top of page
Jan 3, 20229 min read

20 books to read in 2022



A couple of years ago, I realized that I was spending WAY too much time on my cell phone. At the start of the new year, I decided that one of the ways I was going to try to curb my mindless phone-scrolling was to READ more books. Like, actual books, made of paper (I know, crazy, right?). My goal for the year was to read thirty books, and my hope was that in doing so, I would cut the length of time I spent on my phone drastically. I always used to enjoy reading – until I got into high school, starting taking college courses, played sports year-round, worked part-time, and life was generally crazy. In college, I was an English Education major, so reading (for school) basically consumed all of my free time. I didn’t get to read too much fiction, but when I did, it was for a class assignment. Understandably, in those few years after college, I didn’t want to read a dang thing!

I thought that my New Years’ goal would be the perfect way to spend less time on my phone and rekindle my love for reading – and I’m here to tell you that it worked. I’m kicking myself thinking about all those years I spent NOT READING. I read some great books that year, and more importantly, I learned SO much. In the years since then, I’ve been devouring books and audiobooks alike – and I know for certain that reading has been so formative for my beliefs and my brain, and significantly to blame for success in my ministries and my relationships. Motivational speaker/leader Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones is quoted with saying, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones

So, if you’re looking for a way to spend more time away from your screens, learning more, or if you just don’t want to be stuck in the same place in five years as you are right now – I thought it would be cool to share some of my favorite books with you that I read in 2019.

While some books on this list are timeless, I spent most of my time this year reading books that were new and timely. This list is nonfiction books, because, usually, I’m reading to learn. I do love a good fiction read – there’s nothing like curling up on the couch by the fire with a good story! I have lots of friends who read to escape into fiction, but that just typically isn’t me, and it isn’t this list. Either way – reading is reading. The list below are just some of my favorites – but I hope this post just encourages you to read anything! Readers are leaders, and leaders are readers – not many exceptions there. The average CEO reads 60 books a year!

Here are some of my favorites:

Three Cups Of Tea, Greg Mortenson

Three Cups of Tea is the crazy biography of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer turned humanitarian who raised money to build more than fifty schools for girls in the Taliban’s backyard. This was such an inspiring and encouraging read for me, and in our increasingly us vs. them culture, it was so good to read about someone courageously crossing the cultural divides just to serve and love. Even though this was written in 2007, it’s still such a great read for 2022.

This book was….WOW. Every five minutes I had to set it down and try to digest what I was reading. Written by Erling Kagge, famed Norwegian explorer and the first person to reach the South Pole alone, he explores the need for cultivated silence in our fast-paced and loud lives. It’s a quick read, but it’s certainly a book that calls for meditation, so if you’re reading it, don’t just breeze through it. The quote from this book that I’m still (11 months later) thinking about is this one: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” – French philosopher Blaise Pascal, 1600s

I loved this book! It’s full of timeless advice for success in leadership and relationships and life in general. I’ll admit when I started reading that I thought most of the things in here were simple common sense – like looking people in the eyes, smiling, not complaining, and always centering your conversation on the other person – but the more I interact with people today, the more I think that maybe these traits aren’t really all that commonly taught anymore…? Even though this book was originally written in 1936 (!?!), I think the content is so good that I would re-read it every single year.

Present Over Perfect, Shauna Niequist

I’m sure you have heard of this book at some point in the last few years – unless you’ve been living under a rock. I could relate so much to her writing that I’m actually convinced that this book was written for me – so I realize my perspective might be a little skewed. I know some friends who couldn’t relate to this book at all. The author was warm and vulnerable, and encouraged readers to give up a life of chasing perfection to consider a life of simply being present in the ordinary with rest, silence, prayer, grace & simplicity.

Top FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss shares all his best ‘negotiating with people’ tips in this book. It’s full of cool stories and lots of wisdom pertaining to relating to others. I love learning about people, the subtle art of persuasion, and emotional intelligence, so I liked this one. I did feel like it was a little dragged out at times, though.

Kill the Spider, Carlos Whitaker

I’ve loved listening to @loswhit for a few years now, but this was a brutally honest window into his life that made me rethink mine. Sharing his struggle with anxiety, depression, ministry, and therapy, Whit challenges you to face your problems at the root instead of spending the rest of your life getting stuck in the webs you’ve created for yourself. Before you read this one, think twice, because you’ll come away knowing that you need to act. If you’re not ready to, I wouldn’t read it.

Free to Focus, Michael Hyatt

For all the super type-A personality types who love all things organization & productivity and whose worst nightmare is wasting time – aka me – this is a really helpful book and you’ll love it! For all those who aren’t that way, you might hate it, haha (just warning ya!). I loved that the premise of the book is really to help you be healthy in all spheres of life. The question isn’t really ‘how can I get everything done faster and easier and cheaper,’ the question is ‘what exactly should I be working on?’

This book was definitely in my top 3 of the year. I love reading about all things personality, enneagram, etc. now, but I used to be super skeptical. ‘Why would I want to get to know myself better? All I want is to know God better.’ But this book was profound to me, and really digs into the theology of the powerful prayer uttered many years ago by St. Augustine: “Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee.” If you’re looking to dig into this subject and/or enneagram, I’d start with The Road Back to You first. Benner’s book was a nice quick read that went so much deeper.


Seeing as how I hadn’t read this book since I was in, like, third grade, I figured it was time to read it again this year! While most of the Christian allegory went way over my head when I was 10, I was full-on weeping reading this book this time around. What an incredible picture of the sacrificial love of Jesus for us. Love this book. Timeless.

Didn’t See It Coming, Carey Nieuwohf

I think I might have underlined the entire book. It was so good and so timely for me, and, in my opinion, to any church leader (or leader, period). The premise of the book is to help you overcome life’s seven hardest and most crippling challenges: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and emptiness. So practical. So necessary.


I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai

Such a crazy story about the life of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner to date and her fight with the Taliban – who, by the way, shot her in the head point blank, and she survived. This book will take you to another world but inspire you to change yours. I know it did for me!

The Coddling of the American Mind, Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt

I intentionally didn’t number these because, well, I didn’t feel like using that much brain power, but if I had to choose a favorite book I read this year, this would be it. The authors argue that much of the issues in America’s universities and the crazy polarized political state of our country stem from believing the three Great Untruths – that what doesn’t kill us makes us weaker, that people are basically good or evil, and that we should always trust our feelings. It was intense, timely, helpful, and insightful in every way. Even though both authors admittedly lean to the left on most issues, I thought the book was really centered. It read a little slow – like a scientific journal at times – but it was worth every minute. If you’re a leader of the next generation, this is a must-read.

Somehow I still haven’t seen ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor,’ but Mr. Rogers is one of my life heroes. I’ve read quite a few biographies on his incredible life – I can’t stop reading them because I come away SO inspired to be more like Jesus and more like Fred. I’m always in awe of his incredible faith, humility, kindness, and discipline. This book was a specific look into his faith and life as an ordained minister, as well as personal letters he wrote in his friendship with the author. If you read this, I can guarantee it’ll inspire you to be better – and those are the best kind of reads.

I’m Still Here, Austin Channing Brown

I’m hyper-aware of the fact that I’m a privileged, rich white girl, so, it’s really important to me that I read books written by people who look different from me and whose life experience might be different from mine. Brown’s book was a first-hand look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of racial hostility. I came away different – challenged to confront my apathy on the subject and so thankful for her story and voice.

Written by the CEO of The Happiness Research Institute in Denmark, this little book was interesting, fun, and relaxing. In true hygge fashion, I read this one cozied up inside on the first Saturday morning that we had snow on the ground. But what I learned is that the Danish art of hygge is more about community, rest, togetherness, and contentment than it is about candles and cozy blankets. This would make a really cute fall/winter gift.

I want every Christian I know to read this book – SO GOOD. Scazzero, a pastor in NYC, shares very openly about his long journey to emotional health. He argues that the reason many Christians don’t look any different from the world is because many don’t know how to live emotionally mature lives. If you’re a Christian wondering why your life doesn’t feel transformed, Scazzero insists that it’s because you maybe haven’t done the hard and holy work of facing & understanding and your emotional health. This book was super practical and challenging and one of my absolute favorites from this year.

Placemaker, Christie Purifoy

This book probably isn’t for everyone, but it really spoke to me in my season of life. The author shares about her journey to create spaces of comfort, peace and home no matter where you are, and her years restoring an old Pennsylvania farmhouse. She also talked an awful lot about trees. Her writing was beautiful. It was kind of a weird one, but I really liked it.

Walking on Water, Madeleine L’Engle

I had to chew on this book a LOT and I’m sure there was much of it that still went over my head, but such is Madeleine Le’Engle’s writing, haha. In this book, L’Engle discussed the relationship between faith and art – and the life of a Christian artist. It was so insightful and deep, and I love the picture of Jesus as a creative and a storyteller. I’d recommend it to any Christian creating anything.

Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance

I couldn’t put this one down, but it was heartbreaking and, honestly, felt a little too close to home. Vance recounts his life growing up in an abusive, alcoholic, middle-class country family. Even though he eventually would make it through Yale Law School, his raw analysis of his upbringing shows that he still carries around the chaos of his family history and may never fully escape it. A lot of people read this book as a powerful political statement on the middle class, but I really resonated with it because I work with the kids of these kind of chaotic families every day and see how the brokenness affects kids for life. This book was pretty unsettling, but again, I like to read about experiences and lives that aren’t like mine, even if it’s uncomfortable, if it helps me empathize with and understand people a little bit more.

Dare to Lead, Brene Brown

I loved the challenge of this book for leaders to dare to lead the way by cultivating empathy, connection, and bravery. All of her writing is backed up with lots of research. I think this book is a great read for anyone who is part of any kind of group. Super practical. Any book that encourages me to have tough conversations and lead bravely is a book I need to read over and over again (although that might say more about me than about the book – haha)!

Comments

bottom of page