last year was an interesting reading year. i read more than i expected to, and i read a lot of really interesting books, but i also didn’t do as well sticking to the categories i initially wanted to prioritize. below is my recap of what my 2022 reading looked like.

2022 by the numbers.

of the 63 books i read:

• 30 were by writers of color
• 22 were nonfiction
• 1 was translated from other languages
• 6 were by writers who identify as lgbtq+ or centered characters who were
• 3 were by writers who have a disability and/or centered characters who did
• 21 were set primarily or entirely outside the united states
• 6 were set primarily or entirely in new york city
• 8 were audio books

2022 reading goals.

knowing that i was moving to a new city and looking for a new job, i was careful to not set myself too many reading goals at the beginning of the year. here’s how well i accomplished them:

read 4 poetry collections. i read collections by amanda gorman, ocean vuong, ada limón, and kate baer to check this one off my list. they were all very different and i liked different things about them, and i found i quite enjoyed ending my day with a few poems before going to bed.

host a book swap or two. i didn’t host my own book swaps but our book club took to bringing books to our meetings to swap with one another, so i’m counting that. and then whatever didn’t get taken i would leave on my friend’s stoop in brooklyn to be claimed.

read at least 3 books over 500 pages. i only got pachinko in this category, and that’s okay. i read a fair few that were 350+ pages, so i feel fine about this one.

2022 favorites.

fiction.

i could have picked any number of books from the below list, but ultimately there was one novel from 2022 that stood out above all the rest: sarah thankam mathews’ beautiful debut all this could be different. i both wanted to read this book in one sitting and also didn’t want it to end. i had the joy of hearing mathews speak when the book was released, and learning about how the book came together made it an even more enjoyable read for me. the writing is lovely, the story is moving, and she is going to be a writer to watch for years to come.

other favorites:

• the thursday murder club series by richard osman
• book lovers by emily henry
• brown girls by daphne palasi andreadas
• memphis by tara m stringfellow
• pachinko by min jin lee
• honor by thrity umrigar*
• open water by caleb azumah nelson
• when we were sisters by fatimah asghar*
• tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin*
• lessons in chemistry by bonnie garmus

*would have ben the favorite in any other year

nonfiction.

this was hands down you’re the only one i’ve told by dr meera shah. i have been following dr shah on instagram for years and bought her book almost as soon as it was available. this collection of stories of people who have received abortion care is an incredible compilation and shows all of the many nuances that go into providing this care. this book and the dialogue it encourages are more important than ever in light of the dobbs decision of last year, and i truly wish everyone would read it.

other favorites:

• you’ll never believe what happened to lacey by amber ruffin and lacey lamar [highly recommend as an audiobook]
• the book of delights by ross gay
• big feelings by liz fosslien and mollie west-duffy*
• miss quinces by kat fajardo
• the power of regret by daniel pink
• piccolo is black by jordan calhoun*
• shit, actually by lindy west [recommend as an audiobook]

it was an interesting reading year to be sure, and i’ll be sharing my reading goals for 2023 in the coming weeks!

xx