I’m writing about the books I read…

I’m not sure what compelled me to start publishing the list of all the books I read in the year, but I’ve been doing it a couple of years in a row. Since three makes a trend, here’s my third annual list.

I gotta start with Homegoing. This is literally one of the best books I’ve read in a few years. It is super compelling, very touching, enthrallingly written and weaves a complex story in a very satisfying way.

Looking back at this list, some of the standouts were the truly excellent Half a Yellow Sun; Sea of Tranquility, which I finished and re-read almost immediately to better understand all the nuances (which I’d never done before); Finding the Mother Tree was something I’d been meaning to read for a while and it was beautifully written and an important subject; Namwayut was a book by Chief Robert Joseph, whom I’ve known a little for many years and found his telling of his story to be powerfully written and deeply moving.

VanBikes was written by my friend Colin, and I’m so proud of him for telling this story which he’s been working on for so many years—it came together beautifully. Run Towards the Danger has stayed with me and still feels very present. Invisible Boy was an amazing insight into a situation I know nothing about and is extremely compelling. Finally, I’ve been an Elvis Costello fan since I was a teenager, so I don’t know why it took me so long to read his memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. As I write this I’m about half-way through and am enjoying it a lot.

Here’s my list of books I read in 2022 in the order I read them:

  1. Indigenous Relations — Bob Joseph & Cynthia F. Joseph
  2. Under a White Sky — Elizabeth Kolbert
  3. Life in the City of Dirty Water — Clayton Thomas-Müller
  4. Half of a Yellow Sun — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  5. Factfulness — Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund & Oka Rosling 
  6. Homegoing — Yaa Gyasi
  7. The 1619 Project — Nikole Hannah-Jones
  8. How the Word is Passed — Clint Smith
  9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time — Mark Haddon
  10. The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert
  11. Caste — Isabel Wilkerson
  12. State of Terror — Hillary Clinton & Louise Penny
  13. Stolen Focus — Johann Hari
  14. Heart of Darkness — Joseph Conrad
  15. How to be Perfect — Michael Schur
  16. Finding the Mother Tree — Suzanne Simard
  17. Americanah — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  18. The Comedians — Kliph Nesteroff 
  19. Sing Backwards and Weep — Mark Lanegan
  20. Underground Airlines — Ben H. Winters
  21. Transcendent Kingdom — Yaa Gyasi 
  22. Origin — Jennifer Raff
  23. Entangled Life — Merlin Sheldrake 
  24. Big Lonely Doug — Harley Rustad 
  25. Fundamentals — Frank Wilczek
  26. The Islander — Chris Blackwell
  27. Ragged Company — Richard Wagamese
  28. Paris 1919 — Margaret MacMillan
  29. Sea of Tranquility — Emily St. John Mandel 
  30. Lonely Boy — Steve Jones
  31. Sea of Tranquility — Emily St. John Mandel (I had to read it again immediately to fully appreciate it)
  32. Vanishing Half — Brit Bennett 
  33. The Glass Hotel — Emily St. John Mandel 
  34. Station Eleven — Emily St. John Mandel
  35. Quiet — Susan Cain
  36. Subdivided — Jay Pitter & John Lorinc
  37. The Netanyahus —Joshua Cohen
  38. The Midnight Library — Matt Haig
  39. How to Be Animal — Melanie Challenger
  40. Nasty, Brutish, and Short — Scott Hershovitz
  41. Namwayut — Chief Robert Joseph
  42. The Last White Man — Mohsin Hamid
  43. Humble Pi — Matt Parker 
  44. Monkey Beach — Eden Robinson
  45. Too Dumb for Democracy? — David Moscrop
  46. Vanbikes — Colin Stein
  47. Profiles in Ignorance — Andy Borowitz
  48. Run Towards the Danger — Sarah Polley
  49. True Reconciliation — Jody Wilson-Raybould
  50. Surrender — Bono
  51. Invisible Boy — Harrison Mooney
  52. Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink — Elvis Costello

I’m looking forward to all the books to read in 2023!

4 thoughts on “I’m writing about the books I read…

  1. Great list! Some I’ve read, many I haven’t and will add them to the list. My fave book of 2022 was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. Highly recommend. Happy New Year.

  2. Great list, William. I also read the two titles you mentioned from the very gifted Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I really enjoyed Station Eleven when I read it years ago and would like to get my hands on Sea of Tranquility. I picked up he Last White Man when I heard Eleanor Wachtel interviewing Mohsin Hamid on the radio. I’ll bookmark this page for the day when I am without something to read. I like your taste in books!

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