Top 10 Favorite Books of 2022 (So Far)

I can't believe we're halfway through the year already! But you know what, it's been a pretty good reading year for me because I haven't read any books that I gave less than 3 stars to! That's pretty amazing!

Anyway, as of right now, I have read 40 (how am I still behind on my challenge? 😫 lol) And here are my top 10 favorite books of the year so far! I have nice variety of horror, nonfiction, urban fantasy, retellings, high fantasy, middle grade, and sci-fi!

Maniac of New York is a horror comic about a Jason-esque killer terrorizing New York and I absolutely loved it! I love horror movies, so the premise of this sounds like it was made for me. Lol. However, I don't think I've ever really sat down and read a comic book, so this was a really nice change of pace. I really liked the artwork, and the story was great as well. I just love how everybody in the city has sort of normalized this lunatic and his attacks. It's hilarious! I'm really looking forward to the next volume!

Cabinet Jack is book 16 in the Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper series. I love a good haunted house/ghost hunting book, and this series is one of my favorites! In this book the girls investigate a classic haunted house, but this house has a lot of cabinets and little hidden nooks and crannies. It was a very cool house to explore! Plus, our ghost Jack? His story was so messed up! I loved it! 😆

How to Survive a Horror Movie is exactly as it sounds: a nonfiction book about surviving fictional movies 😆 It was amazing! Was it helpful? I mean, if you were ever to find yourself in a horror movie situation (and I really hope you wont lol), then yes 🤣 I liked how it touched on all the different types of horror movies: the slashers, haunted houses, evil dolls, and the supernatural. It was just a lot of fun!

And continuing on with the theme of nonfiction books about horror movies, Nightmare Fuel: The Science of Horror Films is another great one! Except this one, as the title suggests, more so goes into the science side of things. Why we like horror, why our bodies react the way they do... that sort of thing. As someone who loves science AND horror movies, this one was very intriguing to me. I loved it!

Back into the realm of fiction with one of my favorite worlds, we have Chain of Gold! It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I loved this book 😆 I know it took me a while to get to, but I really did enjoy it! The story was really interesting and I loved the characters! One thing Cassie Clare does well is characters, and the new characters in this series were great!

Marissa Meyer is another author that quickly became a favorite after I binge read The Lunar Chronicles. And Heartless was equally as amazing! This is a sort of prequel to Alice in Wonderland, and it is about the Queen of Hearts and how she came to be the way she is. The book was very whimsical and cute and heartbreaking all at once. When I tell you it made me cry... oh boy! But it was great!

Gilded was also great! This one is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin but it is interwoven with German folklore and it was amazing! Marissa Meyer does retellings really well! Especially because she put her unique spin on them! TLC had sci-fi, while this one has German folklore. I love it! Even though you sort of know where the story is going, because retelling, it is still very engaging! The story was very well done and I loved the mythology! I am really looking forward to the sequel later this year!

And what is top 10 list if I don't have a Jennifer Estep book 😆 Tear Down the Throne was great! I don't read a lot of high fantasy... I think Jennifer Estep high fantasy books are the only ones I DO read, but I love them! Otherwise I don't really have an interest in the genre 🤷‍♀️ But this author just writes really interesting stories with a slow-burn romance that I love, and amazing action sequences! Literally anything she writes I will read because I know I will love it! Lol.
Wretched Waterpark is a middle grade mystery that's a little spooky and a whole lot of funny! I loved it! Kiersten White's middle grade books are just so much fun! And the fact that this one had a gothic waterpark?? Umm, yes please! Where can I do to one in real life?! 😆 The sequel, I believe, comes out later this summer, and I am very excited for it!
And last but not least, The Rules. This book had the fake relationship trope, which I always enjoy reading. We had Zane, who was so sweet, trying to get Ariane out of her shell and trying to get to know her better. What he didn't know was the reason WHY she kept to herself: she's an alien/human hybrid hiding and following a set rules to keep the lab who created her from finding her and taking her back to said lab to continue to poke and prod at her 😧 The story was great, to say the least. Lol.

Let me know what some of your favorite books have been so far this year! 😊