What I Read in 2022

I haven't been an avid reader for most of my life. When I was a kid, I probably used to read more than average, but it wasn't something that stuck. In 2021, I developed severe anxiety after the birth of my third son, oh, and by the way there was a pandemic. I know that there is very little, if anything, I can control other than myself and what I do. It's a painful lesson, and, yet, for some reason it's a hard habit to shake. Wanting to do something, I decided to curb my reeling mind with books - books to educate myself and books to enjoy. Reading helps me to stop spiraling thoughts in their tracks; I jump into the story and escape for a little while or learn more to help me feel a bit more equipped to deal. It's also helped me connect with a new community of friends who want to dive into the next good story along with me.

As a lover of goals, I was thrilled to set my reading goal on Goodreads to 35 books at the beginning of 2022! Either I am a bit obsessive or I my habits had just changed so much that I ended up crushing it by reading a total of 60 books last year. There are just so many good books, and so little time! I mostly read on my Kindle, but did enjoy a few on audiobook or hard copy.

I will denote my favorites in bold text. If there is no link with the title, then I would not recommend the book.

Here is what I read:

• Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

• Not In My Neighborhood by Antero Pietila

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

• Forgiving What You Can't Forget by Lysa TerKeurst

• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

• Live No Lies by John Mark Comer

• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

• Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler

• Becoming by Michelle Obama

• No-Drama Discipline by Daniel J. J. Siegel (Author), Tina Payne Bryson

• Letters to the Church by Francis Chan

• Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

• The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

• No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler

• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

• Between the World and Me by Ta'Nehisi Coates

• Circe by Madeline Miller

• The Guncle by Steven Rowley

• Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• Inside Outside by Jeff Elkins

• The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

• The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

• The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

• Find Your People by Jennie Allen

• Now What? by Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland

• Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

• A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

• Dear White Peacemakers by Osheta Moore

• Parenting by Paul David Tripp

• The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr

• A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

• Finding Me by Viola Davis

• Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

• The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Supetys

• The Huntress by Kate Quinn

• The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.

• The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

• The Maid by Nita Prose

• The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

• Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis

• The Best of Me by David Sedaris

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

• Inspired by Rachel Held Evans

• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

• The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

• The Surgeon's Daughter by Audrey Blake

• The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

• One Day in December by Josie Silver

• It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown

• The Seven Day Love Prescription by Drs. John and Julie Gottman