Book Nerding 2022

I'm on track to read over 80 (!) books this year -- the most I've read for fun in a year since I was a pre-teen and I was allowed to check out "only" 10 books per biweekly visit to the local library. I was a #booknerd back then, and I've been so happy to regain my status as a true booknerd now after a spate of several years of more...sporadic reading. I've been ramping up since 2020 and I am celebrating that 2022 has been a banner year for reading.

Over the past few years, I have intentionally worked to read diverse perspectives so as to avoid the dreaded LinkedIn photos of stacks of books with almost no gender or race/ethnicity diversity. I'm happy to say that of the 79 books I've read so far in 2022, 84% were authored by women, non-binary or trans people, or people of color.

Here are some of my top recommendations from this past year across all genres and types -- I hope you find this unconventional way of categorizing books helpful:

When you're ready to scream at the status quo and figure out what to do about it, two books by the same author: Anand Giriharadas' Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World will show you an uncomfortable and powerful truth about the way the 1% funds non-profits in order to uphold the status quo. After I screamed into my pillow about it, I knew I had to read his The Persuaders about people who work to change the hearts and minds of folks to enact positive social change--yes, please. You *can* read one of these two books and not the other, but when both are so good -- why choose just one?

If you're ready to read fiction about what everyday life was like during the pandemic and Black Lives Matter, and also want that fiction to take place at a local bookstore: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. If you haven't read any Louise Erdrich, run to your nearest local bookstore (if you're in Minneapolis, run to Louise's bookstore!) and buy ANY and ALL of her books. This one would be a great introduction to her.

The book that I couldn't put down: Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. This one has revolution, Puerto Rico, politics, wedding planning, and more -- it's deeply, deeply good. Thank you to Danielle Jezienicki for the original reco! I've gifted it three times to dear friends so far this year, it was that good.

The speculative fiction book that wrenched my heart because it's too close to reality: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. I haven't read her book Little Fires Everywhere and now I really, really want to after the gorgeousness of this book. Thank you Lis Best for this reco in your newsletter!

A page-turning thriller where everything in the book actually happened: This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth. As an ESG professional, cybersecurity is something I pay attention to in a macro sense as it's a key element to many companies' ESG programs. This book helped me understand in a layman's way where the world is at with cyberterrorism and how we got here.

When you just can't read another terrible, shaming self-help book: Pick up Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagasoki and Amelia Nagasoki. They take the "you're not doing it right and individuals are the problem" and flip it on its head -- I loved how the authors center the societal effects of the patriarchy on burnout instead. No quick fixes here, and it will reassure you that you are perfectly okay to not be okay.

Science reading like you've never seen before: The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. A gorgeous marriage between the wonders of the cosmos and how the personal is wrapped up in the professional.

When your friends tell you to read the trauma book The Body Keeps the Score and it looks too heavy: What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo. Foo, who has worked for This American Life, weaves in her own personal story of complex trauma with research and journalistic investigation masterfully to make understanding trauma accessible.

If you rolled your eyes at Dune's colonialism: Try Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem trilogy or Sue Lynn Tan's Daughter of the Moon Goddess, both of which were my favorites in fantasy and sci-fi from this year.

Books that transport you to other places: Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn (hello, the Big Island of Hawaii told from the vantage of a Hawaiian family) and Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (hello, Caribbean island and the UK and California).

When you want to be wowed by a new way of thinking: Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. I don't know how even to describe this book other than you'll use parts of your brain reading it that you didn't know existed to think about how we work together and build community to solve problems. Thank you Whitney Reyes for this reco and we still owe each other a book club chat on this one!

The best indie bookstore I visited this year: Just to throw a little color in here, Women & Children First in Chicago felt like home the second I walked in. This bookstore is my idea of heaven and I could read every single book in there. Maybe someday I can start a feminist antiracist bookstore too! Thank you to the inimitable Ryan Erickson for this reco.

My "to-read" list is always growing faster than I can read books -- so please send your favorites from this year my way too!