The Best Books of 2022

What can a list of the year’s best books tell you about the year itself? Nothing, really. Or, nothing specific. Books, by and large, take a long while to write. Years, decades, sometimes lifetimes. They almost never get released into the same reality they were started in. None of the books on this list are set in the Covid Era. Any mention of masks, vaccines or viruses are either coincidental or late additions added for flair. Several of these supposed Best Books of 2022 are set in the past or the future, or both, and their plots offer little direct advice for those of us stranded in the Maybe Still Covid Era. Which is fine.