2022 is the 7th year we're approaching experts and asking them to recommend the best books published in their field, whether it's history or historical fiction, science or science fiction, math or memoir, politics or philosophy.
Below you’ll find all our interviews on the best books of 2022 as they are published on Five Books. (Our best books of 2021, 2020, and 2019 are also still available: those books are still well worth reading!).
Almost all the book recommendations are based on an individual expert's choices. In some lists one of our editors makes a selection, based on the vast quantities of books we read every week. We'll be adding to these throughout the year to find you the very best books:
Over the course of the year, we'll also interview the judges of distinguished prizes, as they have systematically gone through all the books published that year to choose the very best. It's another way of finding books that are not only well-researched but also enjoyable to read.
Either way, we can guarantee one thing: all the books below are very, very good books.
Notable Nonfiction of Spring 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
In the past few months, lots of history books about the past as well as excellent insights into the present have hit the shelves. Some are gripping reads offering a few hours of escapism, others contributions to our human quest to make the world a better place. Some manage both. Five Books editor Sophie Roell offers a roundup of the most notable new books of nonfiction published in March, April and May 2022.
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1
The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs
by Marc David Baer -
2
The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World
by Malcolm Gaskill -
3
Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688
by Clare Jackson -
4
Going to Church in Medieval England
by Nicholas Orme -
5
God: An Anatomy
by Francesca Stavrakopoulou -
6
Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues That Made History
by Alex von Tunzelmann
The Best History Books: the 2022 Wolfson Prize Shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
The Best History Books: the 2022 Wolfson Prize Shortlist, recommended by Carole Hillenbrand
Every year the Wolfson History Prize celebrates books that combine meticulous and original research with great writing, accessible to the general reader. Here, one of the 2022 judges, the eminent Islamic scholar Carole Hillenbrand, guides us through the shortlist to explain why each book is a must-read.
Notable Novels of Spring 2022, recommended by Cal Flyn
If you’re nervous of what 2022 has in store for us, you’re not alone. But at least there will be plenty of excellent new books to read. Here, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a round-up of the notable novels of spring 2022, including exciting new work from Sheila Heti, Ali Smith and Marlon James.
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1
The Last Emperor of Mexico
by Edward Shawcross -
2
Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books
by Geoffrey Roberts -
3
Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb
by Togzhan Kassenova -
4
This Mortal Coil: A History of Death
by Andrew Doig -
5
The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future
by Julia Hobsbawm
Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction of Early 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Even though we’re still in the first couple of months of 2022, there are already lots of really interesting nonfiction books either out or just about to be published. Five Books editor Sophie Roell surveys the flood of books that cover everything from Neolithic archaeology to the latest insights of neuroscience and genetics, as well as books that explore where we work, what we feel, and how we die.
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1
A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise Of Black Performance
by Hanif Abdurraqib -
2
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out
by Jeremy Atherton Lin -
3
A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha
by Rodrigo Garcia -
4
A Ghost in the Throat
by Doireann Ní Ghríofa -
5
Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes
by Albert Samaha
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
The Best Memoirs: The 2022 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist, recommended by Marion Winik
Autobiography is evolving; increasingly we find the field dominated by ‘genre-fluid’ books that plait memoir together with strands of cultural criticism, history, journalism or even poetry. Here, Marion Winik, the memoirist and critic, talks us through the five books that have been shortlisted in the National Book Critic’s Circle autobiography category—and describes the face of memoir in 2022.
The Best Audiobooks: the 2022 Audie Awards, recommended by Michele Cobb
The movie industry has the Oscars to celebrate its achievements, but if you love audiobooks, you’ll be more interested in the Audies. Here Michele Cobb, Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association, talks us through the 2022 shortlist for ‘audiobook of the year,’ as well as one of her favourite books from the fiction category.