33 in 22

At the beginning of 2022 I set the intention that I would read two books a month, all year long. I got a little ambitious in the spring and summer and was hitting closer to three per month, but ultimately I think two, or even one, is probably better, pace-wise. Looking forward to 2023, I don't have a "number goal", but I do plan to continue reading avidly. What we can gain from the words and stories of others is so important, in my opinion. So, for those who care, below is a list (and brief review) of each book I finished this year - should you be looking for something to read.

1. The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van Der Kolk - This is a book of research and stories of trauma and how the body stores it. It's well known, and some say groundbreaking. I gave it 4/5 stars and definitely would recommend it. It can be "research heavy" at some points, and certain readers might not enjoy the textbook-like nature of it, but it's great at what it is, which is science-backed, information-storytelling.

2. A Mothers Hunger, by Amanda Roth - This is a book of poetry, mostly surrounding the theme of mothering and having been mothered (something every human can relate to). I gave it 3/5 stars, and did really enjoy it. Poetry is not always my favorite thing to read, and having not yet experienced motherhood it just might not have struck the deepest chord with me. I would recommend it, and what I do love about poetry is the way it slows down the reading process. It's nice to read a poem or two and then come back tomorrow.

3. The Son of Good Fortune, by Lysley Tenorio - A novel about a boy turned man and his mother's experience through life as undocumented Filipino immigrants in the US. I gave it 4/5 stars and would recommend to those who like realistic-fiction stories.

4. How to do The Work, by Dr. Nicole Lepera - A book of self-reflection and improvement that serves as almost a guidebook or workbook for counseling yourself. A must read for those looking to "better themselves," or dig deeper into their own psyche. I gave it 5/5 stars.

5. Bhagavad Gita, by Hari Cretan - This was a required reading for my yoga certification course, and I read the version translated by Hari Creton. The Gita is an ancient, 700 verse Hindu scripture. I really enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone. It reads like most religious text and can be challenging to interpret. For me that was fun. The lessons and wisdom in the text are beautiful, I gave it 4/5 stars.

6. Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue - This novel is the story of two families: wealthy, white, New Yorkers and the Cameroonian Immigrants who work for them. It was overall a good read...I think I may have even cried which is usually a good sign. I gave it 4/5 stars but looking back don't think it's like a "must read" by any means. If you like easy reads about different families you'd enjoy it.

7. How Would Buddha Think, by Barbara Kipfer - Admittedly this was a quick, easy, run-through read. I've had it on my book-shelf for years and finally opened it - it's basically just short, modernized, interpretations of buddhas teachings. There are 1501 musing on the Buddhist way of thinking. I liked it, but it wasn't anything mind boggling, just a white ladies take on buddha's word. 3/5 stars.

8. The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah - A beautiful, gut-wrenching novel about sisters in occupied France during World War II. I cried more than once, I smiled, I cheered them on. It's a 5/5 for me and I highly recommend. Also, I read the Fanning sisters will be starring in this as a feature film soon? Hope that's true.

9. The Inner Matrix, by Joey Klein - A self-help read that was good not amazing. There are better, and there are worse. I liked it, and I'm sure I gained something from it. Plus I gave it 4/5 stars so take that for what you will.

10. Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys - A novel that follows a few different young people from different countries who all make their way onto a ship near then end of World War II. It was good, and it's technically YA (young adult) which tends to mean an easy read with light hearted moments. I gave it 4/5 stars and would recommend to people who like novels that switch perspectives each chapter.

11. The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod - This "self-help" book is the one that perhaps had the largest impact on my actual habits this year. I truly implanted alot of the suggestions from the miracle morning into my daily routines, and felt the impact. It's essentially a how-to book on creating a successful, productive, healthy morning routine. I gave it 5/5 stars.

12. Hope is the Thing with Feathers, by Emily Dickenson - This is the complete collection of Emily Dickenson poems. As I mentioned before poetry is not always my favorite and while I enjoyed many of the poems in this collection, I don't LOVE Emily Dickenson's style. I gave it 3/5 stars, though perhaps I'm just not ~sophisticated~ enough.

13. The Freedom Writers Diary, by Erin Gruwell and Students - This has been a movie I loved for years so I finally read the book and as expected it was awesome too. It's short stories by a teacher and her high school English students about the diversity of their lives. It's inspiring, heartbreaking, and worth reading. 4/5 stars.

14. Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, by Deepak Chopra & David Simon - This is a read that obviously not everyone would be drawn to, but everyone could gain something from. You don't have to be a yogi to get something from this book (though it might tun you into one). I obviously enjoyed it immensely, and gave it 5/5 stars, and would recomend to anyone who's looking for a way to deepen their connection to self and source

15. When No One is Watching, by Alyssa Cole - This was an interesting novel about a bronx neighborhood and a hidden crime ring related to the gentrification of the neighborhood. It kept me on my toes, and reads a bit like a murder mystery. You're constantly wondering, "Where is this going," and where it does go is kinda crazy. I enjoyed it, and gave it 4/5 stars. Overall, a pretty good fiction story with a little bit of an unexpected sci-fy twist.

16. The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne - This book, which has been made into a very successful documentary is great. Every person on earth should read (or watch) it. Always good information to hear, or be reminded of. 5/5 stars.

17. The Four Year Career, by Richard Bliss Brooks - This is a "how-to" book on being successful in distribution marketing careers. It was okay, and had some great stories. It outlined ways to be a good business owner in a specific type of career, but ultimately, unless you're working for a multilevel marketing company it won't serve you too well. I gave it 3/5 stars.

18. Rubyfruit Jungle, by Rita Mae Brown - This is a autobiographical novel about the coming-of-age account of Brown's youth and emergence as a lesbian author. It's great, almost like a collection of short stories throughout her life mostly related to being LGBT. I really enjoyed it and recommend it specifically to any lesbian readers who like memoir style writing. 5/5 stars.

19. The Physics of Pain, by Patrick Mummy - This is a research book that outlines a system created by the author for managing pain. It's great, but not something that I personally was super interested in. It's pretty science-y, specifically from like a physical therapist sort of way. There's several good stories about athletes overcoming great pain and so on. I gave it 3/5 stars.

20. What Happened to You, by Oprah and Bruce Perry - This is really awesome, but LONG, book about Trauma research. It foes a good job balancing science and storytelling which is what you want in these types of books, but the chapters even felt a bit too long sometimes. It's essentially a conversation between Oprah and renowned brain development and trauma expert, Dr Bruce Perry. I liked it, and it's good for people who are curious about things like trauma and the nervous system, and healing. It got 4/5 stars from me.

21. Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight - This is the autobiography of the story of Nike and the founder Phil Knight. He's an adventurer, successful business man, and surprisingly great writer, and the story is good, even if you don't love the brand nike. I recommend for the sheen integration of spirituality, success, and sports. The body, mind, and spirit on entruprenuership is all over these pages. 4/5 stars.

22. Didn't See That Coming, by Rachel Hollis - This is the same author as "Girl Wash Your Face," which I haven't read but I know was a best-seller. The author is a great story-teller and this specific book I remember was alot of lessons in grief. It's her true stories of hardship and loss and how she overcame the hard times with faith. I picked it up after my Emma girl died (not even knowing it was a book about grief) and really enjoyed it. I gave it 5/5 stars.

23. Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell - This is a classic Gladwell book: lots of research, lots of storytelling, lots of interpretation of historical data. The tipping point talks about the moment when things change. The spot of graphs that make people say, "What happened here?" And it's interesting. I find you either like Malcolm Gladwell's style or you don't. It can bee data heavy and honestly boring at points, bu I personally think he's a super smart guy with interesting points to be made. I gave it 3/5 stars.

24. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens - I'm late to the party with this one. Many people have read and love this novel and I agree it was awesome. Makes you feel alllllll the feels. I haven't watched the movie yet but the book is good if you're wanting a romantic and heartbreaking story where you're rooting for the underdog. 4/5 stars

25. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, by Fredrick Backman - Not gonna lie, this one was weird. I gave it 2/5 stars, the lowest of anything all year, because it was long and honestly a bit confusing. Its young adult fiction and mythical but not written in a way that intigues you. It had its moments but overall I found myself just wanting to finish it so I could move onto something else.

26. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell - This is a better Gladwell book than Tipping Point, in my opinion. Outliers is a somewhat famous book about the types of people and events who are "outliers" on graphs. The standouts, the one in a millions, and the head scratchers. It's data heavy like anything by Malcolm but it's good. 4/5 stars.

27. Debt Trap, by Josh Mitchell - My boyfriend loved this book and ensured me I would too. It's about the college debt crisis and history of student loans. It's interesting and very informative, but very number-heavy and can be boring at points. I found myself getting mad at how fucked up the whole system is and the idiot people who made it possible. Not for everyone, I gave it 3/5 stars.

28. Verity, by Colleen Hoover - This is a mystery/romance/thriller hybrid novel by the well-known Colleen Hoover. I LOVED it, and haven't read anything else by Colleen yet, but probably will after Verity. It's spooky, well-paced, and little spicy, and just overall good. I gave it 5/5 and recommend to those who want an edge-of-your-seat reading experience.

29. The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan - This is known as a feminist classic so I had to read it but I won't lie I didn't love it. I wanted to love it but perhaps because of the time it was written it didn't translate very well. In Betty Friedan's view of feminism I found her shaming more traditional feminine types and it was a little off-putting. I gave it 3/5 stars, and probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless they were writing a paper on the history of feminism.

30. In Five Years, by Rebecca Serle - This was a novel about a woman who gets one glance into her future, five years from her current life and everything is different. She's confused and writes it off as a dream until she meets someone who was in the dream. We then see life play out for those fives years and witness all of the change (but also stagnancy) that happens along the way. It sounds boring but that's cause I don't want to give things away. It's good, I liked it a lot and gave it 5/5 stars.

31. Super Attractor, By Gabrielle Bernstein - Super attractor is a classic Gabby Bernstein type book. She's a spiritual "guru" who says alot of the same stuff in alot of different ways. I like her, and her messages, but there's nothing necessarily groundbreaking in this specific book. I liked 'The Universe Has Your Back,' by her, much better This one gets 4/5 still though.

32. Who Moved My Cheese?, by Dr. Spencer - This classic little story is so thought provoking and just a great image of why we should embrace change. It's a very quick and easy read with a great lesson that any human would benefit from. 5/5 stars. Seriously if you haven't read it, do it. It'll take you maybe two days and you'll find yourself using the cheese as examples in your everyday life moving forward.

33. A Little Bit of Meditation, by Amy Lee Mercree - The final book of this year for me was a short informational book about meditation. A very simplified over-view of history, and types of meditation, and the science backed benefits it has on health. I already love and honor meditation as a practice but this book was a great little reminder of why it's so awesome and why everyone should be (and probably already is, in someway) meditating.

I know that was a lot - if you're still reading, thank you. If you've read any of these books, or decide to, and want to chat with someone about them, feel free to reach out. I'm also always taking suggestions on what to read next.

Here's to more stories, lessons, and pages read in 2023. Cheers, and namaste!