2022 Book Reports for the 2nd half of the year

My book report for the second half of 2022 is a little shorter than usual. In addition to a busy travel schedule in the fall, I have been reading the same book since late October. It is close to 900 pages but I am nearing the end. Before I started that massive read, I read these books. 

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate - this one had been on my list for a while and I saw it on lots of book lists. I finally put it at the top of my library queue and really enjoyed it. This book is set in the south (mostly Louisiana and Texas) in the mid-1800s and covers the adventures of a former slave who is trying to reconnect with her family. There are a lot of twists and turns in the story and it kept me turning the pages. In the end, it was a great story to understand a little more about the years after the Civil War and what life may have been like. If you haven't read this one and you enjoy historical fiction, I recommend it. 

Lost and Found in Paris by Lian Dolan - what a fun summer read! Lian is one of the hosts of my favorite podcast, Satellite Sisters. This is her fourth book and I think the best page turner of them all. It follows Joan to Paris for a work assignment that goes wildly wrong in the first night. She has to try to make things right and figure out who is leading her on a wild goose chase. It was a really entertaining story and I enjoyed it. I passed this one on to my mom and I think she stayed up late a few nights to find out what was going on!

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hanberry - As I started my travels, I visited my kid's rooms to see if they had a few smaller books for me to read that would easily tuck into my carryon bag. This is the first one and was such an interesting play. I really enjoyed reading it and had a great discussion with my son after I finished it. It is another one with some good historical context. 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - I've heard about this book set in Africa for years and am so glad I took this one on my travels. It was such an interesting look into what life in a tribe could have been like in the early 1900s. The life and experiences of the characters were so unique to most books I've read and I enjoyed stretching my mind to read this one. 

Competing in the Age of AI by Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani - This one was book club book at work. My boss took a class from the authors and thought it was really interesting (our team is responsible for some of the technology at our company) so our team decided to read and discuss the book. The book covered the development of AI, changes in company strategy required to be successful, and ethical considerations. It really pushed me to think about where we are leveraging technology to our advantage, and also had me thinking about my kids and how much of their life will be influenced by AI, even more so than mine. Not the most riveting book of the year, but definitely an interesting one. 

That's it - I picked up the newest Outlander book after these and I am working my way through that one, but my book list keeps growing in the meantime. My total for 2022 was 14 books, which is the lowest total since I started tracking. I don't feel like I read less last year, so maybe it was more about the length of the books I chose - or shorter reading sessions at night since my days were busier. 

 I am looking forward to some more interesting reads in 2023. What are you reading at the moment? Anything I might need to add to my list?