AABC – 2022 Year-End Summary

2022 marked year two of the book club I started on a whim in 2021.  I hoped to read 12 books but the last half of the year is actively being blocked by my defense mechanisms due to it being ROUGH. 

So, in total, The Adventure Awaits Book Club (AABC) read 10 books, although we weren’t able to schedule to discuss the last two.  

Here’s a list of the AABC’s 2022 picks: 

1. The Pact by Jodi Picoult 
2. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix 
3. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera 
4. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
5. Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
6. Verity by Colleen Hoover 
7. Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell
8. Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn
9. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
10. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

My personal favorite for the year 2022 was When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. It started out slow and I doubted it’s quality and then the women empowerment message came through at the end.  There’s something about women not tolerating crap from anyone and turning into dragons that sounds like a world I would want to live in.  A close second is Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn.  The wholesomeness of that book brought joy to my heart and we all need a book that will do that for us every now and then. 

The book that surprised me the most was A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen.  While the women empowerment message is a little foggier in this play, I freaking loved it.  The main character made a questionable choice regarding her children but I felt supportive of half of her decision.  I didn’t expect to love this play so much because the plays I have read in the past often move too slow.  With the shortness of this one, it moved quickly and held much more spunk than I expected.  

The Pact by Jodi Picoult also surprised me but not in the way I wanted.  Jodi Picoult’s books have left me completely shocked by her twists and feeling a sense of wanting to read more.  The Pact did not do that for me.  I felt irritated and like that is how you were supposed to feel for no reason.  I didn’t really get it but I’m still a fan of the author so I would likely still recommend this one for her writing.  

If you want a book to mess with your mind, read Verity by Colleen Hoover.  I’ve heard some questionable information about Colleen recently that is a bummer.  I’ve read a few of her books and have enjoyed them.  It’s such a strange feeling to respect someone’s work but start to lose respect for who they are as a person.  

The other five books were all solid choices.  I’m a sucker for love stories and others in the AABC are fans of more slasher/spooky titles.  I think we picked a decent variety of themes and genres for 2022.  

——

I posted an introduction blog, for how I planned to incorporate my book club into my website, around the time I created my website but did not follow through with what I hoped to accomplish. 

This is not a promise but rather a goal for 2023.  I will, again, aspire to post on the book club portion of my website a photo of the cover of whatever we are reading and will update the title each month.  I will then aspire to post a blog sharing my opinion as well as AABC’s thoughts on each book.  

I will also plan to post the books to my Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/authorarielpierce/, so there will be multiple places for y’all to interact despite not being in the official group.  

Let me know what books you recommend we check out during 2023!  Please feel free to comment suggestions on the blog page, send ideas to my email, or interact on Instagram!  Happy reading, y’all!

Our January 2023 book club choice is, Looking for Alaska by John Green!