I always expect great things from that series. This was the “sequel” to Middlegame though you could read this one without it, and everything in this was both new and fresh and completely McGuire so really loved this one.
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - What a beginning to a series! I haven’t been this immediately sucked into a world since The City of Brass.
The World We Became by N.K. Jemisin - The City We Became completely blew my mind so I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t include its sequel - I loved how this one opened up the wider world (hello, Istanbul), and also thought she gave us a very interesting glimpse into her process in the afterword - now, would I love to know what her original vision was? Yes! Did I still love this story which was her adapting around the real world intruding on her plot? Yes. It wasn’t quite as “oh my god, this is incredible” to me as The City but was a gentler approach to her usual fare.

Worst:

Thank you for listening by Julia Whelan - I had a few “did not finished” for books that weren’t working for me but those weren’t bad, they just weren’t working for me at the time (too slow etc) so of the ones I completed my least enjoyable reads were a sequel that disappointing for the author but fine, a sequel where the main character didn’t seem to grow enough to me, and this one which was just fine. I totally admit a lot of the problem with this was me: I thought I had picked up a romance and instead I had picked up women’s fiction - there were just too many threads that all should have had more time or maybe been cut (old grandmother, estranged deadbeat dad, romance hi jinx’s, dying industry, etc.), and a main character that was a bit too hung up around a specific thing that often made me want to roll my eyes or shake her Vs commiserate …

And More…Honorary mentions: Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland - instead of asking what if zombies rose after Gettysburg, this time Ireland explores racism through concepts of magic vs technology set in 1930s US where a Great Blight stands in the for the Dustbowl - and it’s also the rare YA standalone novel (although I would not complain about exploring more in this world).

jeverett15

Best:

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell - Smaller characters seem to love stopping Jacob de Zoet and pouring out their tragic tales. The pattern that emerges is of life being total chaos. Chance meetings, lost jobs, falling in and out of love, economic downturns, and war all wreak havoc on the Europeans and Japanese alike on Dejima.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - Racism, religion, war, poverty, disease, and technology all prevail upon Lee’s characters, and their fates are inextricably entwined with those of their two home countries.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove’s epic scope is daunting but ultimately rewarding. McMurtry wrangles his massive cast of characters as ably as McCrae and Call wrangle cattle.

Worst:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - If you can ignore how ridiculous this premise is, you can get wrapped up in the story pretty easily. Who doesn’t love a good courtroom drama, after all? But…there are aggravations galore.

jomidi

Best:

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Bullet That MIssed by Richard Osman
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Worst:

Christmas Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

KimMiE”

Best:

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - A smoldering love story in which nary so much as a touch is ever shared. A portrait of a man who values dignity and service above his own happiness. A political commentary about well-intentioned naiveté. This novel is a masterpiece. By far the best novel I read this year.
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin - This children’s book not only delivers the message that sometimes the ones we think are the bad guys are really the good guys, it also demonstrates how normal people get swept up in the wars between their governments and how propaganda poisons people’s minds against their perceived enemy. I’ve read many an adult novel that was less adept at handling themes of war, enemies, poverty, and bias. Superb!
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - These stories may focus on a strange planet and alien beings, but the themes are universal and oh-so-human. Bradbury’s collection of stories is a poignant expression of the human experience. I’m glad I finally made time for this gem.

Worst:

Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty - I have a hard time taking a guy whose net worth is somewhere between $4 million and $12 million and still refers to himself as a monk seriously.

Caveat: This is the worst book that I reviewed this year. Truly, the worst book I tried to read is in comments below.

Worst book I couldn’t finish: The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin. I only read about 30 pages or so, and it was both predictable and depressing. Depressing I can handle; bad writing I cannot. I cut my losses when a character compared the female genitalia to cabbage leaves.

Other notable, interesting reads: Perdido Street Station by China Miéville; A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark; The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig; Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel.

LittlePlat

Best:

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - It was not the most technically brilliant book this year, but it was the most anticipated due to its role in the Locked Tomb Series, and it was BATSHIT

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - I love a good magical fantasy, and I was completely charmed by this one. which sounds odd really, as it is quite dark

The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World by Edward Shawcross - I love a good train wreck and the tragi-comedy of a Habsburg who thought he could rule Mexico really hit the spot. And while it is full of bastard people, it has not made me as mad as a lot of other history I have read recently.

Worst:

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - I stop reading most books I don’t click with, but I stuck with this as it was for book club. Its not terrible, but I couldn’t connect with it. And the book club spent more time discussing Vonnegut’s OTHER books rather than this one

llamareadsbooks

Best:

Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik - Take a sci-fi romance from one of my favorite authors and add in a neurodivergent heroine, a caretaker hero, running from danger on a space station, all the found family feels and lots of cookies.
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher - Astoundingly imaginative! This retelling of “The Fall of the House of Usher” has this creeping sort of unease that builds to horror, all laden with T. Kingfisher’s trademark humor. Recommended if you’re looking for excuses to be terrified of hares.
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland - This is a near-perfect enemies-to-lovers bodyguard romance set in an Ottoman-inspired setting. There are misconceptions! Political intrigue! Random swordfights! It’s just lovely, and I absolutely devoured this book.

Worst:

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren - The zany madcap treasure hunt plot line completely overwhelmed the second chance romance, and that plus some other questionable choices made this a complete dud for me.

Malin

Best:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry
The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Honourable mentions: The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary, Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews, Subtle Blood by K.J Charles, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman and Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

narfna

Best:

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut - I needed this book in my life.
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall - A++ romance, with a trans heroine. Hit me right in the swooners.
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones - Jade <3

Worst:

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - Still the most disappointing book I’ve read this year, maybe in like five years.

Very honorable mentions to the rest of my stand-out five-star reads: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, They Never Learn by Layne Fargo, Beach Read by Emily Henry, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson, The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian, Malice by Keigo Higashino, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb, Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez, The Change by Kirsten Miller, Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik.

NTE

Best:

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian - A book about falling in love that doesn’t follow any of the rules about falling in love. But does a great job exploring the absolute breathtaking gall it takes to fully love other human beings.
One For All by Laine Lainoff - Chronically ill, kickass heroine in a Three Musketeers retelling.
Marrying Winterbourne by Lisa Kleypas - “Try to leave me, and see what happens. Go to France, go anywhere, and see how long it takes for me to reach you. Not five fucking minutes.” He took a few vehement breaths, his gaze locked on hers. “I love you. I don’t give a damn if your father is the devil himself. I’d let you stab a knife in my heart if it pleased you, and I’d lie there loving you until my last breath.”

scootsa1000

Best:

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - I remember during the first season of Mythic Quest when the Jake Johnson episode, “A Dark Quiet Death” came on, and I wished there more of that and less of the actual Mythic Quest show. This book is like my wish come true. I’m not gonna lie, I wept after finishing one gorgeous and heartbreaking chapter (IYKYK), and really didn’t want this to end. Never in a million years would I have thought I would love a book about video games this much, but I was delighted to be so surprised.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub - I loved the idea of using time travel to spend more time with your parents. Not to experience something historic or to try and kill Hitler, but just to talk to your dad a few more times before you can’t ever talk to him again. This was beautiful. I guess I was really into books with Tomorrow in the title this year.
Comedy Comedy Drama Drama by Bob Odenkirk - Bob had me from the first chapter when he described his first meeting with Del Close as a teenager and how that led to literally everything else. I love that Bob calls himself out for being an asshole at times (leading to a great story about Jack Black) and also amazed and grateful to work with people like Rhea Seehorn and Michael Mando.

Worst:

The Emma Project by Sonali Dev - DNF. Could not even get through half, it was painful.

Runners up Two fantastic final series entries: The Winners by Fredrick Backman, and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik.

I also really loved The Candy House by Jennifer Egan and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel.

teresaelectro

Best:

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston - I was SO invested in this book even before I read it. It deserved all the hype for covering historical LGBTQIA moments from such a personal perspective. All within a time-travel framework! I cried and was brought back to life by the end.
The Brown Sisters by Talia Hibbert - I loved Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sister trilogy. I’m proof it’s never too late to dive into a series. If you love hilarious banter and steamy sex scenes, this is a must-read. The first book is also great at portraying the struggles of a chronic illness. Plus there’s a cat.
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs - I am slowly reading the Mercy Thompson series/universe by Patricia Briggs. Things get really complicated in book 7, Frost Burned. Mercy has to seek help from humans, vamps, and the fae to rescue her own. It led to an unintentional summer binge-read of nine books in 2 months. If you loved True Blood or often devour urban fantasy series, you should give Mercy a chance.

Worst:

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley - This is by no means the worst book I’ve ever read, but it was the least fun I had while reading all year. Kudos to Lucy Foley for writing such a believable group of loathsome friends. These friends should have stopped hanging out years before! They all go away on vacation to annoy each other and this time someone dies. I did love the switching POVs, my fave was the lodge manager. The book just dragged when trying to make everyone a subject. By the end, I was ready for the lot of them to go.

TylerDFC

Best:

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - From my review: “As the book was wrapping up I was starting to wonder if, and how, it was going to all come together. It didn’t seem like there was enough time for her to do so. I shouldn’t have doubted Mandel, she saves the best trick for last. A penny drop moment that is dazzling, heartbreaking, and wondrous all at the same time brings the book to a close in a satisfying fashion.”
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley - A remarkably effective time travel story that has stuck with me all year. This is the third novel by Pulley I read this year (The Half Life of Valery K and The Watchmaker of Filligree Street being the other two) and of those 3 this is her best.
Pearl by Josh Malerman - From my review: “Pearl is a horror novel about a telepathic pig who lives on a farm. The description sounds too silly to be scary. I assure you it is scary. Pearl is an old-school homage to Stephen King’s Cujo and Clive Barker’s startling short story anthology Books of Blood. It is Horror with a capital H, not a thriller and not a suspense novel. Pearl is a gory, violent, unsettling tale of madness and revenge embued with pervasive dread that grips the reader on the first page and never releases. If King and Barker are your jam, I can confidently say this is a journey worth taking. Just don’t be surprised when the nightmares come.”

Worst:

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - Note: This was my lowest-rated book. I was lucky this year I didn’t really encounter any full-on garbage. The Luminous Dead was more disappointing than anything.

From my review: “The major problem with Caitlin Starling’s debut novel for me is there are only two characters in the book and both characters are broken people. Gyre whipsaws between rage and sullen tantrums like an immature teenager. When things go wrong she lashes out at Em for not panicking right along with her. When Em points out her job is NOT to panic this makes Gyre angrier.”

Other 5 Star books for me: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, The Devil and The Dark Water by Stuart Turton, The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde.

Vel Veeter

Best:

The Runaway Jury by John Grisham - First of all, shut up. This was a book my AirBnb had on the shelf when I really needed a book and the ones I brought weren’t doing it for me.

Was it good? I have no clue.
Was it dumb as hell? Yes, absolutely.
Was it exactly the book I needed? Yes.

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons - For reasons I am not entirely clear about, I have read a lot of Dan Simmons this year. This book is an absolutely brilliant sequel to an absolutely brilliant book.

The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen - A harrowing three-part trilogy of kind of memoir, kind of auto-fiction. The last is about the ravages of addiction and is especially good.

Worst:

The Next Civil War by Stephen Marche - This book is one of two books I read about civil wars (and I read numerous books about the Civil War, being an American in my 40s), and this one feels like a weird power fantasy (although it’s not right-wing book) and a con job written by someone with zero expertise in the field.

I was extra reminded of this when I read a few books by Masha Gessen, Tim Snyder, and Barbara F Walter, are of whom are experts in the field.

And more: I reread a lot of great books this year, so I stuck to new to me ones. You probably don’t want to hear about my love for Macbeth, which I taught for the first time in years, and have read twelve times this year.

Wanderlustful

Best:

Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori - Such a lovely escape, and very different from the other books I read this year.
Cleopatra, a Life by Stacey Schiff - Reclaiming Cleopatra’s life in a way that was a joy to read. You’ll be rethinking all the things you thought you knew about Egypt’s most famous Queen, but also the Romans and Egypt in general.
The Push by Ashley Audrain - A thoughtful, well-written psychological thriller that draws out fears of motherhood and leaves you thinking. The quote that she starts off with! I’m still thinking about it.

Worst:

The Witch of Babylon by DJ McIntosh - This was a mess. Bad writing, big plot holes, unlikeable characters. The only saving grace was the imparting of some Mesopotamian history.

Honorable mention on best books to Tony Hillerman’s The Ghostway and Robert Twigger’s Red Nile.

Zirza

Best:

The Promise by Damon Galgut - A deserved Booker prize winner about what it means to be good. I loved the way the author switched perspectives and how a single promise runs through the novel like a red thread.
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker - Probably my favourite book of the year. It’s a lovely, gothic novel about a young girl who simply does not fit in. It’s also an ode to the untamable nature of the Scottish countryside, and really just a love letter to Caledonia. If there’s one book I wish more people would read, it’s this one.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt - Enough has been said about this one already, but I was surprised by how timeless and poignant it felt.

Worst:

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams - The stupid. It hurts. Everyone in this book is as dumb as a bag of hammers and as useless as a marzipan dildo.

If you know which book on your shelf this year was as useless as a marzipan dildo, Sign up for next year’s Cannonball Read and let everyone know which book to stay away from in 2023!