Best Books of 2022

I tend to have mixed feelings about the NYT Best Books list; there are always omissions that startle me.

This year, "Raising Raffi" absolutely deserves to be included; "What's So Funny," by Sipress, also needs a spot.

I thought Anthony Horowitz published not one, but two, terrific 2022 novels--"With a Mind to Kill" and "The Twist of a Knife"--and these were among the most entertaining books I bought this year.

Finally, I loved "Magic to Do," a thorough history of the creation of "Pippin." It's really about the battle between Bob Fosse and Stephen Schwartz--and about how this battle seemed to *help* the show that Schwartz had drafted. The book corrects Ryan Murphy's sloppy portrait of Fosse, and it has juicy anecdotes about Ann Reinking, Betty Buckley, and Patina Miller. If you love Broadway, how could you resist?

My favorite book right now is actually not a new one; it's the picture book "Boo, Baa, La La La," by Sandra Boynton. In this mesmerizing story, a cow discovers the word "Boo!" on Halloween night. A sheep becomes confused and shouts, "Baa!" But the cow can't find the sheep, and the suspense grows from there. Not a word is wasted; the characters are memorable; there is an effortless sense of forward momentum. I think Sandra Boynton should be teaching young aspiring scribblers at the University of Iowa.

P.S. I'm away tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Happy Holiday!

P.P.S. I'd also give a 2022 spot to the memoir "Tasha," by Brian Morton.

P.P.P.S. Let's add "Roll, Red, Roll."

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