Books I Read – 2022

Since 2018, I’ve been keeping track of all the books I read over the course of the year. Initially, I began doing this simply so I could remember the books I read, since often, my memory fails me. But eventually, this practice became my way of challenging myself with my reading goals. Each year, I’ve set out to read more books than the year before, and until now, I’ve always achieved that.

In 2022, my goal at first was to read 55 books, but unfortunately, I didn’t quite meet it. Nor did I read more books than I did the year prior. However, I did read exactly as many—52 books. One for each week. And I’m satisfied with that, especially because 2022 was a challenging year for me.

My life drastically changed. Namely, I started grad school. Which entailed moving to another state. Starting a new job as an undergraduate writing instructor. Navigating the difficulty of being hundreds of miles away from family and friends.

I’ve always heard it said that the first semester of grad school is the most difficult, and I sure hope so. Though altogether enriching and rewarding, it was brutal at times. All that is to say, I’m trying to be graceful with myself regarding the goals I met (or didn’t meet) in 2022.

So no, I didn’t read more books than the previous year, but I also didn’t read fewer. I averaged one book a week, and I’m okay with that. I read a lot of phenomenal books in 2022, many of which made a lasting impact on me and my view of the world.

Below are all the books I read in 2022 in the order in which I finished them.

Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.

Louis L’Amour

  1. Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown
  2. F*ckface and Other Stories by Leah Hampton
  3. Molly Learns a Lesson by Valerie Tripp
  4. Normal People by Sally Rooney
  5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  6. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  7. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  8. Molly’s Surprise by Valerie Tripp
  9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  11. The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
  12. Happy Birthday, Molly by Valerie Tripp
  13. The Incurables by Mark Brazaitis
  14. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (audiobook)
  15. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
  16. The Kindness Challenge by Shaunti Feldhahn
  17. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
  18. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
  19. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  20. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
  21. Molly Saves the Day by Valerie Tripp
  22. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
  23. The Rink Girl: Stories by Mark Brazaitis
  24. Shimmer by Alyson Noël
  25. Microfiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories by Jerome Stern
  26. Writers & Lovers by Lily King
  27. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (audiobook)
  28. The Selection by Kiera Cass
  29. Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson
  30. Life is Messy by Matthew Kelly
  31. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
  32. The Garden of the World by Lawrence Coates
  33. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess
  34. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
  35. Responding to Student Writers by Nancy Sommers
  36. Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce
  37. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
  38. The English Teacher by Lily King
  39. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (audiobook)
  40. American Indian Stories by Zitkala-Ša
  41. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (audiobook)
  42. The Marrowbone Marble Company by Glenn Taylor
  43. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
  44. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
  45. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (audiobook)
  46. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  47. The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho (audiobook)
  48. Three Plays by N. Scott Momaday
  49. Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
  50. Later by Paul Lisicky
  51. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  52. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

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