The Re-Read: Our 2022 favourites

Better Words

It's our favourite episode of the year – our favourite books, films, TV and audio of the year. Thank you for joining us in 2022 and supporting our wonderful authors.

We've started a Substack for Better Words to give you extra mini recommendations each month outside of our podcast episodes. Come join us!

You can also find us Storygraph: Michelle and Caitlin.

Season 10 (can you BELIEVE?!) will be in your ears in a few months.

We're keeping recommendations brief. If we've featured or discussed the book before, we'll link to the episode.

We'll mark any PR/review copies with *

Adult fiction

Caitlin:

• Babel by R.F. Kuang*
• All My Mothers by Joanna Glen* (original rec)
• The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland*

Michelle:

• Girl Friends by Holly Bourne
• Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter
• Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn* (interview)

Young Adult

Caitlin:

• Libby Lawrence is Good at Pretending by Jodi McAlister* (interview)
• The Cult of Romance by Sarah Ayoub* (interview)
• August and Jones by Pip Harry* (interview)

Michelle:

• Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood* (interview)
• Blood to Poison by Mary Watson* (interview)
• Sugar by Carly Nugent* (interview)

Non-fiction

Caitlin:

• How to Be Perfect by Mike Schur
• Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

Michelle:

• Why Did You Stay? by Rebecca Humphries (read my Substack review)
• Redhanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick by Suruthi Bala and Hannah McGuire
• Parsnips, Buttered by Joe Lycett

Favourite cover

Caitlin: Tiny Uncertain Miracles by Michelle Johnston

Michelle: The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

The hype read

Caitlin: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Michelle: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

The book we recommend to each other

Caitlin: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

Michelle: All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donohue

The new release we want to read

Caitlin: Love & Autism by Kay Kerr

Michelle: The Vintage Shop of Second Chances by Libby Page

(We also both have Spare on reserve at the library)

The book we already own and want to actually read

Caitlin: Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Michelle: Still Life by Sarah Winman

TV

Caitlin:

• Barry
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
• The Resort

Michelle:

• Chernobyl
• The Dropout
• Holby City

Joint favourite: Heartstopper (listen to our full discussion)

Movies

Caitlin:

• West Side Story
• Being the Riccardos

Michelle:

• Downton Abbey: A New Era
• More, More, More by Joe Lycett

Joint recommendation: Matilda the Musical (Netflix)

Audio

Caitlin:

• Midnights by Taylor Swift
• And That's What You Really Missed
• Maisie Peters

Michelle:

• Redhanded
• There's Nothing But Space, Man by Sam Ryder
• All Killa, No Filla

Books and other things mentioned

• The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
• Just the Gist 2022 reccos and recommendations episode
• Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton
• Dying of Politeness by Geena Davis
• A Class Act by Rob Beckett
• Windswept and Interesting by Billy Connolly
• Wahala by Nikki May
• Palm Springs (film)
• Happy Valley season 3 (TV series)
• Slate article on Matilda's Trunchbull evolution
• The Lonely Island
• Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga (film)

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