2022: My year in books
This was my 10th year of tracking my progress against my reading targets with reviews on this site. I completed a total of 38 books, slightly up on a yearly average of 30 over that time period.
In a slight change of format from previous years, the list below includes only a brief description of the book read, with my rating out of five, rather than a full review. My habit of writing such reviews as I completed the books has slipped away, a symptom of much of my reading being clustered in bursts around holidays, and I find this a more practical way for me to journal my reading habits.
Good to my promise from 2021, I read two more John le Carré novels (another two are ready on my shelves). With commuting returning to my routine following the rolling back of the pandemic restrictions, I listened to more audiobooks than previously. Fourteen of the thirty-eight books I read were written by women.
The earliest thing I read was (Seamus Heaney's 1999 translation of) Beowulf, first written down in the 9th century. I read two books published in 2022 - by Jarvis Cocker and Hashi Mohamed respectively.
The Employees - Olga Ravn
A cryptic and intriguing series of interviews with employees of a nameless facility. Mysterious sci-fi novel.
4/5
Debt: The First 5,000 Years - David Graeber
Epic and profoundly insightful history of economics through an anthropological lens. The barter economy is a myth!
4/5
Radical Focus - Christina Wodtke
Practical and narrative-based guide to implementing the OKR framework (Objectives and Key Results).
3/5
8 Deaths - Mark Watson
Honest and wryly amusing exploration of the 'deaths' of Mark Watson, in the sense of a comedian dying on stage, and a few other ways.
3/5
Natives - Akala
Searing examination of race and class in British society. Combines the personal and political expertly.
4/5
The Reason I Jump - Naoki Higashida
Autobiography from an autistic Japanese teenager, though with disputed authorship. Very interesting and empathetic.
3/5
A Life on Our Planet - David Attenborough
Witness statement, environmental polemic and memoir from the towering broadcaster and natural historian.
4/5
Just Kids - Patti Smith
Vivid, honest and moving memoir from singer Patti Smith, focusing on her friend and former lover, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Incredible.
5/5
Briefing for a Descent Into Hell - Doris Lessing
Fantasy, science fiction or delusion? Typically original meditation on the nature of madness and reality from Nobel Prize winner Lessing.
4/5
Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
My first foray into Hardy, seemingly an excellent entry point into his canon. Highly recommended.
4/5
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
An accidental reread, purchased in the airport, still as sharp and poignant as the first time.
4/5
Lady Sings the Blues - Billie Holiday
Fascinating, hilarious and moving memoir from the jazz pioneer. A great read but clearly packed full of lies.
3/5
Orwell's Roses - Rebecca Solnit
A lovely book about George Orwell, his love of roses (and gardening) and a meditation on what might crassly be called mindfulness.
4/5
Stranger Than We Can Imagine - John Higgs
Breathtaking in scope, an account on the incomprehensibility of the twentieth century. Hard to describe, easy to recommend.
5/5
Shape Up - Ryan Singer
Yet another book about running (software) teams effectively. It is very good. I wish one of these would talk about data science too.
3/5
The Authority Gap - Mary Sieghart Ann
Clear and thorough feminist examination of women in the workplace, historically and today. Examines ways in which equality on paper may be less than it appears.
4/5
Good Pop, Bad Pop - Jarvis Cocker
Funny, nostalgic and cosy memoir from the Sheffield singer, sorting through old tat in his mum's attic to weave a tale of his early life.
4/5
The Alignment Problem - Brian Christian
Robust examination of the ethical questions around machine learning and AI. Avoids the usual dystopian hysteria and focuses on real problems that exist today.
5/5
Dopamine Nation - Anna Lembke
Pop science book on addiction, indulgence and the impact seen in wider society today.
3/5
Call for the Dead - John le Carré
The first outing for le Carré's best known sleuth, George Smiley. Don't start here, but essential reading.
5/5
AI Superpowers - Kai Lee-Fu
Fascinating but slightly meandering examination of the tech industries of China and the USA, and the differences. Less to do with AI than the title suggests.
3/5
Gut Reactions - Simon Field Quellen
Interesting and very in-depth explanation of endocrinology and the human gut and hormonal system. Some chapters are lists of hundreds of enzymes. The rest are interesting.
3/5
The Emperor's Babe - Bernardine Evaristo
Dazzling longform verse novel from the Girl, Woman, Other writer, set in Roman London. Very funny and very moving.
4/5
The Black Swan - Nassim Taleb Nicholas
Blazing economic and social tract about how the world is fractal rather than gaussian. Brilliance on every page.
5/5
Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion
Highly evocative series of essays and articles, primarily from Didion's time in California in the 1960s.
4/5
Team Topologies - Matthew Skelton
Excellent and sensible reframing of organisational structure that focuses thoroughly on addressing Conway's law. Having just implemented this, ask me again in a year.
4/5
Watchmen - Alan Moore
Era-defining graphic novel, apparently. For me - furious and inventive story presented in a form I'm less familiar with, but chewed through in no time.
5/5
12 Bytes - Jeanette Winterson
Series of twelve essays on computing, technology, AI and feminism from the celebrated British author.
3/5
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John le Carré
The fifth George Smiley novel and first part of the Karla trilogy. Utterly brilliant and a page turner from start to finish.
5/5
Strange Hotel - Eimear McBride
Is this a sequel to A Girl is a Half-formed Thing and The Lesser Bohemians? A meditation on loss, transience and age.
3/5
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Long, layered and brilliant novel-within-a-novel-within-a-novel from the Canadian author.
5/5
A Home of One's Own - Hashi Mohamed
The housing crisis in the UK examined - its history, the reality today, and what a solution might look like.
3/5
Ariel - Sylvia Plath
Furious poetry written shortly before Plath's death. I read the restored edition which is her original list, rather than the doctored collection released after her death.
4/5
The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 - Eric Hobsbawm
Marxist history of primarily European history following the French revolution, covering politics, society, arts, industry, science and many other subjects.
4/5
Druids: A Very Short Introduction - Barry Cunliffe
A history of who the Druids were in prehistory, how we know what we know, what we do not yet know, and why modern day druidism is totally unrelated.
3/5
Four Thousand Weeks - Oliver Burkeman
On the cover looks like another book about productivity, but actually more of a stoic meditation on enjoying life today rather than planning for a tomorrow that will never arrive.
4/5
Beowulf - Unknown (tr. Seamus Heaney)
Astonishingly readable and exciting 9th century epic poem about the titular hero battling Grendel and other monsters. Really very good.
5/5
A Scattering - Christopher Reid
"Of Ashes" being the omitted second part of the title - this series of poetic meditations on the death and abscence of Reid's wife is heartbreaking.
4/5