The CVP/MM Team’s Best Books of 2022

With the end of the year upon us, in this blog post we look back on our favourite reads of 2022…

Tommi

My favourite book of 2022 was The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated from the Japanese by Lucy North. It’s a book I picked up in a bookshop on holiday because I loved the cover – and it was gripping. The humour is totally deadpan but I found myself laughing out loud all the way through.

Flo

I read it at the beginning of the year, so it seems a long time ago now, but a book that had me totally gripped and has really stuck with me was Under the Skin by Michel Faber. I distinctly remember this sinister creeping feeling coming over me when I began to realise that all was not what it seemed – I don’t generally have such a visceral reaction to books, so this one stood out!

Rosie

The best book I read this year was thankfully also the latest, so it’s still fresh in my mind! I absolutely devoured Babel by R. F. Kuang, which is based on the concept that the meanings lost in translation create a form of magic which can be mined as a resource. Recommended by my sister as perfect for me, it ticks all my boxes with language, magic and a historical setting. The increasingly dark twists explore the colonial structures controlling this translation magic, which is reliant on native speakers of various languages to produce, but hoarded and sold to the wealthy by Oxford professors and the British government. Aside from being a beautifully written and gripping story, with thought provoking passages on the cruelty and hypocrisy of the British empire, it is also a language nerd’s dream. There are so many examples in the book of subtle differences in meaning across languages, as well as meaning shifts over time where the root of a word is used to create a similar magical effect. I have already lent it to Anna and would happily send it round the whole CVP family to enjoy!

Laura

I am big fan of the BBC Radio 4 program The Kitchen Cabinet on which a panel of experts (cooks, food scientists and historians) answer the audience members’ questions about all things food and cooking. I was given the accompanying book which is a treasure trove of cookery tips, food facts and inspiration. I read it cover to cover before bed. The only problem being that I often wanted to leap out of bed and raid the fridge or cook up a feast and had a disproportionate number of food-based dreams! Highly recommended for anyone who likes cooking or eating!

Anna

A difficult choice as always, but I would probably settle on The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, which I read on the beach in Greece this summer. It was a treat to have enough time to really immerse myself in an 800-page book, and it’s the kind of book that really benefits from being able to sit down and read 100 pages at a time, rather than 3 pages a night before falling asleep. The author manages to sustain multiple timelines, write beautiful, poetic prose and deliver a couple of real punches to the gut, seemingly without effort. I spent several days missing the characters after I’d finished.

Rose

I’ve just finished my favourite book of 2022: Emma Brown by Clare Boylan. When Charlotte Bronte died in 1855, she left behind the beginnings of a new novel – twenty pages of a work in progress called “Emma”. Boylan was inspired to undertake the task of recreating Bronte’s post-Romantic, gothic literary style as well as life in Victorian England, and to continue a tale hardly begun. I’m sure purists will spot where Charlotte ends and Clare begins, but it’s a compelling page-turner and a perfect fireside, mince pie and mulled wine read.

Stanzi

My favourite book I read in 2022 was Jaws by Peter Benchley. I love, love, love sharks and only found out this year that the classic film is based on a book. While the writing wasn’t quite as fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping as the film, it was a very human book. The best section was where the wife had an affair – you were right there with her, understanding her motives. I also think it’s incredible how the book – and even more so the film – created a cultural fear of sharks and is still responsible today for conservation efforts being less than they should be. Plus it was especially fun, because I read this book while I was at the beach.

Sarah

I couldn’t choose between two that I read this year – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner and The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell. I find it hard to resist novels set in historic London (which is odd as I rarely visit present-day London) – and especially with a focus on the Thames. The Lost Apothecary has inspired me to look into mudlarking – possibly an activity for when it gets warmer here though! 😊

Elinor

My favourite book this year was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I loved the idea of a secret, underground world of books and was totally engrossed by the characters and their intertwined fates. The combination of magic, books, myths and mystery was irresistible. As soon as I’d finished it, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and start again!

Wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas and happy new year!