Top 10 Book Favorites: January-April 2022

As you have probably noticed, I’ve been making my content more bookish. Not 100% because I still like sharing fashion, food, travel etc, but definitely sharing more of my love of books and reading. I’ve read a lot of books since the beginning of the year, some for review and some for my own enjoyment. Though many of those books are books I’ve really liked, I’ve narrowed it down to 10 that I’ve loved most in the first four months of 2022. I chose 10, but one of them is a 3 book and 1 novella series so I sort of cheated, but it’s my list so I can make my own rules!

Here they are in no particular order.

1. Hemingway’s Daughter by Christine M. Whitehead – I wrote a review for Hemingway’s Daughter earlier this year. The novel follows the fictional daughter of Ernest Hemingway. In real life, Hemingway never had a daughter, but had spoken of always wanting one. This novel is a beautiful fictitious tale of his daughter from childhood through adulthood. It tells about her own life and her relationship with her father and its impact on her.
2. Fish Heads and Duck Skin by Lindsey Salatka – I wrote a review about this back in February, I think. In the novel, Tina Martin, decides to take a step back from her workaholic lifestyle and move with her husband and their two young children for a job opportunity for her husband in Shanghai. The novel follows Tina as she adjusts to not only life in a foreign country, but also adjusting to being a full time mom and figuring out what she wants in life.
3. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – Review for this one coming up soon. I absolutely loved this rom-com. If you like fake dating tropes this is a good one! Olive is a Ph.D. student at Stanford and not very interested in dating. To get her best friend, Anh, off her back about it she panics and kisses the first guy she comes across in the hallway when she sees Anh coming in her direction. That was already crazy enough, but when she stops kissing the random guy she realizes it is Dr. Adam Carlsen, a super star scientist at Stanford who is known to be really tough on his mentees and grad students. He’s also extremely tall and good looking. After explaining why she kissed him, they realize they could both benefit from this fake dating scheme. Olive would get her best friend off her back and Adam can show Stanford that he has no intentions of leaving for another institution like Harvard since they have been deeming him a flight risk and withholding funds for his lab. The book is so cute and made my heart ache a bit at parts, which I secretly love.
4. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – I wrote a review about this a month or two ago. I loved this book so much. If you’re interested in enemies to lovers and/or workplace romance then this is for you. Lucy and Joshua are executive assistants to the two co-CEOs of their publishing company. When they find out a new position is about to open up as Chief Operating Officer, they begin competing against each other for the spot. It’s tough enough to compete against another coworker, but even more competitive when you absolutely hate each other. Or do they?
5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I wrote a review for this earlier in April. It is a fabulous book and makes me wish Evelyn was a real person. It is so beautiful and Evelyn is so amazing, strong, and brilliant. The novel follows a journalist, Monique, on assignment to interview film icon, Evelyn Hugo. Near 80 years old, Evelyn has become more and more private over the years. Her career as a screen legend and Hollywood bombshell began in the 1950s. Everyone wants an interview with Evelyn and somehow Monique, who is relatively unknown, was personally requested for an interview with Evelyn about dresses she is auctioning off. When she arrives she finds out that Evelyn doesn’t really want to talk about her dresses that are being auctioned off. Evelyn wants Monique to write her biography and she promises to tell everything about her career and her seven husbands. This is the first book in 2022 that I cried reading!
6. Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Rage and Ruin is the second book in the Harbinger series. I read the first book back in December and the second one back in February or March. I’ll write a review on this whole series once I finish the third and last book of the series soon, but basically Trinity has been raised by Wardens her whole life. Wardens are sort of like gargoyles. They can turn to stone and have super strength, speed, and can fly. Something is killing wardens and they are after Trinity too. If you like fantasy, this is a good one. It’s more YA than something like A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I got hooked.
7. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair – I am going to write a proper review of this series after the newest book comes out at the end of the month. A Touch of Darkness is the first book in the Hades x Persephone saga. It is a modern retelling of the greek myth. Hades owns a nightclub called Nevernight and Persephone, a goddess pretending to be a mortal, goes one night with friends. While there she plays a game of cards with Hades, not knowing who it was Hades, and loses a bet with him. The price? She has to create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. If you like greek mythology retellings and a good bit of spice, then this is for you.
8. A Game of Fate by Scarlett St. Clair – This is Hades point of view of A Touch of Darkness. It was really fun to read his perspective and I think it might have been spicier than A Touch of Darkness! I still need to read A Touch of Ruin before the next Hades book comes out (A Game of Retribution) at the end of the month and then A Touch of Malice. Then I’ll write a more detailed review of all the books that are out so far in the Hades x Persephone saga.
9. The Bargainer series by Laura Thalassa – I wrote a review for this series in March. Callie is a siren who called up The Bargainer when she was a teenager. The Bargainer, Des, is a fae and also the Night King. The Bargainer is a known fae amongst the supernatural community as this dark being who can get you anything you want/do anything for you, but you’ll owe him a favor in return. Lonely, Callie begins calling upon him just for his company and doesn’t care that she will owe him hundreds of favors. But, Des never cashes in on the favors like he does with all of his other clients, because he likes spending time with her too. Then, he disappears from her life for over 7 years. Now Des is back and needs Callie’s help because something is taking his male soldiers and putting his female soldiers into a death-like sleep. The series has three books and one novella from Des’ point of view about how he became the Night King.
10. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover – My review of this amazing book is coming in a few days. I read this book when I was in California last weekend. I read it on the plane rides and in the hotel. It was so good that I have thought about it every day since I finished reading it and I’ve reread parts of it multiple times. It’s just so good! Tate moves to San Francisco for grad school in nursing and gets a job as an RN. Until she finds a place of her own she moves in with her brother who is only home half the time because he is an airline pilot. One of his best friends, Miles, is also a pilot and lives across the hall. Instantly attracted to one another, Tate and Miles decide to be friends with benefits. She doesn’t have time for a relationship and he doesn’t want one because of his past. Neither of them can deny that they quickly develop deeper feelings for one another. But, that wasn’t the plan and can Miles get over his painful past to move on with Tate? This book destroyed me and put me back together by the end like It Ends With Us did. Ugh, I just love this book so much!

Have you read any of these books?

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