This year, the popularity of reading has grown significantly. This is partly due to the consequences of social media (more specifically TikTok). After interviewing many students and teachers, I’ve been able to discover many students and teachers favorite reads of this year. 

Thaia Tsandes, a senior here at Juan Diego says that her favorite read of 2022 was the book If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin, a romance novel about childhood friends who turn into strangers and reveals their past and their story of falling in love. Tsandes rated it 5/5 stars and recommends it to those who love books similar to Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. “It’s my favorite book because it’s a very sweet romance novel and it impacted me in the way that I should always be grateful for the people I have and take every chance I can with anything before it’s too late,” says Tsandes. 

Daniel Sontum, an English teacher here at school says his favorite read this past year was The Promise by Damon Galgut, a book about a white family living in South Africa. Each part of the book is narrated by a different member in the family while they come together over the death of one of the other family members. After the first death, the family promises to leave their land for the Black servants of the family in their will. This ultimately ends up falling through, which is the main focus of the novel. Sontum rates this book 5/5 stars, and recommends it to everyone. “I love the way that the author inhabited the different members of the family and the different deaths and aftereffects were an “arbitrary” but interesting point of comparison/contrast as the book went on,” says Sontum.