Last month, I skipped over posting a list of the 10 Best Books I Read in 2022 because, frankly, I'm not at all certain that I read 10 books in 2022. And if I did read 10 books in 2022, there apparently weren't 10 of them that left a big impression on me. Call it a lack of focus, a complete breakdown in concentration. Call it what you like. I was a negligent reader last year. However, there are a few books worth mentioning, first and foremost of which is Conner Habib's bleakly engrossing psychological thriller, Hawk Mountain. The story of a divorced schoolteacher who hopes to start a new life by moving to a small New England town with his young son, Hawk Mountain flashes back and forth between the protagonist's high school years and his current situation, as an old nemesis from the past shows up and begins insinuating himself into their lives. What the former bully wants from him is not initially clear, but his actions suggest something nefarious. This novel takes a look at toxic masculinity, and how its after-effects reverberate through the years and sometimes wind up infecting those who have suffered the most. Hawk Mountain isn't a book you curl up with in front of the fireplace on a cold winter's day; it's remorseless and heartbreaking, and refutes any notion of sentimentality. It sounds daunting, I know, but Habib is sly in the way he reels in the reader with his skillful prose, and the tension generated as these characters gradually come undone. If I made a list of the best new books I read in 2022, Hawk Mountain would be number one. 

I'd also include Joseph Ellis' absorbing The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783, which covers that decade in American history by looking at events and characters that shaped America's fight for independence. There is nothing dry or academically challenging to history books if they're written well, and Joseph Ellis has done an astounding amount of research to bring this book to life: it's fascinating and lively, and never dull! It's also interesting to note how prejudices and aspirations of those times still echo through America today, in ways both good and bad. And it demonstrates how the legacy of slavery, largely condoned by America's Revolutionary stewards, continues to be a blight on America. None of our Founding Fathers were, in fact, angels but they were heroic, and managed to persevere in spite of unimaginable odds that I hadn't ever heard about (or more likely, have forgotten over the course of the years). Read this!

I also can't forget another history book that had me in its grip from start to finish: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World. Written by paleontologist Steve Brusatte, Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is essential reading for anyone with an interest in dinosaurs and an appreciation of witty, concise writing. Brusatte scours digs from all over the world to research his material and relate the latest scientific findings (a lot of them his own), and you don't need to be a paleontologist to enjoy this book. Admittedly, I'm geeky about dinosaurs so keep that in mind.

In the "older books I re-read category" are Umberto Eco's magnificent, highly literate The Name of the Rose, a sprawling epic of mystery, murder and unsavoriness among the inhabitants of a medieval Italian monastery, and Arturo Perez-Reverte's adventure thriller, The Club Dumas, upon which Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate was based. Both highly recommended without hesitation, although be forewarned, they're decidedly not disposable, easily digestible literary junkfood, so be prepared to pay attention! 

And, finally, there was Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May: London Bridge Is Falling Down, the grand finale of the much-loved Bryant and May mystery series that spanned 18 novels, numerous short stories and at least one graphic novel. The entire series is smart, funny, gruesome and thrilling, following the exploits of two way-past-retirement-age senior detectives in London's Peculiar Crimes Unit, as they attempt to unravel the ghastliest plots without breaking a hip in the process. If you need to de-stress with a purely entertaining read, the Bryant and May books can't be beat. I will definitely miss Christopher Fowler and his team. 

So I just looked back at all my Amazon orders from 2022 and couldn't find any other books that rose to the occasion that those mentioned above did. Happily (or not), I read more books in 2022 than I thought I had--well over 10--but, for one reason or another, they just didn't do it for me. Some of them were plain bad, others couldn't maintain my interest beyond 10 or 20 pages. It happens. There's an entire shelf of unfinished books that I keep thinking about returning to someday but so far that hasn't happened. C keeps telling me to take them to Out of the Closet or Povarello, or donate them to the local library, but I'm hanging on to them. Just in case. In the meantime, I'm about halfway through Bret Easton Ellis' new shocker The Shards, which already seems destined to be in my top 10 reads for 2023. If you're familiar with Ellis' other works, you'll have a good idea of whether or not you want to pick this up. He's back in form, and that's all I'll say.