Happy New Year and welcome to The Best Of Joys Of Binge Reading for 2022.

We're presenting the Top 15 Shows for the year as selected by you, our listeners.

And from previous years, I know that this is one of the most popular shows every year, so it's wonderful to do it for you.

I'm Jenny Wheeler, the host of the show. And first of all, thank you for being part of our growing audience this year. This year, we reached the 250 episode mark, a great achievement, and we wouldn't have done it without your appreciative listening.

 We've divided the show into two parts because 15 episodes is too long to listen to in one go.

The first part with eight of the shows that are selected, will run this week. And then the second we'll run in two weeks in mid-January, to give us plenty of summer relaxing time.

How we selected the 'Best of' authors

You know that I treasure all the authors we talked to and I'd never attempt to pick and choose winners.

So this selection is based solely on the numbers of people who listened to the shows that ran between December 1st, 2021 and December 1st, 2022. Taking those dates allows us to compile and edit the show in time for posting on the first Tuesday in January, 2023.

To give you the flavor, we've included selected highlights of each show so you can discover new authors you might have missed first time round or find books you might want to get into in 2023.

I'm thrilled once again at the generous blend of genres and locations represented in the ‘Best Of’ results, with mysteries, romances, historicals, thrillers, and even an outlier nonfiction title, all featured in the top 15.

And just as our listeners hailed from all over the world so do the authors you listened to, with the US, the UK, and Australian authors all well represented

 So let's get onto it. The first list runs this week, the second one, mid-January. Here it is. The Best of the Joys of Binge Reading 2022,  Part One.

Best Of 2022 - Barbara Freethy - Chart-Topping Romance

Barbara Freethy - Chart topping romance and woman's fiction author

Contemporary author Barbara Freethy is an Amazon KDP best-selling author of all time with a total of 12 million books sold in multiple languages. And that was just when I spoke to her six months ago.

She's a master of thrilling mysteries, romantic suspense and heart-warming romance. Barbara was a successful traditionally published author who made an early jump to ND that's independent publishing. And she's found that being an indie – that’s independently published – author- totally suits her talent and style.

That's particularly so because traditionally the big five publishing houses generally only handle one book a year and. Barbara writes much faster than one book a year. I asked her about that process

It goes without saying that you write highly entertaining and addictive books, but even so, How do you account for that brilliant success?

Many different factors contribute to author success

Barbara Freethy: It's really hard to account for the success. There are a lot of factors that have gone into it. Publishing on a regular basis, being consistent with what I write, and meeting the reader's expectations has been helpful for me. There are a lot of different factors.

I put a lot of time in, but then a lot of authors put a lot of time in, so I don't do anything that much differently. I've got a good head for business, the business of publishing as well as for the writing, and that's been helpful in my pursuit of an indie career.

Jenny Wheeler: Yes. you write in the genres of romantic suspense and contemporary romance. Those are your, main focuses, and you are firmly established in that as a reigning queen in that area.

Barbara Freethy: I really appreciate with digital now and with indie that I can write a book and, bring it out in four months for my audience. So, That's been great.

Jenny Wheeler: It's valuable too,