Another year of reading is almost to the finish line.
And then we get to begin again!
Reading forever! 🙂
I’m quite convinced my TBR and TBRR {to-be-re-read} stacks and lists are going to long outlive me. On the one hand this is so sad, on the other it’s so good to know I have so many books to keep reading as long as I live.
Here are fifteen of my favorite books in 2022. They are in no particular order of favoritism and are loosely in the order of when I read them.
I loved each and every one and they all receive five gold stars!!!
Grab your coffee, your favorite shopping cart, reading glasses, and a bit of chocolate and let’s talk books!
by Patti Callahan
What a fun read!
This novel journeys alongside Megs as she seeks to discover where Narnia came from for her homebound eight-year-old brother. Sit beside the fire and sip tea with C.S. Lewis as he hands Megs hope through their lengthy conversations of discovery and imagination. Watch Megs learn and grow…..and discover a charming friendship for herself.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
{affiliate links in this post, friends!}
2. Waymaker
by Ann Voskamp
Waymaker. This book holds so much………..in its pages and poetry, its wisdom and waves, its stories and strength. This book spoke deeply to hurting places in me as I read an early manuscript in January. As part of my internship with Ann this year, we interns gathered round as a launch team and helped bring this new book into the world in March.
This book and this experience changed me, grew me, will always remain a special Ebenezer to me.
If you need a book to begin 2023 with, this one is a beautiful choice.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Tsh Oxenreider
Go ahead and order this now.
This book leads us from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week and Easter.
I loved it.
We read Tsh’s Advent book in 2020 and I was so delighted when she announced this one for Lent.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet
by Shauna Niequist
I’ll read anything Shauna Niequist writes. {To be honest, I have a long list of writers/authors who I feel this way about.}
Ah, this book. It was wonderful and captivating and soothing.
It was so freeing for Shauna to put words to the feelings of inadequacy that will haunt and hover around us and reframe them and recognize this human condition we all live in.
Competency does not equal significance.
Almost always, we have to practice being bad at something before we become skilled.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Daniel Nayeri
If you only choose one book for 2023, choose this one.
First, listen to the audiobook. Buy it, rent it, check it out from your local library on Libby or Hoopla or Overdrive.
It’s narrated by the author and it is fantastic.
Then, hop over here, and buy your own hardcover edition, so you can flip through the pages and underline and interact with the text and become immersed in the story again.
This book will change you.
It will offer new perspectives, grow you in empathy and compassion, and underscore how kindness and understanding are the greatest gifts.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Awake
by Anjuli Paschall
Anjuli Paschall’s words and wisdom are a gift to us as her readers.
I love both her books.
I find myself in the pages, in the questions, in the struggles.
Anjuli leads with love and does not shy away from the challenge of vulnerability.
She shares the ups and downs, the gritty and graceful, the triumphs and troubles found in the experience of being human.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Barabara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor brought joy and rest and depth to my life this year through her words and story. Her writing is engaging and the wisdom she passes to those of us coming behind is profound.
Sometimes, life takes left turns we didn’t expect. Sometimes the best choices we can make embody change. Sometimes no is the wisest word we can utter.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by James Bryan Smith
I loved every single thing about this book. It’s been on my shelves since 2021, and as books have a way of doing, came along at precisely the best time.
I become more and more convinced of the power of story to change us, shelter us, heal us.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Sean Dietrich
Sean of the South. Need I say more?
This book was a delight all the way through.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Andrew Peterson
In full disclosure, I have not read the whole series yet. I’ve read the first one and am reading through the second one.
They are fantastic!
The characters. The imagination. The wordplay. The humor. The footnotes. The suspense.
I’m also watching the animated series as it releases in the Angel Studios app.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
11. When Narcissism Comes to Church
by Chuck DeGroat
I could not put this book down. It was fascinating.
I learned a lot from it. I learned to call out some needed boundaries.
I learned to call spiritual abuse what it is.
I was reminded of our need to check our hearts, our desires, our passions.
I was reminded of the love of Jesus and His care for each of us.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Katelyn Beaty
Truth. This book.
It sounds a bit odd to say I enjoyed it, but I did. Very thought-provoking.
I listened to several podcasts with Katelyn Beaty about the book. I listened to her podcast some this year too.
A good reminder of the simplicity of Jesus.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
13. Home to Harmony
by Philip Gulley
Matthew and I read this book years ago. He wanted to read it again. I remembered the premise, but not a lot of it. I re-read it too and fell in love with Harmony.
Philip Gulley tells a fantastic story rife with humor, eccentric characters, and soul-deep life-changing values.
I adore a novel that weaves character formation in a story and sums it up in a sentence or two.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by K. J. Ramsey
Walk through the twenty-third Psalm with K.J. Ramsey.
This book is beautiful outside and in.
Find healing and hope in the pages.
K.J. will shepherd your heart and soul in a careful, intentional way.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
by Richard J. Foster
This book. It has contained so much food for thought. So much to muse on. So much to apply. So much to grow in.
I loved it.
Richard J. Foster writes it in a journal-type format. He throws his arm around the reader’s shoulder and invites them as a friend to come sit beside the fire with him in his Colorado cabin and learn alongside him. You won’t find him “preaching at you” or “shaming you.” There’s no scolding or shoulding.
There’s only gentleness and comradery and an invitation to ponder long.
I was delighted when I saw this new book. Humility is something I’ve been long considering and turning around in my mind. I believe it to be the most challenging of attributes and character qualities.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’d love to hear, comrade friends, what did you read this year and what were your favorites?
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You are my Sunshine is one of my top books of the year too.
That’s so fun! It is a fantastic book!