Favorite 2022 Books

Fiction

Wish You Were Here — Jodi Picoult

A book about COVID! It’s so much more than that. Favorite part of this book would be the part that I don’t want to tell you about. Like a cold bath that you thought was warm but then it was actually not warm at all (but in a good way), this book was #stunning and #takeyourbreathaway.

As if you really wanted the bath cold, even though you initially tried to make it warm. (What? Just read it; it’s good. And who knows, this might make sense after.)

About a Boy — Nick Hornby

Oh so, so sad and so, so good. I love Hornby because he seems like a real sensitive guy. Hornby books make me feel better about being a human. Both laugh-out-loud funny and cry-while-eating-chocolate-in-your-shower sad.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo — Stieg Larsson

If you don’t know, now you know!

Such a good read. I read the first 100 pages sort of slowly, but once I got to the middle-ish section, I couldn’t put it down. One of those books that you read with whatever time you’ve got.

Dune — Frank Herbert

Have you heard of DUNE? Great read. Mix between Game of Thrones and LOTR. Or I guess… Game of Thrones was a mix between LOTR and Dune. Who’s to say. Probably Frank.

One thing I didn’t expect from this book was all the references to ~thinking~ and also the subject of climate change and geo-engineering. Super interesting topics/themes and generally fun to read.

Non-Fiction

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck — Mark Manson

Heard of it? It’s great. If you’re not sure about it, read the article that inspired the book (I’m pretty sure…): https://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck. A helpful reminder to live your life because 1) Nobody cares that much and 2) You’re going to die.

It was more chipper than that I promise.

Congratulations by the Way — George Saunders

Ahhh this read was like taking a warm bath in humanity. What? No it was good. That’s a weird way to describe it. Sorry. A beautiful reminder that we’re all human and that we all love/need a little love.

Vagabonding — Rolf Potts

If you’re looking for a book to #send your digital nomad lifestyle with a big #yesAND this is a book for you. Helpful tips for traveling on a budget, and even more helpful encouragement to just get out there and do it.

How to stop worrying and start living — Dale Carnegie

Damn this one got me. This is just a practical guide on how to have less worry/anxiety in your life. It was pretty sick. Felt like it was one of the first self-help books written. Had a lot of really great/practical tips for relaxing and worrying less. I listened to it, then bought it so that I could go back and read and re-read.

Wild — Cheryl Strayed

Awesome story about backpacking, finding yourself, and going through grief. Favorite part of this book was Strayed’s descriptions of food and lemonade between long stretches of trail. Whoa baby. Juicy Burger Delight.

How to Change Your Mind — Michael Pollan

MMM! I dog-eared so many pages in this book that the dog-earing became useless. Easy n’ fun to read and so, so, so insightful. This book describes Pollan’s personal and tentative journey into psychedelics. A sweeping conversation about drugs, politics, science!, depression, addiction and anxiety.

A couple times when I was reading this book in public, people came up to me being like: “Yo. You reading this? It’s SO good.” I was reading it. And it was really good.

Atomic Habits — James Clear

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” — JC

Oof! Great book, lots of insights into how to become the person you wanna! The man, JC, has a great website and newsletter if you want to taste test before reading. Personally, this book helped me re-establish some habits that I’d neglected for much of the year.