Favourite Reads of 2022

1. Joan Didion - Let Me Tell You What I Mean 

If you are a writer of any kind, Joan Didion's work is required reading. Let Me Tell You What I Mean is a collection of essays from her "Points West" Saturday Evening Post column, containing evocative vignettes of 1960s California. It also features her landmark "Why I Write" piece from the1976 New York Times magazine. This was my first introduction to her work, and I ate it up. She writes with precision and her voice is so sharp, bright and witty. I also read Slouching Towards Bethlehem last year, and I hope to pick up some more of her work in 2023.

2. Dance Move - Wendy Erskine

Wendy Erskine is a Belfast-based author whose short stories are woven with the DNA of the capital city. Dance Move is her second collection, and it is so full of heart. One of my favourite things about her writing is her ability to capture the voice and character of Northern Ireland, avoiding the usual cliches. There is a bittersweet depth to her stories, and they are short and accessible reads, perfect for those with a battered attention span like myself.

3. Common Decency - Susannah Dickey

Susannah Dickey is also from Northern Ireland, and her writing similarly captures the eccentricities of Belfast and its people. Common Decency follows the lives of two women who live in the same block of flats, and we follow along as their lives intersect in strange ways. I loved how Dickey doesn't shy away from the weird and complex parts of her protagonists' lives and personalities. They make questionable decisions, but we root for them throughout. If you like the work of Lena Dunham and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, you'll enjoy Common Decency.

4. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell

This is one for the non-fiction fans. Amanda Montell is a linguist and co-host of Sounds Like A Cult podcast, which explores the everyday 'cults' that we all follow, from veganism to the Kardashians. In this book, she delves deeper into the linguistic and discursive strategies used by conventional and unconventional cults to draw in their followers. It's a fascinating and entertaining glimpse into the power of language and how it is used by sinister religious sects like Scientology and the seemingly less insidious world of social media influencers (emphasis on seemingly...). 

5. handiwork - Sara Baume

handiwork is an unusual and beautiful little book, described by the publisher Tramp Press as a "contemplative short narrative". Sara Baume is a writer and artist, and handiwork explores her creative process alongside her experience of grief. Baume's descriptions of her work and materials are almost tangible, and she shares poignant meditations on life and how weird and beautiful it can be. 

6. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

As someone whose entirely personality is founded upon the fact that I am an English graduate, I try to read at least one classic novel every year. I came across a signed 40th anniversary edition of The Color Purple in my local Waterstones, and I thought that it was important that I read it. The epistolary story follows two sisters, Celie and Nettie, as they navigate growing up as African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. It's harrowing and but ultimately uplifting, and it contains one of my favourite literary quotes of all time: "The more I wonder, he say, the more I love." (I was less uplifted when I discovered that Alice Walker is an advocate of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist David Icke, but the less said about that, the better.)

7. So, You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson

So, You've Been Publicly Shamed was published in 2015, and it delves into the gang mentality that results in online humiliation of celebrities and ordinary people. It's an essential read in the era of what we now call 'cancel culture', and Jon Ronson is one of the most witty and engaging writers working today. My brother and I went to see a live version of his podcast 'Things Fell Apart' in Dublin last summer, and it was fantastic. 

8. Voyeur - Francesca Reece

I spent some time in Paris this summer with my best friends, and I wanted to read a book set in the city. Voyeur is an addictive read about dynamics of power, gender and the literary scene. It follows a young Londoner named Leah who emigrates to Paris and finds herself working as an assistant for Michael, a washed-up author who hires her to transcribe his old diaries. A seriously underrated piece of literary fiction that I devoured in a few days. 

9. Ask Again, Yes - Mary Beth Keane

I'm not great with long books, and Ask Again, Yes is a family drama of epic proportions. But it's a testament to the craft of Mary Beth Keane's writing that I was able to rip through this novel in a few weeks. The Gleeson and Stanhope families are brought together and wrenched apart by love, fate and tragedy. They live in the suburbs of New York and we follow their story over a number of decades as they grapple with a cataclysmic incident that takes place one night and affects their lives forever.

10. Tennis Lessons - Susannah Dickey

Tennis Lessons was Susannah Dickey's debut novel, and I am left eternally jealous by her ability to create such quirky and compelling narratives. This story is a meditation on girlhood and that painful part of life that occurs when we leave school and try to find our place in the world. I thought it was relatable, weird and wonderful.