Award-Winning Books of 2022

2022 Pulitzer Prize History Winner: Indigenous peoples weren’t savages, and white settlers were far from morally pristine in colonial America. “Covered with Night” shatters the prevailing narrative by revealing the hidden history of one Indigenous man’s murder at the hands of white colonists, and the subsequent ideological clashes that almost led to war. Eustace’s work provides critical context to discussions about reparations and what constitutes justice today.

2022 Pulitzer Prize History Winner: Ferrer, a Cuban-American professor, sharply intertwines five centuries worth of history between the island nation and its towering neighbor. This thorough history sets the record straight about the fraught relationship between Cuba and the United States, and shows how the fates and fortunes of the two countries are inextricably linked.

Nonfiction National Book Awards Winner: Perry was born in Alabama, and while she’s spent much of her time in the North (she’s a professor of African American studies at Princeton and attended Harvard and Yale), her roots are in the Deep South, which she argues is the heart of the nation. “South to America” is a combination of an astute personal travelog and a scholarly sociological study of the South’s complicated relationship with race and more.

From the Nobel Prize in Literature Winner: In the early ’60s, French author Ernaux was young, pregnant, and afraid. Abortion was illegal in France at the time, forcing Ernaux to go to dangerous lengths to terminate the pregnancy. Ernaux’s emotional and deeply personal memoir remains timely, given the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S.

Hugo Award for Best Novella Winner: After self-aware robots separated from humankind centuries ago, a tea monk finds themself struggling with feelings of dissatisfaction and restlessness. They connect with a friendly robot and embark on a journey together, all while making sense of one another’s existence and pondering their purpose in life.

Hugo Award for Best Series Winner: McGuire’s “Wayward Children” novellas focus on Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, which houses kids who have visited alternate dimensions and are struggling to readjust to regular life. McGuire has earned multiple awards for this melancholic, whimsical series.

Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award Winner: The rise of technology and the IoT (Internet of Things) means more devices than ever are controlled by microchips. It’s no longer just computers and smartphones, but also cars, home appliances, solar panels, and more. In short, the world runs on chips. For years, America led in microchip innovation and advancement, but China is gaining ground. Miller explores the policies, both governmental and corporate, that led to the U.S. losing its lead, as well as the economic and political fallout we can expect if nothing changes.

British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel: Ward (“The Girl from Rawblood”) dizzies readers with an eerie story in which no one can be trusted and nothing is what it seems. Ted Bannerman lives in a dark, dilapidated house with his violently angry adopted daughter and a God-fearing cat. Then, a new neighbor arrives, convinced that Ted’s daughter is her kidnapped sister, and things become even more erratic.

Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel Winner: Peggy, a 16-year-old girl stuck in small-town Nebraska, goes missing and many residents are blaming Hal Bullard, a disabled farmhand. Flanagan’s debut includes all the standard setup for a missing persons mystery, but stands out for its rich character studies (the story is told from the points of view of Peggy’s younger brother and Alma, a transplant from Chicago).

Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Winner: Boulley spent 10 years crafting this exquisite YA thriller, and all that writing and rewriting has paid off. Daunis Fontaine is a biracial, unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe who’s determined to put an end to a new drug trafficking ring that’s devastating her community. There’s equal parts brutality and beauty to be found in this twisty, unique novel.

Newbery Medal Winner: In “The Last Cuentista,” Halley’s Comet hurtles toward Earth in 2061, and Petra Peña’s family is one of the few chosen to escape to a new planet. But when she awakens centuries later, no one else remembers Earth. Petra must become a cuentista — a storyteller, just like her grandmother — to keep the past alive. This blend of speculative fiction, lore, and Mexican culture takes its time, engrossing you in every page and revealing how storytelling brings us together.

Audie Award Winner for Best Female Narrator Winner: In the wake of India’s Partition in 1947, teenage Deepa must flee New Delhi, leaving behind the boy she loves. Decades later, her estranged granddaughter is determined to learn more about Deepa’s life and her heritage. “The Parted Earth” is a story of reconciliation — with who you are and who you might have been — and the impact of loss across generations. The narrator Deepti Gupta was recognized for her outstanding work on this title.

Audie Award Winner for Best Male Narrator Winner: Lin-Manuel Miranda of Broadway’s “Hamilton” fame returns to narrate another “Aristotle and Dante” story, to critical acclaim. Aristotle and Dante stole our hearts in the original entry of Sáenz’s series. Now, they’re determined to figure out their future and build a relationship together, despite the difficulties inherent in young love and the added adversity of being gay in the 1980s. This is the rare sequel that challenges genre conventions, matching — perhaps even surpassing — its multi-award-winning predecessor.

NAACP Award for Debut Author Winner: Over the course of her 96 years, entertainer, activist, and humanitarian Tyson co-created the Dance Theater of Harlem, launched an award-winning and iconic career on stage and screen, married jazz legend Miles Davis, and won the Presidential Medal of Freedom. These are just a few of the stories of her incredible life that she shares in this inspiring memoir, narrated by Viola Davis, Robin Miles, and Tyson herself.

Lambda Literary Award for Trans Fiction Winner: Thornton, a multi Lambda finalist, won the trans fiction award for her creative storytelling and rich characterization. “Summer Fun,” told entirely in letters, follows Gala, a trans woman living in New Mexico who writes to the lead singer of her favorite band, the Get Happies. Hippie vibes and ’60s rock ‘n roll make the novel atmospheric, with a touch of magic adding even more vibrance to this passionate tale of trans identity.