Books I Read In 2022

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Inspiring to read the experiences and thoughts of a curious person. That’s the main merit he had. Yes, he did many historical things. He did incredible things with his exemplary mind and helped shape history. But mainly, he was a curious person. It led him to all those accomplishments but also led him to many simply out-of-the-ordinary experiences. I resonate with his attitude on things. It gave me permission to indulge my own curiosity. I acknowledge that I’m a curious person. I don’t have to care about efficiency and ROI. It’s okay to pursue things just to see what happens. One line I liked: “People expect interesting things to happen on command. It doesn’t work like that. Sometimes you have to wait days, seeing what might happen. Just like fishing.” Another line, “I’m radically unresponsible for the state of the world. It was liberating to get that.”

This isn’t the best fantasy series, by far. Not the best written nor the most epic. It’s just really fun! Individual books within the series differ in quality, but overall I’ve enjoyed it. One great perk is the author is pumping out 2-3 books a year. Crazy pace!

This is already considered one of the premiere fantasy series of our time. It gets placed along the sides of Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Name of the Wind, Game of Thrones, and others. Yes, it’s that good. I read the first book many years ago with the intention of waiting until it was further developed. Decided to go through what’s available this year. Unfortunately, like many epic fantasy series, it won’t be completed for another 15-20 years. It’s two arcs of five books each. Four books out so far, so at least the first arc is almost finished.

This book caused deep feelings in me. It’s wonderful to see the Real Love principles in the form of a novel. This will be a book I revisit multiple times over the years. The ending was beautiful. Tender, intimate, and deeply loving. I want to be loved that deeply, and I want to be able to love others that deeply. A father’s love for a son.

I love a good murder mystery, and this fits the bill. Not too gruesome, not too depressing, and full of good story and good plot. There are nine books in total. The first trilogy is five stars, but the second trilogy is three stars. It made me not want to finish the last three books. The original author died after the first trilogy came out, and the second author turned it into a pulp fiction series.

This was a hard book to go through. Needed to read slowly and in short intervals. It’s one of those books that makes you think differently and want to live differently. I knew absolutely nothing about this book going in. Heard it from somewhere I don’t remember, wrote it down on my book list, and, however long later, checked it out of the library. My favorite way to start a book. It gave me a new appreciation for nature. For seeing. For the simple pleasure of spending a day in the woods and letting your wonder guide you.

I highlighted several lines that I liked, something I never do in books. One line in the afterward stuck with me, “How boldly we commit to ideas in our 20s!”

When I read that, I stopped and wrote this reflection:

As we age, we see more of life. We gain more perspectives and understand that there is far more to situations than meets the eye. We see that we didn’t understand as much as we thought and that our solutions don’t actually work in all situations. We gain wisdom. A side effect of that is we lose our conviction for things. We become jaded. I hope to maintain some conviction when I’m old. Some wonder. An earnestness towards something.

Reread. Hard to believe I read this book before. Seems completely new. I suppose that’s what comes with new understanding. After 2 years of practicing Real Love principles, I believe that this book really does have everything a couple needs for a happy marriage. It’s fun implementing things from the book. I also saw that, more often than not, I’m not loving towards Yigyu. Instead, I want her to love me.

Wow, what a book. An example of the power of storytelling and mythology. Uses the tale of Iron John, a story I’ve never heard before and apparently from Germany, and dissects the journey of manhood. It reveals the needs and longings of men and what’s missing from men in modern industrial life.

Informative and straightforward book on the mechanics of the back and why the exercises in the McKenzie Method are effective. Gave me a lot more motivation to be diligent about developing good posture and stretching regularly.

So much wisdom. Reading it a second time gave me even more insight. My primary goal in my life was to reduce stress. I was great at organizing my life and finances in a way that there were few things I needed to worry about. Systems, reminders, an orderly, organized life. It’s actually just a version of survival. This book gave me more compassion for myself and others. We’re all just reacting to decades of built-up pain.

Great book for assessing what’s holding an organization back. Read it for work, and it’s proven to be extremely effective and valuable for our team.

I listened to this from cover to cover during a car ride. I lay down in the back of a van and looked at the sky. It made me think about how momentary life is. To read about a man who lived. Not an imaginary person, but a living human who thought and hoped and dreamed and grieved. As he lived that life, he was as real as I am right this moment. He had feelings and fears as real as mine. But he does not feel like a real man to me now. He is a ghost that reaches to me all these years later. One day I will be as unreal as that. Just a distant memory that perhaps whispers into the minds of the present. But likely not. C.S. Lewis was one of the greatest writers of his century. And still, his whispers are faint. He is but a collection of ideas, not a living, real being like me.

Yet he was a man. A man who lost his wife and grieved that loss. I would suffer to lose Yigyu. I think more so than a child. A child would be painful, but I would live on. I would live on after losing Yigyu, but it would leave something missing in me for the rest of my life. A child too, but again not in the same way. Losing a child is the loss of possibility, the loss of unspent potential. But I do not need my child. I don’t rely on my child. My child exists for me to give to. To love and to raise. Losing a wife is more selfish. I need my wife. I rely on her to live through life. Losing her would be losing a piece of who I am.

Wow! We use our teeth every day, and I knew so little about them and what makes them healthy. I liked how short this book was. To the point and focused on what to do with a good balance of explanation. It veers a little on the woo-woo side, with a big emphasis on essential oils and homeopathic remedies. Two modalities I’m wary of. I’m not against either of them; I think they provide benefits. Just that they have yet to yield conclusive peer-reviewed studies but garner the kind of cult-like followings that are ripe for confirmation bias and misguided incentives. But I digress. Great book with a straightforward routine to ensure healthy teeth!

Fantastic book! Very niche and probably uninteresting to most people. But I learned a lot, and it motivated me to create a new sex ed series with Yigyu for new couples.

Second time reading. Lovely to revisit and reflect on. Notes I took while going through this:

• No man has the right to do evil, even if evil has been done to him.
• If a man can find ANY purpose, he will never willingly give up his life.
• A crucial life skill is developing a sense of humor. Th ability to make light of whatever situation
• There are decent and indecent people. No group is all good or all bad. You can find both decent and indecent people in any group

Fun read. Thought it was the last in the series, so was excited about it, but it turns out there will be more books. One line touched me, “Somehow, the permission to stay gave me the courage to go.”

A solid addition to the Real Love series. Very relevant to me as a manager in an organization.

Really enjoyable fantasy series. Has an interesting magic and political system. However, the reason I committed to it is I thought it was a completed trilogy (I prefer already completed series to incomplete ones). It’s officially recorded on Amazon/Goodreads as a trilogy. About halfway through the last book, I realized that there wasn’t enough time to tie everything together. I haven’t been able to find any official info about how many books it will be or when they’ll be released. One Reddit thread says 5 books. Worth continuing, but knowing what to expect going in would’ve been nice.

Fun listen. A full cast with sound effects. I love the graphic audiobook format. Vampires! A well-written Hero’s Journey story. The main character learns she understands things less than she thought she did, goes through a process of self-discovery, and is discovered to be special and more powerful than everyone else. Isn’t that what we all hope?

Interesting. I was very firmly in the “Meat Good” camp. This has me reconsidering some of my health choices. When I stop to think about it, I feel the best after eating the high-starch foods described in the book: pumpkins, beans, squash, etc. Will do further research and experiment with high-starch, vegan meals.

Loved this book. This, plus Born To Run, inspired me to get into running. Interesting to read the inner thoughts of a well-thought and well-spoken person.

Nice to reaffirm the principles and the importance of me practicing them. “What’s important isn’t discussing the principles, it’s feeling loved.” Motivated me to invest each day in telling the truth about myself to someone.

I was so excited for this book. I heard about it months before it came out and actually preordered it on Audible. I got the notification when it was released and immediately started reading. I must have been one of the first to finish it. Some parts of it were really interesting, but overall it didn’t deliver the promise it made and what I hoped from it.

Really liked: Understanding the four main ingredients that make society function: ammonia, concrete, steel, and plastic. Also, the analysis of the energy consumption needed in order to generate these ingredients. TLDR; We’re going to rely on fossil fuels for a long time. It was also insightful to see how the developed world becoming slightly more energy efficient isn’t going to have much impact. The real energy crisis will come when all the developing countries, with their billions of people, begin to escalate and increase their energy consumption. That’s the issue we need to find a solution for.

Didn’t like: I wanted the book to talk more about these four ingredients and describe how the world works. Instead, there’s an entire chapter on the realities of climate change, an entire chapter on evaluating life-threatening risk (which was interesting but similar to many other books), and an entire chapter on diet and lifestyle. Why???

A cool collection of short stories that tie Sanderson’s entire Cosmere universe. Many people complained that the only good story was “Edge Dancer,” featuring Lift from the Stormlight Archives (which IS the feature story and why most people probably read this, including me.) However, I ended up enjoying all the stories and loved getting nuanced behind-the-scenes looks at some characters, plus an introduction to some new worlds that will likely be featured in future books.

Nice insight into how many people experienced the Great Depression. Even for people at that time, it was unbelievable that people could experience that kind of hardship IN AMERICA. This wasn’t that long ago. The book had a weirdly admiring tone toward communism. The communist party probably did help many of the farmers during a time no one else would, but this book’s inclusion of it is more than a historic depiction. The librarian in the story was pivotal in helping the protagonist, but didn’t need any particular background in order to play the kind person she was. Her being a communist felt tacked on. Just a nitpick. This book did show the very real, dark side of capitalism.

Nice to read a non-zombie-related end-of-the-world book. Well written, therefore fun to read, but there was zero suspense. Only good things happened to the cast. They always happened to make the best decisions, and the group was unnaturally cohesive. They happened to have all the best people with the perfect skill sets join their group. All the selfish people that would have brought conflict ran off or refused to join them.

Fun ability system. Familiar Card; unusually wise teenagers and adults. Had some real wisdom to impart. Good aspirational book for what kind of character I want to have. Gives an idea of what kind of processing and dialogue is possible when we’re not consumed with fear. The story had a clean ending but left some unresolved mysteries for future books.

Enjoyed the entire first 90% of this book. Loved that it was set in Durham, NC. Loved that it brought to light the crazy things happening in South Sudan. Loved the humbleness and enthusiasm of the main character. This was a true Cinderella story, a boy meteoring to the top against all odds. Then, out of NOWHERE, he makes one out-of-character decision and dies. Unexpected and very sad. I guess it mirrors the reality of people’s lives. Many, many people have had similar fates.

Nice to hear personal stories from people impacted by Real Love.

Good science fiction is hard to write. It can EASILY get technical and hard to follow. Weir has a gift for talking about technical things in a way ordinary people can understand. Even makes you feel smart for being able to follow along.

Enjoyed Project Hail Mary so decided to dive into another Weir book. Very similar style and the main character was familiar: super smart, resourceful, and a bit of a smartass. Of the two, I enjoyed Project Hail Mary more. It was cool to see two alien species decipher how to communicate and understand one another’s culture.

Got a lot out of this book. Richard has a deep heart and is a deep-feeling man that went through hell in order to heal himself. Gives me hope and courage for my own life. I also have a better appreciation for the necessity of loving touch. But, I found a few things I don’t agree with anymore. Things I wouldn’t have thought twice about before. I don’t believe anger is a core emotion; it’s rooted in fear. Trying to get love from our parents is not so helpful. Likely, if they had it to give they would have already given it. Just two slightly divergent beliefs. Overall, I love Richard’s work.

Nice to learn more about Stephen King. Actually not a fan of his books, but appreciate his ability and enjoyed his insight and thoughts on the craft.

Inspired to reread this series after reading the Red Tent. I first read this book when I was 16 or 17. It’s the first book I read that motivated me to write my reflections on. I wish I still had those notes. Maybe they’re somewhere. I wrote a lot of what I feel about this book in my reflection on the Red Tent. It nicely balances the human and aspirational qualities in a person. These historically significant people are depicted as both relatable and worthy of historical recognition. When I read this as a teenager, it was the first time I reflected on what I want to remain of my time on Earth past my life. Even historically important people from the Bible don’t play any significant role today. By and large, they’re forgotten. Yes, their stories are still told, and people learn their names. However, their feats are no longer living, breathing things that are interwoven into our lives. Same for any important person; George Washington, Christopher Columbus, Charles Darwin, Gandhi, and on. They’re remembered but not a part of people’s everyday lives. Their names are reserved for solemn occasions, and hypothetical contemplations. Sometimes a person may choose a wiser course of action by reflecting on, “What would Gandhi do?” Rarely though.

Rebekah wasn’t as good as Sarah. It felt like it ran longer than necessary. It took half the book for Rebekah to even meet Isaac. It spent a lot of time going into detail about how she ran the household from a young age in her father’s place. Still, I can appreciate the humanness it brought to the characters, especially the strained relationship Isaac must have had with his father after knowing he nearly sacrificed him.

I liked Rachel & Leah more than Rebekah. It’s a great intro to a collection of complex and interesting characters. BUT Card left this series hanging. Rachel & Leah is a two-book series with only one book. That’s a shame, but I’m grateful for the insight it gave me into the Bible. These people are much dearer to my heart now that I see them as 3-D humans with virtues and flaws.

A gripping murder mystery that had me coming back to find out what happens next. BUT, the ending was disappointing. The whole book sets up a giant mystery about the protagonist’s past, but in the end, doesn’t reveal anything. I looked it up, and a decade into the book’s release, there is still no answer. The author doesn’t intend to reveal anything. Some people like that and are happy to continue the series focusing on other characters, but I’m opting out of continuing. The book is pretty dark. I can feel it affecting me, and I don’t like that.

The wholesome, feel-good book I needed. This book just makes you feel better about yourself. It’s valuable to read these kinds of books. I like how I feel afterward far more than other books, particularly dark, grim, and depressing ones.

I thought I knew redneck culture before reading this. I grew up in the South and had friends who made moonshine and did 2 am street races. This made me realize that Appalachian culture is completely foreign to me. Despite growing up just on the other side of the mountains, Appalachian culture has an ethos that I’ve never encountered. Glad to read this and get insight into the mindset, circumstances, and values of a considerable part of the American population. Another insight was how pervasive family cultures are. Appalachian hillbillies have a lot going against them, but there isn’t anything strictly holding them back from social mobility. Most people are held back by expectations and beliefs, plus the strong pull to maintain close ties to home.

Enjoyed reading this classic. I usually don’t like “classics” so much. Yes, they paved the way for the books I do enjoy, but they tend to be simplistic, whereas more modern books have evolved and developed on their themes. Writing styles were also really different back then, and I’m typically not a fan. This was easy to follow (possibly it’s a revised edition). Crazy that this book was written 200 years ago. The character development and storyline could have been from something recent. Fun book.

Often, I dive into books without knowing anything about them. I hear about them from somewhere I don’t remember, and they sit on my list for who-knows-how-long. This was one of those books. It gave me similar feelings to Lab Girl; an appreciation for nature and a desire to know it more intimately. A neat story that intertwines many characters. It unironically uses the word “understory” a lot. I didn’t know that was a word before this book and is probably intentional.

Nice to get a fuller picture of what the heck happened with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. People question whether she’s a sociopath. I don’t think so. Sociopaths are the manipulators, the puppet masters. They have no emotional ties. She used what tools she had available to elevate herself and feel important. She needed approval from others. Those aren’t the motivations of a sociopath.

Wow, had no clue how little I knew about China. Communism wrecked countries.

Nice to understand some context regarding Russia and its recent history. Especially given the war going on right now in Ukraine. This was a little difficult to get through, not as gripping as the one about China.

Neat little book, but only helpful if you do the exercises it suggests.

A fascinating and well-written book. I love books that paint a creative, interesting, and realistic glimpse of a possible future. This book is set in the near future and is meant to answer the question, “How can we make the planet healthy?” Incredibly thoughtful and plausible scenarios with varied writing styles that give various perspectives on the critical considerations for climate change. I think the planet’s health is one of the most pressing issues to address, and I’m glad that books like this exist that I can read and use to broaden my perspective.

However, I’m not without my criticisms. The book introduces many interesting “What If?” situations and plays them out well. However, it’s overly simplistic and basically comes down to, “What if everyone finally decided to listen to Democratic Party?” I appreciated the accurate depiction of the entrenched inertia that blocks us from the significant change that’s necessary. However, that inertia is blamed entirely on one side, capitalism. The way this book is written, you’d think that one political party already has all the answers, and it’s just a matter of letting them do what they want. Yes, I think that a world that has all the things the book describes would be wonderful: electricity, healthcare, education, and work for all. Yes, a world where people slow down and become more contemplative would be glorious. The plot this book uses to get there is targeted terrorist attacks from extremist eco groups. And that gets completely glossed over! Absolutely no conversation about the implications of justifying targeted assassinations and bombings as the harbinger of world peace. I don’t like the “we have all the answers” mindset. It’s a cognitive bias that I don’t remember the name of. I like to look at things like, “How do things look from the other side?” Or, “What do I agree with the other side on?” Or, “What do I disagree with my side on?” Another great question is, “In what way is the other side keeping us in check?” The dual-party system exists for a reason. To assume that the key to a better future depends on one party garnering dominant power is simplistic even if it has good goals.

Looking back, I have absolutely no memory of what this book is about. This is what I wrote immediately after reading it,

A tribute to the forgotten people. Those that are deemed “unfit” by society. Possibility exists in each person.

Didn’t know anything about this going into it. I noticed it’s a trending book so decided to check it out. It was well-written so enjoyable to read, but trite. Couple is destined to be together but unable to because of the times they live in. Very romantic and dramatic but victimizing. An unrealistic and impossible kind of relationship to sustain.

Little pricey for what the book consists of, but has lots of color pictures which is expensive to print, so I guess it can’t be helped. I really like Ben and I really like the ATG modality for body functionality.

I first got interested in this book over ten years ago. At the time, I had recently read the Women of Genesis series by Orson Scott Card, which impacted me a lot, and I was interested to read more about those characters. I ended up not reading it, but whenever it came to my attention, I noticed and thought I’d like to read it eventually. For whatever reason I finally decided to go for it. I actually ended up not liking it. It paints a clear picture of what life was like for people for the vast majority of human history. There was the world of women and the world of men. They lived in very different spheres, and both had things they did not share with the other.

To express what I didn’t like about this book, I can compare it to the Women of Genesis series, which happens to have the same backdrop with different main characters. Women of Genesis tells the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the perspective of their wives: Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel & Leah. Both take the very interesting perspective of telling a biblical story from the perspective of the women in those stories, who do not actually have much presence in the Bible. Regardless of the accuracy of the Bible, the characters in it could only have been people of significance. These are just a handful of humans out of the 117 billion that have lived over the past tens of thousands of years. Women of Genesis impacted me as a teenager because it told the story of great people and great events in a way that made them human. They had flaws, but they also had a human level of greatness that made them relatable. Wisdom, love, and patience; qualities I can understand and aspire towards.

Now we can finally talk about The Red Tent. This book tells the story of a footnote character, the daughter of Jacob. It’s a believable story in that she sees everything in the way of someone not given access to a broader understanding of events. She sees the roughness of her father, whom she hardly ever has any personal interaction with. Where Orson Scott Card aimed for idealistic realism, this book portrays pragmatic realism, which naturally paints a more cynical picture. There are no aspirational qualities to the infamous names memorized during Bible Study. It’s very possible they really did act this way. But I like to believe that the names worth recording through hundreds of generations of history have higher merit worth respecting. This book had a by-happenstance feel to it; that of people bumbling along without a clue to what’s going on. Rather than help me understand significant events in a way that made them relatable, it turned significant events into arbitrary incidents of no particular import.

I could have stopped this book at any moment. Not a bad book; it just didn’t hook me. I was caught off guard when the story suddenly finished. It’s a different type of book than what I’m used to. I’m used to stories having an arch. The introduction, the conflict, the journey, and the resolution. You could say this book had those elements but in a much more mundane way. It’s about an ordinary person put in challenging circumstances and the relationship she makes along the way. It’s about friendship and community. I think many people who “don’t fit the mold” would find solace in the story. It creates sympathy and understanding for people affected by immigration, racism, single-mother homes, “nontraditional family values,” child abuse, and the pitfalls/limitations of the judicial system.

Another book I could have stopped at any point in this book. That’s the defining quality of a mediocre book. A bad book gets me to stop. A mediocre book is lukewarm. I didn’t mind reading on, but I didn’t mind stopping. This book confirmed that this is a genre I don’t care about – the celebrity memoir. They’re pretty popular now. There’s something titillating about getting a glimpse into the life of the rich and famous. More people are voyeuristic than would ever admit. We look to famous people for wisdom and guidance in our own lives; what a silly place to look. They inevitably try to bestow sage advice from lessons they learned from getting to where they are, but they’re either cliche or nonsensical. I will say, as far as celebrity memoirs go, this was decent. Nick and Megan don’t take themselves seriously. They’re just looking to have a good time telling their story.

Neat little read. Interesting how a war book written 1500+ years ago can have relevant advice not just to modern warfare but to competition in general. It’s a short book, so hard to take concrete, actionable steps from it without studying it more in-depth. Mostly worth reading for the bragging rights to say you’ve read it.

I could hardly remember what I took away from this book. This is supposed to be an implementation guide for the original book, but I had better success googling ways to overcome the five dysfunctions and reading articles online. It’s such a short book; it could easily have been combined with the original. Seems like a cash grab. Overall, a good book but not worth the cost. Would happily read it but not pay for it.

I like when books give me a new perspective on seeing things, and this book does that. However, books on the depressing side are hard for me to continue. Violence or difficult situations don’t bother me. It’s more about hope and resolution. This is a bleak book. That’s probably why Pachinko was also hard for me to read. This book has a sequel, but after reading the summary of it, I decided not to read it. Probably equally well-written.

Heartache. That’s the word. I have a hard time reading books that invoke heartache. An “If only…” feeling.

Biographies aren’t my thing. So many details about a person’s life. Perhaps interesting, but difficult to take lessons away from it. I’ve read many biographies of great people, and after all of them I walk away feeling the same. I learn a lot of factual information about the person, but it’s too much. I get lost in the details and am not sure what I can learn from their life. I prefer books that are more directed toward understanding someone rather than chronicling the events of their life.

This started out promising, but in the end, was so-so. It’s not actually written by Gabor Mate, it just has his name on the book. Minus points for false advertising. One point I took away from this is the importance of “collecting” your children. When they wake up or return from somewhere, they need a few moments to reconnect and reground with their parents.

Picked this up at random because it was available at the library. Musings and insights into different people from different backgrounds. Not much actual story; it focuses more on using the events of the story as a way to highlight the thoughts of the characters. Well written, but not really my jam. In the end, the characters are left with frayed conclusions, and everything amounts to nothing of consequence.