Inspired by the informal salons (“tertulias”) of Spanish cafes, Tertulia is home to the lively and enriching conversations that books inspire. All year long, we gather the best in book chat, from celebrity interviews on podcasts to debut authors on Instagram to the friends you follow on Twitter.

We present here our annual Most Talked About list, a ranked index of all the book talk we captured throughout the year. From banned classics to #Booktok sensations to books adapted for Netflix, these are the novels that people were buzzing about the most during 2022.

To view the 2022 Most Talked About Non-Fiction list, click here.

#1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 

A murder investigation involving the author. A major Hollywood movie adaptation. And even a Taylor Swift song. This already wildly popular book first published in 2018 was the most talked about book in 2022.

#2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho  

This parable about following your dreams is a perennial and global bestseller. Whether or not you drink the Kool-Aid, this book is a worldwide phenomenon with major staying power.

#3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

This feel-good cosmic fantasy about living your best life has come back again (and again) since its publication in 2020. If you're on #BookTok, you've no doubt scrolled past thousands of readers who will claim "TikTok made me buy it."

#4. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Since its publication and subsequent critical acclaim with a Booker Prize nomination in 2015, this book has been the most popular "difficult" book that moves readers to tears. This year, the whole dark and traumatic story came alive in a theater adaptation.

#5. Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Of all her books, the popular millennial Irish author's first novel from 2017 still gets the most buzz on Tertulia. Especially as the debate continues about whether her trademark musings about life (and sex) lend themselves to the TV screen.

#6. Circe by Madeline Miller

The power of the ancient Greek epics is at the heart of this feminist retelling of the Odyssey for the #MeToo era, which has enthralled readers since its publication in 2018.

#7. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Plath's writing and life story—including the fetishization of her death—has been haunting American culture for decades. But chatter about this female "rite of passage" novel is clearly alive and well on social media.

#8. Beloved by Toni Morrison

Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer, this novel is widely acknowledged as one of the most masterful works in American literature — and yet, it's still being banned from school and library shelves sixty years after its thunderous debut.

#9. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

This mind-bending novel has been acclaimed by critics and endorsed by President Obama in his popular summer reading picks. A forthcoming HBO adaptation will likely keep its flame burning blue.

#10. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

As the book jacket calls it, this “thinking person’s thriller” would be a cult classic — if you can have a cult that's 5 million people strong. The bestseller enjoyed its 30th anniversary this year and trended on TikTok with some 250 million views of related videos.

#11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

It's amazing to see such mainstream success for a 448-page book based on the life of an 18th-century French woman who makes a Faustian bargain with a mysterious god. Clearly, people love to share how moved they are by its magic and mystery.

#12. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

All TJR's books have been sticky on Tertulia but this beachy, #Booktok-beloved flashback novel got the most love of all this year.

#13. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Clarke won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021 for this fantasy novel. Its dreamlike alternative reality has obviously been a compelling escape from some of the darker moments of our days.

#14. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

This post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel is a cultural touchstone for its chillingly relevant commentary on climate change and social inequality. It's no wonder that the author inspired a social media hashtag #OctaviaTriedToTellUs.

#15. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Another epic, this one spans across 600 years. This time-traveling, imaginative feat of storytelling from Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Doerr has clearly inspired sharing and discussion among readers.

#16. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

One of the few debut novels on the list, the book is about the life of a female scientist thwarting the impenetrable glass ceiling of the 1950s. Read it before the Apple TV series comes out next year.

#17. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

The eighth novel by a Nobel laureate, this book is an intriguing take on how artificial reality may play a role in our futures—a theme that has never been more relevant as we enter the age of ChatGPT.

#18. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Rabid Murakami fans heartily debate which of his books is the best — and this one's up there. This nostalgic novel reflecting on life, death and friendship in the '60s continues to resonate for readers since its publication in 1987.

#19. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

This blockbuster dystopia from 1985 resonates more than ever in the post-Roe world. The popular Hulu series, along with the author's "burn-proof" edition that went to auction earlier this year, added to the regular hum of discussion around this classic.

#20. Trust by Hernan Diaz

Longlisted for the Booker Prize this year, this novel received some of the highest praise from critics of any book published in 2022.

Tertulia’s “most-talked-about” list was arrived at based on our proprietary technology that captures high-quality book mentions from across the web, including social posts, reviews, features, broadcast mentions, and podcasts using both machine learning (AI) and editorial (human) curation. Tertulia’s database of 1.7 million book mentions (and growing every day) covers the long tail of books and includes both frontlist and backlist titles.

See the Most Talked About Non-Fiction Books of 2022.