2022 was a year of change, adapting, and acceptance.
I lost a lot and gained a lot. I moved to a foreign country, began teaching middle schoolers, and learned a new language. Prior to 2022, all these never ever crossed my imagination.
This means the set of books I read this year was different too.
Poetry became my hideaway for every sorrow and bliss. Books on grief helped me deal with the unspeakable loss at the end of my relationship. I read about consciousness to remind me that I am more than my experiences.
Books have power in them.
Feeling both thankful and melancholic to look back at this special year, I share with you my favorite books of 2022.
Flowers from the market. Photo by the author.
1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
2. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
These books by Eckhart Tolle are, hands down, the most important books I have read in my life. Both came to me during a dark period.
These books changed how I view my world. In this article, I wrote, “This book ingrained in me that worrying about the future is self-sabotage. There is something more important than the future that I desire and the past that I can never change — the now.”
3. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
In this book, Strayed writes back to the troubled succinctly, with brutal honesty and empathy. It’s a huge relief to have a writer that encapsulates human emotions as she does.
Strayed is the writer who has the words to explain how complicated, messy, and delightful it is to be alive.
4. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb.
This is a wise, funny, and emotional memoir about the author’s therapy practice.
When I read it over the summer, it touched upon personal struggles like my fear of trusting people completely. This book also told me I am not alone, and there is always a way out of unfortunate life situations.
I wrote about the impact of this book on me in this article I wrote for Amendo.
5. The 100 Best Love Poems of All Time by Leslie Pockell
This is a poetry collection that can make you swoon and remind you of that one great love.
6. All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living by Morgan Harper Nichols
7. Storyteller: 100 Poem Letters by Morgan Harper Nichols
Reading Nichols’ books is like sprawling under the bright sun, getting touched by a gentle breeze.
Doyle is known for discussing women’s real struggles with their bodies, motherhood (loathing and enjoying it), and figuring out what love is.
I admire her honesty. I also listen to her podcast often. This book is a heart-opener.
9. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Patchett is now part of the list of my writing heroes after reading this book.
It’s a collection of essays that talks about fierce loyalty to our loves, dead or alive, human or not.
Stories from Patchett’s life tell of the wonder and sorrow that life gifts us with every day.
10. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanha Lai
This is a Newbery Honor Book and a winner of the National Book Award.
It is about a young girl and her family subjected to the problems of war: moving out of Saigon, accepting death, and finding hope in the presence of family.
Writing along Tam Coc River in Ninh Binh, Vietnam. Photo by the author.