22 to Read in 2022 | Reading Goals for 2022

I’ve made one of these lists for the past few years, and keep not reading most of them. That changes this year! (…I hope.) I think I’m the most excited about this list than years prior, which will help my motivation to read each and every one of these books. (But, honestly, anything would be better than last year where I DNF’d three of my 20 to read in 2021.) I also added a few sequels to the list this time around! In previous years, I only added standalones or series that I wanted to start. But because of that, it has left me with so many series that I’ve started and desperately want to continue that I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of my goals this year is to read (and finish) more series, so I’m going to try and help the cause a bit.

Without further ado, here are the 22 books that I want to read in 2022!

1. Realm Breaker (Realm Breaker: 1): Victoria Aveyard

Starting off strong with Victoria Aveyard’s latest release. Have I finished her Red Queen series yet? …No. BUT! I’m hoping that I will enjoy this one and it’ll help motivate me to finally pick up War Storm as well. Regardless, Realm Breaker seems to have a few things that I love in a fantasy novel – namely, ancient magic and a band of unlikely friends and heroes – that I have a felling I’m going to fly through this one.

2. Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy: 2): S.A. Chakraborty

I read City of Brass back in March 2020 and was all ready to pick up the sequel immediately. And then…well, you know the rest. So, reading this is looong past due, and I’m more than excited to get back into the lush world Chakraborty started building in City of Brass (though, I may need to reread Brass first).

3. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices: 1): Cassandra Clare

Another year, another TBR that Lady Midnight is on. I don’t know what it is about The Dark Artifices, it’s just been so hard for me to pick up the series to start it. I did start a reread of the whole Shadowhunters world in 2020 and got through all of the books except City of Heavenly Fire so I would be fully refreshed before diving into a new Shadowhunter novel, but I just…stopped. Maybe now that it’s been a bit since I did that reread, I’ll be ready to dive into the world again without being too saturated in it.

4. Soulkeeper (The Keepers: 1): David Daglish

One of the bad habits that I got into over the past few years is that I keep buying these chunky adult fantasies while I’m book shopping because I’m in the mood for it. But, when I get home, I just don’t pick them up. But this year that changes (well, maybe not the buying part but the not getting to them part, definitely). I’ve heard amazing things about Daglish’s writing, his Keepers series specifically, so I’m excited to start this one. Give me a monster fantasy any day of the week, and I’ll be happy.

5. Legendborn (Legendborn: 1): Tracy Deonn

I think I put Legendborn on two different TBRs last year, and only read about a chapter or so before I got distracted by other shiny things. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I love the tale of King Arthur and Merlin, so I try to pick up retellings when I can. I’m intrigued to see how Deonn adapts the legend to a more urban/contemporary setting, so I cannot wait to pick this up this year.

6. Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters: 3): Talia Hibbert

I absolutely adored the first two books in The Brown Sisters series last year, and I’m so upset with myself that I didn’t manage to get to Eve Brown before the end of 2021. So, I knew this one had to be on my yearly TBR. I never thought I was a huge fan of the grumpy/sunshine trope, but after reflecting on some of my favorite romance reads of recent years, it’s now one of my favorites. So, I have a good feeling I’m going to love this one just as much as the first two.

7. Les Misérables: Victor Hugo

Okay, so I may be a bit overambitious with this one, but I’ve wanted to read this for years and it may finally be time for me to do so. Clocking in at over 1200 pages, it’ll be the longest book I think I’ve ever read if I do get to it. It just may take me a while…

8. Grown: Tiffany D. Jackson

I don’t have much contemporary on this list, but this one definitely deserves to be here. Tiffany D. Jackson has been on my radar for a minute, but I haven’t really felt the urge to pick up her books as soon as I could until this one. Grown, a story about a young woman who is an aspiring musician who is preyed upon by an older man who says he can help her with her career, is just one that is such an important story to tell and highlight because of how scary and real it is. This isn’t going to be the easiest read, but (I’m hoping) one of the most rewarding.

9. The House in the Cerulean Sea: TJ Klune

I am so late to this train, but after reading Under the Whispering Door at the end of last year and absolutely loving it I couldn’t not put this one on my yearly TBR. From the synopsis, it sounds like this one has a much brighter and lighter tone than Whispering Door, but I expect Cerulean Sea will have the same kind of amazing characters that I feel in love with.

 10. Jade City (The Green Bone Saga: 1): Fonda Lee

It seems like half the internet has either read this series already or is reading it this year, and you know what? I want to hop on the hype train, too. But other than that, Jade City is the exact kind of political fantasy that I’m trying to read more of this year. I’ve always loved a rich setting filled with many moving parts and political machinations; I can’t want to be sucked in.

11. Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes: 1): Elizabeth Lim

When I was going through my shelves, looking for books to add to this list, Six Crimson Cranes jumped out at me, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Not only is the cover gorgeous, but the story inside just seems so magical and whimsical, I can’t not want to read it.

12. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City: 1): Sarah J. Maas

Despite this being my most anticipated read of 2020, I still haven’t read it. I did read about 100-150 pages of it, but I was in the beginning of a massive reading slump when I started and didn’t want that to affect my enjoyment. But then, I just never picked it back up. This year, that changes, especially since the sequel comes out in February.

13. Middlegame (Middlegame: 1): Seanan McGuire

Like many books on this list, my reading of Middlegame is long overdue. I’ve been loving McGuire’s Wayward Children series so I know I like her writing and her storytelling ability. And the fact that this book is about gods – or becoming gods – is just so interesting that I’ve been itching to read it forever.

14. Uprooted: Naomi Novik

Uprooted has been one of those books that has been on my shelf for a while, but I keep putting it off and putting it off and putting it off. Mostly, I think it’s because my expectations are too high. I absolutely loved Novik’s A Deadly Education when I read it in 2020, and I’m a sucker for a story set in a creepy wood and inspired by “Beauty and the Beast,” so I’m destined to love it. I’m just hoping that it lives up to my expectations.

15. Wilder Girls: Rory Power

This pick is a bit out of left field for me. I’m not one for horror, especially not body horror. However, ever since this book was released I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about the story and Power’s writing that I had to pick it up. But since I didn’t read it as soon as I bought it (what a surprise), I need a bit more motivation to actually pick it up now that it’s been a minute.

16. The Bones of Ruin (The Bones of Ruin: 1): Sarah Raughley

At the beginning of 2021, this book wasn’t on my radar at all. But as I was making my most anticipated for the second half, this one jumped right to the top of my TBR. The mixture of historical fantasy, post-apocalyptic setting, and a magical tournament is just so up my alley I cannot wait to dive into it.

17. A Gathering of Shadows (A Darker Shade of Magic: 2): V.E. Schwab

Talk about a sequel that I’ve been meaning to get to for years. I read A Darker Shade of Magic back in 2019 while on vacation and really enjoyed it. I think the main reason why I haven’t continued is because the first book stands well enough on it’s own that I haven’t felt that push to pick it up. But this is the year of me finishing series, and this one of the few at the top of the list.

18. Half Sick of Shadows: Laura Sebastian

Like I said earlier, I absolutely love Arthurian legend retellings. But at the center of Sebastian’s Half Sick of Shadows is the Lady of Shalott, and touts itself as a feminist retelling. Honestly, it’s hitting a bunch of my buzz words, and I’m more than ready to dive in.

19. The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire: 1): Andrea Stewart

This is one of those books that I heard a ton about when it first came out, but radio silence since. However, initial impressions can’t be wrong, especially since all the good reviews came from people I trust.

20. Fast Pitch: Nic Stone

When this book was announced and the cover was revealed, I literally cheered. I would’ve loved a book with a fierce softball player on the cover and about a whole softball team when I was in middle school. And the fact that this was written by one of my favorite authors, Nic Stone, is just a cherry on top.

21. Battle Royale: Koshun Takami

Talk about a book that has been on my TBR for literal years. This book has been sitting on my shelf for so long, I don’t even remember when I bought it. I must’ve picked it up during the whole Hunger Games craze and this was consistently brought up as the “original” children battle to the death story. Regardless, it’s way past time that I read this one. Now that I’m older, I should be prepared for the extreme violence, but we shall see.

22. The Wolf of Oren-Yaro (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen: 1): K.S. Villoso

I mean, any series that is called “Chronicles of the Bitch Queen” just has to be on my TBR. As you could probably tell from this list, I’m very much in the mood to start and read adult fantasy this year, and this is one that I’ve been meaning to read since it’s release. This one should be interesting though since I have friends who have rating this five stars, and others who rated it two. So we’ll see were I land on that spectrum.