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