The Book Bunnies review the books of 2022

As this year’s last Saturday falls on December 31, New Year’s Eve, we thought we would try something new and New-Year-ish and talk about all the books we have read this year.

[2022 saw the bunnies read and review many books, both new and classic. You can find a full list here.]

Sprinkles: So it is easiest for me to go over my posts for the year because I only wrote two. I wrote one on Children’s books about babies and where they come from on October 22, 2022, and another on Mathematical biographies for children (the Mathematical Lives series) by Robert Black on April 30, 2022.

I enjoyed all the mathematical biography I read. I’d recommend each and every one of the six books most strongly. And I have to say my favorite children’s book about babies and where they come from is still the first one I read myself when I was a young bunny: Where Did I Come From? The Facts of Life Without Any Nonsense and With Illustrations, written by Peter Mayle, illustrated by Arthur Robins, and designed by Paul Walter.

But that book was published in 1973 and does show its age. So if I were to pick something more recent, I’d go with What Makes A Baby? written by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth, or It’s NOT The Stork: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Families, and Friends, written by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley, for younger bunnies, and I’d pick It’s SO Amazing: A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families, written by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley, for older ones.

Marshmallow: I reviewed a book by the team that created that What Makes a Baby? book you are talking about: You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Thingsby Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth. That could also be a good option I think.

Sprinkles: I agree. I think that was one of the few nonfiction books you reviewed this year.

Marshmallow: I also reviewed Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You! by Marley Dias on April 9, 2022, The English GI by Jonathan Sandler and Brian Bicknell on November 26, 2022, and Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit on December 17, 2022. Those three were also all nonfiction. but you are right that I mainly read and reviewed fiction this year.

Sprinkles: Caramel likes and reviews nonfiction a lot more I think. What were some of your nonfiction favorites this year Caramel?

Caramel: I reviewed so many! I reviewed Opposites Abstract by Mo Willems on March 16, 2022; Pangolins by Lisa Fanton on October 12, 2022; Robot by Roger Bridgman on November 2, 2022; Sea Bunnies by Kelly Hargrave on November 16, 2022; Hot Lava! Fiery Facts About Volcanoes by Alice Fewery on November 23, 2022; Glow Animals by K.C. Kelley on December 7, 2022; and 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) by National Geographic Kids on December 21, 2022.

Sprinkles: Yes, and there is clearly a pattern. You love animals and you read about animals; you like robots, and you read about robots. So I’d guess that Pangolins was your favorite animal book?

Caramel: Probably. As you know, they are my favorite animals. But 5000 Awesome Facts (About Animals) by National Geographic Kids was also pretty awesome because it had so many facts! Unfortunately they did not have too much about pangolins though…

Sprinkles: They did have a two-page spread on 100 Hard-Core Facts About Animals With Armor.

Caramel: Yes, true. And there are so many more animals in that book!

Sprinkles: And the Robot book: would you say that that was one of your favorites this year?

Caramel: Yep.

Caramel: And the Wild Robot books by Peter Brown, The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes were two of my favorite fiction books!

Sprinkles: You also read and reviewed most of the Wings of Fire books this year.

Caramel: Yes, I should not forget those. Wings of Fire is still my favorite book series.

Sprinkles: Having read all fifteen now, do you have a favorite among them?

Caramel: Well, I read the Legends books, too, so there are more than fifteen actually.

Sprinkles: Yes, true, you reviewed Darkstalker on September 14, and Dragonslayer on September 21. Do you have a favorite among those?

Caramel: Among the Legends I think I like the Darkstalker a bit more, but they are all pretty awesome. And among the original fifteen, I cannot choose one.

Sprinkles: So how about choosing one per five books? For the Dragonet Prophesy, which is your favorite?

Caramel: The fifth: The Brightest Night.

Sprinkles: For the Jade Mountain arc?

Caramel: The sixth: Moon Rising.

Sprinkles: How about the last arc?

Caramel: Probably the fourteenth: The Dangerous Gift. But I still read and reread all fifteen of them.

Sprinkles: I know. The books are still all over the house. I think you really like Tui Sutherland and her imaginary worlds. You and I both read and enjoyed Tui Sutherland’s shorter series, The Menagerie, that she wrote with her sister.

Caramel: Yes, that is true. I did not want to read them first, but after you finished them all, you sort of made me. I did not want to get out of the Wings of Fire world at first.

Sprinkles: But you did enjoy them in the end.

Caramel: Yep.

Sprinkles: That happens! So Marshmallow, let us talk about the fiction you have read this year.

Marshmallow: I reviewed a couple series this year. I read and reviewed the Magnus Chase books by Rick Riordan: The Sword of Summer,  The Hammer of Thor, and The Ship of the Dead. I also began reading the Miss Peregrine books by Ransom Riggs. And it was fun to get back to Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil universe again: I first read and reviewed Rise of the School for Good and Evil and then went back and reread the book that started them all: School for Good and Evil. And I read and reviewed a new FunJungle book too: Bear Bottom by Stuart Gibbs. I loved each of these books.

Sprinkles: And you read a few classics this year, too.

Marshmallow: Yes. I read and reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes on October 1, 2022; Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell on October 8, 2022; and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens on October 29, 2022. Nineteen Eighty-Four was the one that affected me most.

Sprinkles: I remember reading that book and I felt the same way.

Sprinkles: How about the other fiction you read? Can you share some of your highlights?

Marshmallow: I read and reviewed Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan on April 2, 2022; I think it is a really well-written book, though a bit sad.

Sprinkles: So this was overall a good year with lots of good books, right?

Caramel: Yes, I think so!

Marshmallow: I agree! And we are going to read and review a lot more next year!

Caramel: But we take January off.

Sprinkles: Yes, we should mention that. And what else do you all want to say to your readers?

Marshmallow: Happy new year!

Caramel: And see you in February 2023 for more book bunny reviews!