My Top 6 Books of 2022
2022 was the year that I rekindled my love for reading. I impulsively spent a lot of grocery money on books (I’m in university… it’s a big deal) and a lot of time nose-deep in their words. I also found my love for reading to be a huge, stimulating conversation starter between myself, friends, and peers who also have a love for reading and are using it as a tool for personal growth.
I shared a lot of learnings and quotes that I read from my books this past year on social media and received countless questions about them, so I have compiled my list of my top six books for you to peruse and potentially gain some inspiration when choosing your own next read.
Here are my top six books of 2022:
- The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Life by Dr. Edith Eger
This wonderful book was definitely my favorite out of all my 2022 reads. Dr. Edith has an incredible ability to compel readers about the power of taking responsibility for our own healing. Through personal stories of her own struggles (of overcoming the trauma that came from being a Holocaust survivor), and stories of clients that she has helped throughout her years as a psychiatrist, this book is nothing of short of a guide for how to reach freedom from the grievances of our past and our tormenting thoughts. If you are ready to take the wheel of ownership for your own journey of healing, this book is for you.
2. The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck
In this insightful read, Martha uses the story “The Divine Comedy” (AKA “Dante’s Inferno”) as a metaphorical roadmap for our own journey towards living in full integrity. She combines personal experiences from her own difficult road to integrity and stories of clients from her life coaching business with actionable steps that can help readers pave the way to their own truth. This book left me feeling incredibly inspired to practice what I preach, and taught me how to stop being afraid to enforce my personal boundaries. I even went on the same “lying cleanse” that Martha herself went on and discusses in the book, and it definitely benefited my nervous sytem. Highly, highly recommend.
3. Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
There’s nothing quite like the storytelling experience that you get from reading autobiographies, and this one exceeded every expectation. In this telling story of triumph, growth, and learning to see beyond the wildest limits, David Goggins gives readers a deep dive into his journey into becoming an ultramarathon runner, overcoming three hell weeks as a navy seal, and so much more. This book is packed with hard-hitting messages about how to build ourselves, our resilience and our discipline from the ground up, so if you are ready to be shaken up by a harsher perspective, this book is for you.
4. When You’re Ready, This is How You Heal by Brianna Weist
This book found me at exactly the right time in my life when I was really going through it. Brianna Weist is one of the most talented authors I’ve ever read when it comes to her use of words and imagery to convey impactuful ideas to readers. Each chapter has a different lesson centered around healing our heartbreak, our feelings of loneliness and helplesness, and guiding ourselves towards taking our lives back. Reading this book was an incredibly inspiring, touching, and therapeutic experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to learn how to create a home within themselves.
5. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Another autobiography that left me speechless and heartbroken but moved and endeared all at once. This is the story of a doctor who grapples with the death of others daily in the ER, but is suddenly forced to come face to face with death himself when he is suddenly diagnosed with terminal cancer. Paul Kalanithi is extremely commendable for his beautiful writing, the powerful messages hidden between the lines of his stories, and his courage in befriending death as it got closer and closer. This book will make you see the delicateness and impermanence of life differently and may just completely change how you approach it every day.
6. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kork
I credit this book for the obsession that I grew to have this past year with the neuroscience of trauma and how to develop mindful modalities to help individuals grappling with the brutal inner work. Using several examples from his decades of work in psychiatry, Dr. van der Kork teachers readers about how trauma affects our brains and rewires our nervous systems, how unresolved experiences can impact our mental and physical health, and how some fascinating treatment modalities are emerging to help heal the memories of these events. If you want to become more aware about the depth of mental health, become more conscious of the power of trauma, and develop more empathy and patience for individuals struggling with their own grievances, this book is for you.
Thank you for reading with me this week! For more personal growth content like this, follow me on Instagram: @commitmenttogrowth
