Celestine Yeh
Researcher | Curious Mind | Pop Culture Nerd

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2022 Top Books that I Read and Loved: Part 2

 

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Normally, this would be published towards the end of 2022, but honestly, I needed time off before I tackled on this passion project so hello 2023! Hope everyone had a lovely new year celebration. I watched the NYC Countdown and after that, decided to watch “The Hunt for Red October” on Netflix because why not? Still an amazing film after all these years. It’s kickstarted my interest for Tom Clancy as I write this. I’m planning to read some of his books this year and rewatching the “Jack Ryan” Amazon show after finishing the first season only. Anyways, getting ahead of myself here.

The end of 2022 and everything that happened the second half of the year was a lot. I celebrated one year at my job, started therapy again to then realize that therapist is out-of-network so stopped that, had a health scare, outgrown relationships that no longer aligned with me, traveled by plane for the first time since January 2020, and read 107 books to name a few 😬

I still continued to reread YA books that I loved growing up like rereading all the Alex Rider and Percy Jackson series. I even read some of Rick Riordan’s other Percy Jackson spinoffs, like “The Heroes of Olympus.” The second half of this year, I started to fully embrace my love for chic-lit books, think romantic comedies but book style. Yes, it’s always a happy ending, BUT the journey is what makes it fun and exciting. You bet I’ll continue reading this genre in the new year.

As for what I’m looking forward towards in 2023 book wise, I have some ideas. Rereading books will be a big theme this year. For the longest time, I was against rereads as I there are too many books I wanted to read; however, I’ve changed my mind and fully embracing it. Rereads have helped me appreciate the book further in different stages of my life and reignited my love for them in the first place. Here are some books I’m planning to reread:

Now for the books I loved in 2022 Part 2, I changed the formatting this year. Felt like shaking things up 😉 Let me know if you like it or prefer the old formatting. As always…

 
 

Light fun romantic reads

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

This book made me tear up multiple times. It’s unique, quirky, full of love, and well written with some gothic elements due to the setting. Florence is a millennial ghost writer for a best-selling author living in NYC with the gift of seeing dead people and helping them complete their unfinished business, just like her father. Her family runs a funeral service business in their house. She heads back into her small town in the South after her father passed, and is now faced with her past, present, and future. The romance comes in when Florence meets her new handsome charming editor, Benji. Will she tell Benji her unique talents? Will she find the romance that she’s been looking for all this time? Read to find out. 

The Bromance Book Club series by Lyssa Kay Adams

 
 

I loved this series. The premise of the series is about a group of successful famous guys who have a secret recurring book club where they read Fabio style romance books with the goal of improving their own romantic lives. Each book in the series is about one couple and the journey they go on from beginning to end. What I particularly enjoyed is how Adams weaves in healthy masculinity behaviors, like having a group of male friends being vulnerable with each other and supporting one another no matter what. We need more of that connection for young men, especially with the current trends business thought leader Scott Galloway has highlighted. 

Current Events/History

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

Macy takes readers on a journey into how the opioid addiction has destroyed Americans from small to big towns. It’s a sad and infuriating read about our healthcare, capitalism, and greed. Readers meet various people along the way who have been affected by this crisis, from doctors to families of addicts, and show how difficult and fragmented our healthcare system is to fight this. 

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock

 
 

I was still a toddler living in Asia when 9/11 happened and it wasn’t until I moved to America post-9/11 that I got more exposure to the tragic events that unfolded. Now that I’m older, I remember watching Biden pulling out the American forces in Afghanistan, with locals finding ways to flee the country, and just thinking how messy this whole situation was. This book helped me to understand truly how incompetent we were the past 20 years we were stationed there. The billions of dollars, human loss, grief, time, and effort did not accomplish much.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond 

Do you want another infuriating book? Well here you go! Desmond takes on an ethnographic approach as he follows eight families in Milwaukee between 2008-2009 about their struggles to finding a place to live. It’s a painful, difficult, and eye opening read about poverty and eviction in America. No one deserves in the disgusting conditions the families lived in despite the high rents. This should be required reading for all so we as a society can do better. 

Spiritual/Self Help

The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection by Mickey A. Singer

 
 

I read this book through a book club I’m in, where we’re focused on advancing our spiritual connection. As I look back on this year, the things I wanted to happen happened a lot quicker when I let go or surrendered to the Universe, instead of holding tightly to it. Singer’s story is an amazing example of this surrendering idea and how the Universe listens and delivers. It’s a short easy read that didn’t read as woo-woo at all. Try it out. 

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brené Brown

Ugh I love Brené. She is infectious ball of positive energy helping people to look deeper and embracing that. Brown focuses on how shame and vulnerability shapes us and prevents us from stepping into our greater selves. This can be in work meetings, romantic relationships, or family conversations. I did appreciate how she covered male and female approach to dealing with shame. One thing I do wish the book investigated was how different cultures approach shame, specifically Eastern vs Western culture. 

Autobiography/Memoir

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I remember first hearing about this book through a friend and accidentally thought she was glad her mother died, whoops. After getting clarity and had a few laughs about that confusion, I ended up buying both the Audible and Kindle version of this book. I like listening to the audiobook versions when it’s an autobiography narrated by the author. For those who are unfamiliar, McCurdy was a child star, starring in the hit Nickledon TV show iCarly that ran from 2007-2012.  McCurdy does a great job taking readers on her journey with the complex relationship she has with her overbearing mom and being a child star. As the title says, McCurdy’s mom did pass away in 2013  and its left McCurdy to spend time healing herself after all those years. This isn’t an easy listen/read due to the mature topics it covers (eating disorder, sexual assault, verbal abuse, mental health, and addiction); however, McCurdy’s honesty and dark humor provides hope and resilience to readers even in the worst situations. 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Maybe not the most happy read because it’s an memoir about Kalanithi dying from stage IV lung cancer in his late 30s just as he’s starting his neurosurgeon career. His writing is beautiful and introspective as readers think about life and death. How does one approach death? How often do we take the luxury of life and health for granted? What’s the purpose of living when death is right around the corner? These are some of the things Kalanithi mulls over.

 
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