Biblioracle: My best books of 2022 (so far) list, including ‘Ancestor Trouble’ and ‘Foreverland’

Somehow we are halfway through 2022, which has brought about a spate of lists of best books of 2022 so far, including from Barnes & Noble and Esquire.

Far be it from me to let anyone else get a head start on what books we should be buzzing about at the end of the year, so here is my “Biblioracle’s Best Books of the Year (So Far) Which Is a Better List Than Anyone Else’s List of the Best Books of the Year (So Far).”

Nonfiction:

“Ancestor Trouble” by Maud Newton: I think we’re going to look back on this book as a classic in the way it blends historical research, science, personal memoir and philosophy. A compelling, searching exploration of Newton’s family tree in the context of who we are and where we come from that uncovers some mysteries while introducing others. A book that keeps giving even after you’ve read the final page.

“Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools” by Natasha Warikoo: There’s been a lot of heat without much light around issues of affirmative action in elite college admissions. Here is an absorbing work of ethnography by Tufts University professor Warikoo that looks at the complex power and social dynamics at work in a system where success seems both scarce and an absolute imperative. Strikes a nice balance between academic and popular audiences, so either group will be satisfied.

“Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage” by Heather Havrilesky: The humorless scolds of the world have tried to convince themselves that an honest exploration of the ways those we’re closest to can also be our greatest sources of frustration is somehow a problem, but they’re wrong. This book is a delight. Funny, honest and deeply romantic, Havrilesky does the world a favor by letting us peek inside her mind and her marriage.

“Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” by Craig Calcaterra: If you’re like me and love sports, but have become increasingly dismayed by the “sports-industrial complex,” Calcaterra’s book will prove a balm that allows you to hold onto that fandom without turning a blind eye to the myriad problems and sources of exploitation on the field.

Fiction:

“Search” by Michelle Huneven: One of my ultimate comfort reads, Huneven manages to cast a spell that has you deeply invested in the ultimate decision of a search committee for a new minister for a Unitarian Universalist congregation. These folks burrow inside you like they’re your neighbors.

“Joan Is Okay” by Weike Wang: Wang’s dry wit in this story of an ICU doctor dealing (sort of) with her father’s death is irresistible.

“Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel: That this novel shows up on the B&N and Esquire lists as well as my own speaks to a few things. One, St. John Mandel is writing books that lots of readers are waiting for with great anticipation. Two, Mandel is delivering on that anticipation, big time. Not quite a sequel so much as a companion to “The Glass Hotel,” “Sea of Tranquility” is somehow simultaneously a lovely and bracing read.

“Mouth to Mouth” by Antoine Wilson: Just a delicious little work of psychological intrigue and suspense that delivers one of the most satisfying plot kicks that I’ve experienced in years.

“Devil House” by John Darnielle: Framed as the story of a journalist researching and writing a true-crime book about an alleged satanic killing, Darnielle turns the book into an exploration of memory, narrative and how the stories we tell depend very much on who gets to do the telling.

John Warner is the author of “Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities.”

Twitter @biblioracle

Book recommendations from the Biblioracle

John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read

1. “The Boy from the Woods” by Harlan Coben

2. “City on Fire” by Don Winslow

3. “Two Nights in Lisbon” by Chris Pavone

4. “The Chain” by Adrian McKinty

5. “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

— Bill T., Chicago

I think Bill will be into Olen Steinhauer’s Milo Weaver series, in which a spy tries to get out of the game, but keeps getting sucked back in. The first volume is “The Tourist.”

1. “60 Stories” by Donald Barthelme

2. “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders

3. “Wayward” by Dana Spiotta

4. “In the Distance” by Hernan Diaz

5. “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel

— Mary P., Sacramento

Mary looks like someone interested in fiction that comes slantwise at big existential questions, and Benjamin Labatut’s “When We Cease to Understand the World” feels like a good fit for that mindset.

1. “The Book of Form and Emptiness” Ruth Ozeki

2. “A Separation” by Katie Kitamura

3. “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell

4. “No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy

5. “The Cold Millions” by Jess Walter

— Bea P., Tallahassee, Florida

Bea is drawn to a good story with plenty of plot, but it should also be tethered to character and even a unique authorial voice. For me, that adds up to “The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick deWitt.

Get a reading from the Biblioracle

Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.