2022 has been a crazy year, but it’s also been full of some incredible books, which I’m so grateful for! I hope 2023 will bring just as many amazing stories into my life, but first, let’s look back at the last 12 months and which literary gems made my top 5!

Babel is a Gaslamp fantasy narrative on Colonialism that should not be missed. Following the journey of adopted Chinese orphan Robin Swift as he is brought to England and trained in preparation for Higher Education at the Oxford Institute of Translation, also known as Babel, we are introduced to a unique take on the British Empire of the 1830s. Here, silver and foreign linguistics are power to be amassed, and immigrants such as Robin and his friends are merely assets to be used in strengthening the hold of the crown on their homelands.