top 10 reads of 2022.
Happy 2023 pals!
It’s time again to share my top reads of 2022! I am sad to report that I didn’t make my 2022 Book Goal of reading 50 books. This year was a busy year for me — I turned 30, bought a house, and started a side business, so reading took a back-burner for a few months, but I got back into reading in late September and I did get to read 38 books this year, so I still consider that a win overall! I track all of my book reading goals through goodreads (link to mine at the top of this page) and finished the year with 10,615 pages under my belt! Also, as a reminder, I post the books I read and my reviews in real-time over on my bookstagram (@ohheyimreading). Feel free to follow along — it’s a fun little bookish gang growing over there!
Without further ado (and in no particular order), I present to you my top 10, 5-star reads of 2022:
1.) I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet - Shauna Niequist
oh, what a lovely, wonderful, verbose delight this book was. i’ve been a longtime fan of shauna niequist and her books have always had this uncanny way of meeting me where i’m at. this book is no different, filled with honest words on healing and perseverance and finding the goodness in daily living and savoring the sunset and your home team and acknowledging that healing takes time but it’s also a great honor. i have 50 screenshots in my camera roll of words i want to write down and savor and remember from this book. i loved this book so much and i think you will, too. ♥
“Life will break your heart in a thousand ways, but there's still music and there's still dancing. There's still coffee and toast. There's still kissing and there are still late dinners on busy sidewalks. Twinkly lights, novels, old movies, soft blankets, black-and-white photos, French braids, salty hot french fries dipped in mayo and ketchup. We're still falling in love. We're still learning to forgive, we’re still watching our kids learn and grow and stretch into their next selves. We're still watching the sun as it rises and as it sets, still watching the moon wax and wane. We're still trying, still hoping, still getting it wrong and getting it right.”
2.) All Along You Were Blooming - Morgan Harper Nichols
i’ve been a longtime fan of Morgan Harper Nichols, and this book of poetry was so so so beautiful. full of such sweet + gentle reminders about growing and stretching and healing and staying rooted in our becoming, i loved it so much i bought a copy of my own. she is such an amazing poet 🌱♥
THIS BOOK. you know i love non-fiction that reads like fiction and Jewel’s biography is just that! she has lived such an intense and fascinating life. from growing up on an alaskan homestead, moving out at age 15, foraging for herself, paving her own way in the music industry while being homeless, negotiating the biggest back-end record contract of her time just to later discover her mom stole $100 million dollars from her (!!!) and so so so many jaw-dropping things in between, she tells the story of her life — of loving and losing and becoming a mom and she shares the work she did to survive, to heal, to overcome and to stay grounded in love and strength to press forward. she shares how she bent, but never broke under the immense hardship she faced. i’ve always been fond of Jewel, but this book really made me adore her even more. if you don’t want to read the book, she narrates the audiobook version of this OR you can catch the more summarized story of her life on her episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast! she has an amazing and incredibly inspiring story to tell and i adored her story so much, i even blogged about it which you can read here: 5 Lessons I Learned from Jewel on Resilience, Healing and Hope.
4.) Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy - Bob Goff
This is Bob Goff’s newest book and I was both honored and delighted to be part of the launch team for it because Bob’s words have been quite transformative in my life. If you’ve read any of his other books, you know they leave you better than when they found you. Undistracted is no different. Full of great stories, lessons and honest candor backed with biblical truth, this book gently yet deliberately encourages you to let go of what distracts you in order to live the life you already have permission to live! I wrote about this book and share 5 of my favorite quotes from it HERE.
5.) The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave
this book won best Mystery/Thriller in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards and given that i stayed up until 11:25 pm finishing it, i see why! from the very beginning, this book grabs your attention and keeps you guessing. when a modern day Enron scandal makes headlines, Hannah’s husband Owen goes missing and she’s left alone with a million questions and his teenage daughter Bailey. as the girls try to make sense not only of his disappearance, but also his past, and their future, they find themselves in the middle of a tangled web that’s way bigger than they ever could’ve imagined. this book is a PG-13 thriller (some curse words is all) and made for a stellar, quick and tantalizing weekend read! 🔎
6.) Everything is Figureoutable - Marie Forleo
wowza, i really, really enjoyed this book. i heard marie speak on a podcast a few months ago, and i quickly requested this book from the library. i will say — even 6 months ago, this book wouldn’t have resonated the way it did now, but if you’re working towards any sort of goal, idea, daydream, no matter what it is, this book has at least one golden nugget for you! i used this book like a workbook and followed and completed almost all of the ‘insight to action’ sections which really catapulted me forward in the projects i’m working towards. i’m sure there’s mixed reviews on this book, and there’s some language and sass in there, but it left me feeling lighter, stronger, more capable and 10x more motivated to press forward, so it gets a YES from me!
7./8./9.) What a Girl Wants/She’s Out of Control/With This Ring, I’m Confused (Ashley Stockingdale Series) - Kristin Billerbeck
Kristin Billerbeck is one of my all-time favorite writers EVER. i’ve had her books on my shelf for years and this year I decided to start re-reading the Ashley Stockingdale series, and i could not put this book down! for me, Kristin is the OG trail-blazer of chick-lit (and christian chick-lit) and i found one of her books in a Borders book store 12+ years ago and have been obsessed ever since. her writing style is so so good, her writing is clean, her characters are so cozy, and truly i adore her books too much. if you’re looking for a fun series to start, the Ashley Stockingdale series is top tier! ashley is a 31-year old patent attorney trying to navigate the waters of christian dating as an independent working girl and even though i read this book when i was 18, i truly cannot relate to her character more in this time of my life. 😂
10.) Something Wilder - Christina Lauren
ohhkayyy, this ✨might✨ be one of my favorite christina lauren books to date! while ‘the unhoneymooners’ still reigns supreme, this book is SO FUN and is the perfect summer or vacation read! Something Wilder is full of adventure, complete with treasure hunting, and of course, a cute, classic romance (BUT without as much of the typical christina lauren love scenes! 👍🏻)
Alright, that’s it, folks! Thos’re my top reads from 2022. I’ve got some books on my nightstand right now that I already know will be 5-star reads for 2023, so stay tuned for them.
What were some of your favorite 5-star reads from this year?! Have you read any of the ones posted above? I’ll be posting some of the books I’ve got queued up for 2023 soon, but in the meantime, I’d love to know which books pulled at your bookish heart strings this year!
Happy, happy New Year and happy reading!
-kaylee
