So, now that the dust has settled on 2022, here's my reading round-up for the year. (I meant to do this last week, but kept forgetting!)

In total I read 47 books (although I'm still ploughing through the last of those, James Ellroy's latest, which is slow going, and may well set me back quite a bit for the year ahead, as I doubt I'll finish it for a few more weeks at least). There were some 1 and 2 star duds in among the mix, though I doled out mostly 3 or 4 star ratings over on Goodreads. Ultimately I only gave 5 stars to a trio of books, which were, in the order I read them...

RIVER GOD, by Wilbur Smith.

GIRL A, by Abigail Dean.

PROJECT HAIL MARY, by Andy Weir.

If you'd asked me at the start of the year if I thought any of those books would be among my top 3 reads of the year, I'd have given you massive odds against it. I hadn't read a Wilbur Smith book for more than 30 years... I hated Andy Weir's previous offering, the woefully misjudged Artemis... and I hadn't even heard of Abigail Dean!! But hey, isn't that the beauty of books? If you give them a chance, and don't go in with any strong preconceptions, they'll always have the ability to surprise and amaze you...