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The 22 Best Books of 2022

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Each year, we love to highlight the best of the best books we’ve read. This year, twenty-two of these top titles are brand-new releases published in 2022.

Additionally, we love reading and highlighting backlist books. After our top books from 2022, you’ll find 18 more book recommendations that were published before 2022.

We first published a version of this list in mid-summer, highlighting the best books that we read in the first half of the year. Now that 2022 is nearing an end, we’ve updated this list to highlight all of our five-star picks out of the nearly 200 books we’ve read this year.

Keep in mind that this are the best books WE READ. Sometimes people get upset that we’ve “overlooked” their favorite, but we’re only including the books we read this year on the list. There are so many others on our TBR lists that we know will be excellent when we have time for them!

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Best Books of 2022 According to The Book Girls' Guide

The 22 Top Books of 2022: New Releases

Across a wide variety of genres, these are the best books we read this year. Published in 2022, each of the books on the list below earned a 5-star rating from the Book Girls.

2023 Reading Challenges!

Before we get to the best backlist titles we read in 2022, we wanted to invite you to join one of our popular 2023 reading challenges.

Our challenges are a bit different because we do the book research and provide a diverse, curated list of well-rated book options for every monthly prompt.

Just click the links below to learn more:

Read Around the USA Challenge

Book Voyage: Read Around the World Challenge

Decades Reading Challenge

The Best Backlist Titles We Read in 2022

While we read lots of new releases, we both have lengthy TBRs filled with books that we didn't get to in past years. These were our favorite books that we read this year that were published prior to 2022.

Looking for a printable version of this book list? Our Buy Me a Coffee BFF’s have access to a cute one-page printable tracker featuring all 22 books from the 2022 section of our favorites list! Join our membership site today for access to your copy!


There are always too many good books and too little time, but if you want to add even more titles to your TBR, check out our list of the Best Book Club Books for 2023, as well as our Best Books of 2021 and Our Favorite Books of 2020.

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Remarkably Bright Creatures Book Club Guide with Discussion Questions

Thursday 4th of May 2023

[…] Bright Creatures was voted as one of the favorite books of our readers, and also made our own top book list. If you’re looking for a book that will make your group members smile while still providing […]

Readers' Favorite Books: 2022 Edition - Book Girls' Guide

Tuesday 20th of December 2022

[…] love sharing our favorite books with you, as we did recently with our list of the Best Books We Read in 2022, but today it’s all about […]

Susan

Monday 12th of December 2022

Love your lists! Thank you!

Gretchen McLaughlin

Saturday 24th of September 2022

The Hearts Invisible Furies by Jon Boyne is my favorite book of 2022. Exceptional character development and an amazing story. I continue to recommend it to everyone.

Becky

Tuesday 16th of August 2022

The Measure has been my favorite book of 2022, so far! I highly recommend it. It is a book that is thought-provoking and leads to interesting discussions--- great pick for a book club.