My 2022 in Books

This year I set out to read and/or listen to forty books. In the end I managed thirty. And I’m okay with that! As I watched it happen I was a little disappointed, considering it a failure.

But the goal kept me reading and I read thirty books I may not have. I’ll take that win.

Photo by Vincenzo Malagoli.

STATS

Novels: 12
Graphic Novels: 2
Memoirs: 2
Bible & Theology: 5
Spirituality & Lifestyle: 5
Writing & Music: 2
Other: 2

Listened: 5
Read: 25
Shortest Book: 80 pages, Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives you Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, Matthew Linn.
Longest Book: 704 pages, Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami.

Novels

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (2004).
A charming mystery on the English seaside, Over Sea trades on the Arthurian legend in a fun kids adventure.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley (2020).
Headspinning! I enjoyed this whodunnit as much as I loved Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. If you read it, be aware that it is steamier than anything Christie wrote!

The Civil War of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali (2022).
This is Leali’s debut novel and SO FREAKIN’ GOOD. A buoyant and playful tone, a first crush, a constructive handling of anger at inequality… I can’t wait for his second novel.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962).
This was a re-read for me and I still love it. I’m a sucker for stories where kids have to be brave.

Finders Keepers by Melanie McFarlane (2021).
Mermaids in Saskatchewan? Too fun!

Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima (1969).
The first novel in Mishima’s Sea of Fertility tetralogy. It took me a while to care about the wealthy characters with low-stakes problems, but the writing is beautiful. Some scenes took my breath away.

Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima (1969).
The second novel in Sea of Fertility. Mishima’s themes of old Japan passing away come even more to the fore.

Temple of Dawn by Yukio Mishima (1970).
The third novel in Sea of Fertility. The breakdown of one character’s resolve mirrors the breakdown of traditional Japanese ways.

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (2018).
A slow start, but built to a mind-bending whirlwind. Not my favourite Murakami but I really enjoyed the colour and dynamics.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (2017).
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jennifer Lim (great performance). I enjoyed the slow-burn of unraveling secrets and how carefully Ng presented each character both sympathetically and as the perpetrators of their collective misfortune.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (2005).
One of the most satisfying fantasy stories I’ve read in a long time!!

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996).
So, so so good! It was a slow burn that left me so satisfied.

Graphic Novels

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (2007).
Great artwork. Relatable balance of resentment and love when it comes to family.

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff (2013).
What a riot! The highly saturated colours of the art match the enormity of the personalities and the action.

Memoirs

My Gay Church Days by George Azar (2022).
Vulnerable, unapologetic, moving. Azar charts his journey through growing up closeted in a homophobic Middle Eastern family, converting to evangelical Christianity, becoming a pastor, fighting his same sex attraction, losing faith in the church and God, and reevaluating his relationship with faith and his sexuality.

Coming Up for Air by Tom Daley (2021).
The British Olympic diver reflects on entering the public eye at such a young age, the head game involved in becoming one of the world’s best at something, and how his heart and his sports community handled his marriage to a man and the birth of their son. While I’m not an athlete, I found his reflections on the hard work, fear, and joy of investing yourself in a craft moving and relevant to my own creative craft.

Bible & Theology

On the Holy Spirit by St. Basil (mid-fourth century AD).
It gets incredibly technical at spots, but it’s SO helpful.

Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (2002).
It was slow going for me but challenging in a really productive way.

An Introduction to the Trinity by Declan Marmion & Rik Van Nieuwenhove (2010).
I was incredibly appreciative of how these two showed such a spread of what’s gone into the Christian confession of the Triune God: Scripture, councils, creeds, historic conversation, philosophical aspects… this was dense but helped me get a clearly view of the big picture.

Gentle and Lowly by Dane C. Ortlund (2021).
This one did my heart good. It shows the kindest side of Jesus Christ visible in the evangelical understanding of his person and work.

The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge (2015).
A tour-de-force, this book is a triumph. Her tone and substance are eminently pastoral, uniting rigorous thought with humble compassion. “Will it preach?” is one of Rutledge’s chief considerations when evaluating her own and others’ handling of the gospel, eschewing the perennial accusation that academia is alien to Christian life.

Spirituality & Lifestyle

Single on Purpose by John Kim (2021).
Ha! It was at different turns rude and insightful. The inner work Kim recommends struck me as a millennial’s take on James Hollis’s Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life.

Dusk, Night, Dawn by Anne Lamott (2021).
Self-deprecating, thoughtful. I found her lack of pretence as she discussed faith so winsome.

Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives you Life by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, Matthew Linn (1995).
A tender examination of gratitude, prayer, and mindfulness in the practice known as The Examen. I’ll reread this one.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer (2000).
Digging into the shadow work of our souls and finding where we out to actually go. A quote that struck me: “As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little to do with who we really are, expectations held by people who are not trying to discern our selfhood but to fit us into slots.”

Tenderness: A Gay Christian’s Guide to Unlearning Rejection and Experiencing God’s Extravagant Love by Eve Tushnet (2021).
Cannot recommend this enough. And not just for gay Christians and those who love them… she’s got so many thoughts that relate universally to faith, sin, and God’s love.

Writing & Music

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle (1980).
I have no words. Unbelievably good.

How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy (2020).
Some very practical insight. His humour does not land for me, but I can’t deny the value of some of his advice.

Other

Hidden Mercy: Aids, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear by Michael J. O’Loughlin (2021).
If anyone needs a pick-me-up after hearing so many stories of Christian failures, this collection of stories of gospel compassion might be a healing salve.

Introducing Kierkegaard: A Graphic Guide written by David Robinson & illustrated by Oscar Zárate.
Can I please get a graphic-novel-style introduction to every complicated subject and historical figure?