2022 Goodreads Book Challenge

I thought I would do something different this year and show what I actually read this year according to my Goodreads Challenge Book tracker. It will be easier doing a blog post for it instead of trying to share the actual Goodreads challenge as sometimes the books do not display properly. 

According to my Goodreads Challenge I read 144 books! I had set my goal for 75 and surpassed that feat about half way through the year. But I did have five dnf books too - tragic I know and I will list the dnf books at the bottom of this list with a short reason of why I didn't finish them.  

So going to list out all the books read this year along with some general thoughts at the bottom of the blog post. 

Also at the bottom of the blog post I will add book statistics from Goodreads that are interesting to me. 

I am just typing the books by the authors in the order that I read them - not listing my reviews and not listing links to the books and/or authors as all of that information can be found on my blog site. For books that made my 25 Top Read List of the Year will be highlighted in bold. Also listing the books read by month to make it easier. 

So off we go:

January:

1) It Sleeps At Dawn by Anthony Renfro

2) Valor (Book 2 of the Faithful & the Fallen) by John Gwynne

3) The Art of Human Hunting by Sea Caummisar

4) I Call Upon Thee by Ania Ahlborn

5) Tales from the Parkland by Ronald McGillvray

6) A Suburban Haunting by Matt Shaw

7) Blood Seance by John Kaden

8) Ruin (Book 3 of the Faithful & the Fallen) by John Gwynne

9) Donn, Tx 1969 by Eric Butler

10) The Fourth Monkey (4MK Thriller - Book 1) by J.D. Barker

11) The Suicide Lake by Michael Penning

12) Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates

13) Peekers by Kealan Patrick Burke 

14) Wrath (Book 3 of the Faithful & the Fallen) by John Gwynne

15) A Witch's Lament (The Salem Witches Book 1) by Cathy Walker

16) The Troop by Nick Cutter

17) Slattery Falls by Brennan LaFaro

18) True Hauntings of America: 13 of the Scariest Locations You Should Never Step Foot In   by Max Mason Hunter

19) The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper Book 1) by Darcy Coates

20) Stirred (Jack Daniels #8) by J.A. Konrath

February:

1) Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill

2) The Unwanted by John Saul

3) The Cabin by Matt Shaw

4) The Cabin II: Asylum by Matt Shaw

5) Black Diamond Death (Sloane Monroe #1) by Cheryl Bradshaw

6) Dark City (The Order of Shadows #1) by Kit Hallows

7) Rum Runner (Jack Daniels #9) by J.A. Konrath

8) Blood Forged by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

9) Them by James Watts

10) The Lighthouse by Amy Cross

11) They Thirst by Robert McCammon

12) The Saga of Dead Eye Book One: Vampires, Zombies & Mojo Men by Ronald Kelly

13) Gloop! by David Brian

14) Midnight Falls (The Order of Shadows #2) by Kit Hallows

15) Slander Hall by Matthew Tait

16) The Horror Collection: Ruby Edition by Kevin J. Kennedy

17) Dawn Girl (Special Agent Tess Winnett #1) by Leslie Wolfe

18) Ghost Stories by Ron Ripley

19) Dying Valentine by Calvin Demmer

20) Mirror by Graham Masterton

March

1) The Window by Glenn Rolfe

2) Dracula by Bram Stoker

3) Kill Hill Carnage by Tim Meyer

4) The Fall of Man (Zombie Apocalypse #1) by Jeff DeGordick

5) Blood Lanes by Brian G. Berry

6) Gross Out by Duncan Ralston

7) The Ravenous Dead (Gravekeeper #2) by Darcy Coates

8) Carnivore by Justin Boote

April

1) The Other Ann by Amy Cross

2) Irish Gothic: Tales of Celtic Horror by Ronald Kelly

3) Shadow Detective (Shadow Detective omnibus #4-6) by William Massa

4) Legion (The Hexecutioner #10) by William Massa

5) Dead Man's Song by Jonathan Maberry

6) Apartment 401 by Boris Bacic

7) Last Call (Jack Daniels #10) by J.A. Konrath

8) The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber 

9) Charnel House by Graham Masterton

10) Snow Shark by Brian G. Berry

11) Scar by Michael R. Cole

12) The Adironback Witch by Patrick Reuman

May

1) Klondike Slaughter by David Haynes

2) Loch Ness by Matt Shaw

3) Night of the Kraken by Mark L'Estrange

4) Subterrestrial by Michael McBride

5) How to Survive A Horror Movie: All Skills to Dodge the Kills by Seth Grahame-Smith

6) The Shadow Within by Eric Butler

7) Salvage: A Ghost Story by Duncan Ralston

8) Assassin (Darkblade #1) by Andy Peloquin

June

1) Dracul by Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker

2) The Ritual by Adam Nevill

3) Lords of the Deep by Tim Meyer

4) The Family Man by Anna Willett

5) Wax Part One by Amy Cross

6) Devil's Bait (Devereaux Chronicles #1) by Debbie Boek

7) 13 Bullets (Laura Caxton #1) by David Wellington

8) Devil's Retribution (Devereaux Chronicles #2) by Debbie Boek

9) Wax Part Two by Amy Cross

July

1) Wax Part Three by Amy Cross

2) Perron Manon (Haunted #1) by Lee Mountford

3) Come Closer by Sara Gran

4) A Subtle Agency by Graeme Rodaughan

5) Behind the Horror: True Stories that Inspired Horror Movies by Lee Mellor

6) The Odds by Jeff Strand

7) Wax Part Four by Amy Cross

8) The Redwood Asylum by L.A. Detwiler

9) A Gift of Death by Daniel J. Volpe

10) The Horror Collection: Nightmare Edition by KJK Publishing (a/k/a Kevin J. Kennedy)

11) Wax Part Five by Amy Cross

12) The Date by Mort Stone

13) Wax Part Six by Amy Cross

14) The Night They Got Out by Patrick James Ryan

15) OGRE by Brian G. Berry

August

1) The Garden of Bewitchment by Catherine Cavendish

2) Backwater by Tom Deady

3) Night Stalks the Mansion: A True Story of One's Family Ghostly Adventure by Constance Westbie

4) Soul Catcher (John Decker 0.5) by Anthony M. Strong

5) Combustion by Justin Boote

6) At Your Service by Caleb C.W.

7) The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts

8) What Vengeance Comes (John Decker #1) by Anthony M. Strong

9) Protector (Darkblade #2) by Andy Peloquin

10) 99 Coffins (Laura Caxton #2) by David Wellington

11) Donn, Tx 1865 by Eric Butler

12) The Summer I Died by Ryan C. Thomas

September

1) Where the Dead Walk by John Boden

2) Darkfall: Deathborn by Lee Mountford

3) Strangers by Michaelbrent Collings

4) The Haunted Halls by Glenn Rolfe

5) Brian's Birthday Bloodbath (Slasherback Series #4) by Brian G. Berry

6) The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz

7) Once More with Feeling by David Brian

8) Something in the Groove by Glenn Rolfe

9) Fairy Tale by Stephen King 

10) Ghost Mine by Hunter Shea

October

1) Devil's Door (Haunted #2) by Lee Mountford

2) Werewolf on the Western Front (Avery & Carter #2) by Shane Carrow

3) Seven Cleopatra Hill by Justin Holley

4) The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne

5) Scarecrows by Michael Bray

6) 4:50 From Paddington (Miss Marple #8) by Agatha Christie

7) Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

8) Hobbomock by Ryan C. Thomas

9) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

10) The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

November

1) Usher's Passing by Robert McCammon

2) Purgatory (Haunted #3) by Lee Mountford

3) Undertaker's Moon by Ronald Kelly

4) Thanksgiving Day Massacre by Brian G. Berry

5) From Below by Darcy Coates

6) Possession (Haunted #4) by Lee Mountford

December

1) The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings by Catherine Cavendish

2) You Belong to Me and Other True Cases by Ann Rule

3) Lost to the Lake by Anna Willett

4) Sallow Bend by Alan Baxter

5) One Star by Amy Cross

6) The Ghosts of Marsh House by Amy Cross

7) The Beauty Queen Killer by Mark Quarry

8) Justified (Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller #2) by C. M. Sutter

9) The Institute by Stephen King

Thoughts:

Where in the hell did I get my reading stamina to read 20 books for both January and February?! Reading a total of 40 books within just two months! Wow! I am trying to think of what kind of "reading power juice" I was drinking to kick off the new year! I will have to go back in recent years to see if I have ever read that many before to start off a new year! From that point on though the book reads are on a roller coaster - a few here and there. 

All in all a great reading year for me as it seems I spent most of my time in the horror realm which is my main genre and spent some time in a few other genres as well. 

As you can see with so many great books read I had a hard time squeezing out just 25 picks for my end of the year top book reads. Trust me when I say it was hard to pick out 25 books when I had read 144. 

So here are some Goodreads book stats from 2022:

Books Read - 144

Pages Read - 36,216  (It seems I broke a page record as last year I read 34,199 pages)

Books Read according to star ratings (this is an interesting Goodreads feature):

Five star books: 71 books (I am easy to please it seems - lol)

Four star books: 55 books (See above statement - 😍)

Three star books: 10 books (It is rare I hand out three stars but it usually means I liked it but not enough to round up to four stars)

Two star books: 1 book (A book has to be a real let down to get two stars)

One star books: 2 books (A book has to be to the point where the storyline didn't make sense)

No stars (dnf) books: 5 books (This means for me that the storyline was just not doing it for me which can be a lot of factors and I will type out my dnf's down below with a short explanation). 

DNF Books: (no particular order)

1) Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (fantasy genre) - I just could not get into the book even though it was about vampires - the storyline kind of dragged for me but I am sure (from what friends have said) that the book gets better as time goes on - but for me it wasn't soon enough as I don't normally do well with slow burns unless there are flashes of action mixed in. 

2) Merfolk by Jeremy Bates (horror genre) - This story was supposed to be about well "merfolk" - aquatic horror story - I read up to about the 47% mark and there was hardly any mention of ocean water nor was there any merfolk about either. Thankfully it was not my imagination as one of my other blogger friends read it and said the same thing more or less in her review. 

3) The Haunting on Park Road: A Memoir Based On Terrifying True Paranormal Events by  Andrew Hopkins (non-fiction genre) - This story was "based on" supposedly true paranormal events though how true depends on what the reader feels when they read it. I have read a few true ghost stories but this one didn't not scare me at all - in fact I kept falling asleep while reading it as that is how bored I was with the book. Any book that puts me to sleep and does not keep me in an active wide awake insomnia mode is probably best left on the shelf. 

4) Legion by William Peter Blatty (horror genre) - The follow up sequel to The Exorcist - the only reason that this book was a dnf for me was the main character was driving me nutso as his dialogue just kept throwing me out of the story. If he was silent through the book it would have been better for me and just let the supporting characters take over.  Also I felt the book held no scare factor at all and to me it was just another murder mystery book.

5) Nightshade by John Saul (horror genre) - I cannot remember ever giving a John Saul book a dnf - actually I think this is the first one to be honest. The story had tons of repetition within and there were so scare factors either - nothing to drive my insomnia to the brink. Also there was some emotional upheaval with this book as well as one of the characters has Alzheimer's and the story goes into details with the character of what they are going through along with what everyone around them are going through as well. It hit too close to home for me as I was my mother's caretaker for a few years and know too well the emotional struggles of dealing with a loved one that has this disease. My mom had a little bit of both though as she seemed to have dementia along with the Alzheimer's so I just could not read a book that focused some on the disease within the story - too many memories of what I went through with my mom so that is another reason I laid down this book. 

So that is my wrap up blog post for books read this year along with statistics of the books and all general round about thoughts on the books read. Looking forward to reading more great books in 2023!