Well-Read Episode 114 - Resolutions and 2022 Superlatives

Okay, this is actually our favorite episode of the year: our annual superlatives! Books and other media mentioned in this episode: RUSA Reading List Halle’s Instagram Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Women’s Prize for Fiction Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Bel Canto by Ann Patchett Most Timely Ann:  Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li Halle: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, pandemic books: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout Most Disappointing Ann: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas Halle: Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan, The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd – My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan Favorite Reread Ann: Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie – Poirot (TV) Halle: Broken Harbor by Tana French – Bridgerton (TV) – In the Woods by Tana French Biggest Surprise Ann: Spear by Nicola Griffith, Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray Halle: Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese, Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close  – The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Least Favorite Ann: The Boys by Katie Hafner, You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi – Am I The Asshole on Reddit Halle: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Best Distraction Ann: Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson  Halle: The Wedding Season by Katy Birchall The Book That Ended a Mini Reading Slump Ann: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys – Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Last Speech (YouTube) Halle: Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim Most Unputdownable Ann: WAKE by Shelley Burr; The It Girl by Ruth Ware Halle: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid; The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen Better Late Than Never Ann: White Oleander by Janet Fitch, If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin – If Beale Street Could Talk (film) Halle: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee Book That Has Stayed With Me Ann: Love & Saffron by Kim Fay, Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey Halle: The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan Book That We Didn’t Think We’d Like, But Then We Did! Ann: In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, Stories to Tell by Richard Marx – Richard Marx on YouTube Halle: The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec Author(s) we discovered in 2022 that we’re most excited to read more from in 2023 Ann: Alex Jennings, R. F. Kuang, Gillian McAllister, Emiko Jean – The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister – Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean Halle: Annabel Monaghan, Roselle Lim, Sabaa Tahir Book we wish more people knew about Ann: The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks, Leech by Hiron Ennes – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Halle: This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan Our best audiobook experience and/or the book that was BETTER as an audiobook Ann: A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Spear by Nicola Griffith – Audie Awards Halle: Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet, The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman Our Favorite Non-Book Media Property of the Year Ann: Cobra Kai (TV); Dickinson (TV); The Jackie Daytona episode of What We Do In the Shadows (TV); Everything Everywhere All At Once (film); Barbarian (film); Greta Thunberg owning Andrew Tate on Twitter; phone games: Wordle, NYT Crossword, Redactle Halle: The White Lotus: Season 2 (TV), Julia (TV), Junior Bake Off (TV), Midnights by Taylor Swift (album) The Book We Recommended the Most This Year Ann: The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings, The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill Halle: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau – Taylor Jenkins Reid books What We’re Reading This Week: Ann: The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham – A Time to Kill by John Grisham – The Pelican Brief by John Grisham Halle: Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivener – Jane Harper books Well-Read on Facebook Well-Read on Twitter Well-Read on Bookshop Well-Read on Instagram