2022 Book Review Overview

Looking back over the books that I reviewed for 2022 there were some good ones and some ones that I didn’t particularly care for.  It is always hard to recommend books to people because we all have different ideas on what types of books that we prefer.  When it comes to the type of non-fiction books that I read for these reviews there can be a variety of reasons why one book might speak to you while others might just not be as meaningful.  

Here are the eleven books that I read this year:

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

Learn, Improve, Master by Nick Velasquez

Drive by Daniel Pink

Fearless by Pippa Grange

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

Illogical by Emmanuel Acho

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

Do Hard Things by Steve Magness

The Little Prince was my fiction book that I like to sneak in.  This has been one of my favorite books since I read it in high school. If you have never read it, I recommend it as a quick fanciful read that just helps you look at the world in a different way. 

Of the remaining ten books there were three that I would say were okay, but I probably would not recommend them. Learn, Improve, Master and Four Thousand Weeks had some good parts but overall, you could find the same information in other more well written books.  Start with Why is a good book but is more of a corporate leadership book. If you are looking for that type of book, then this would be a good one, but it wasn’t speaking to me.  

So that leaves six books that I will try to put in the order that I would rank them.

#6 Illogical by Emmanuel Acho.  This book was very easy to read.  It was very positive and talked about how life doesn’t always work out the way that you want it to and when that happens if you are also willing to make changes things might work out better than what you expect.

#5 Drive by Daniel Pink 

Drive is a book about what really motivates people.  It really reinforces the need to know your why and to have a purpose. I enjoyed Pink’s writing style. I also recommend following him on social media.

#4 Do Hard Things by Steve Magness

This is a really good book that challenges what most people think about toughness. The author really dives into different coaching strategies that can help motivate people.  This was a well-researched and interesting book but for some reason it took me forever to read it.  

#3 Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

As any of you who have read any of my book reviews know – I love Brené Brown so this book coming in #3 may be a little bit of a shock but no worries as I did love this book.  In Daring Greatly Brown talks about the importance of doing hard things and facing your vulnerabilities.  

#2 Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

This book is very similar to Atomic Habits. If I had to choose between the two of them, I would still go with Atomic Habits, but Tiny Habits has some great techniques for starting and keeping those habits many of us are trying to incorporate into our lives.  There were a lot of great resources in this book as well.

#1 Fearless by Pippa Grange

This was the book that really “spoke to me” this year.  The author is a sports psychologist, and the book is about facing those nagging self-doubts that can hold you back and keep you from putting forth effort or even trying new things.  I am that person that talks myself out of trying new things because “I’ll never be able to do that”. So, I really found this book meaningful and helpful.  

Reflecting again on these books there is a similarity between Illogical, Daring Greatly and Fearless.  They are all about stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new.  They all discuss in some way facing that voice in your head that tries to talk you out trying something new or doing “hard things”.  Something that I struggle with, so it makes sense that I would gravitate toward these books.

I really enjoy having the opportunity to read new books and share them with all of you.  If you have any suggestions of books that you’ve heard are good or if you’ve read some that you think would be good for me to review, please let me know.  I’m always on the hunt for my next book to read. Here’s to lots of good books in 2023.