My Year In Books | 2022 Edition

Another year, another book challenge under my belt. Every year I increase my reading goal and fall ever so slightly short of my goal. This year I’m extending lots of grace to myself because even though I didn’t reach my ultimate goal of 40 books,  I read a huge amount of non-fiction content by way of podcasts, essays, articles, and research papers. All of this reading may not technically count as “book reading” but it makes me proud to be a lifelong lover of learning and well, reading.

A few things I learned this year:

• I was able to read 36 books
• Audiobooks continue to be a godsend for me
• I particularly love to listen to memoirs and biographies
• Nonfiction titles are what I most gravitate towards, however I read a record number of fiction titles (14)
• 66% (24/36) of the books that I read were written by female authors

In 2023, I’ve set a goal to read 50 books which average to about 4 books per month. I just started listening to (Spare by Prince Harry) which as of this writing is my second book of 2023.

What was your favorite book to read in 2022?

Let me know in the comments.

The List

Fiction

1. Wired Rogue | Toby Neal 
2. Wired Hard | Toby Neal 
3. Wired Dawn | Toby Neal 
4. Sophie Dreams Big | Keke Palmer 
5. Keri on the Loose | Keke Palmer 
6. From the Desk of Lady Miss | Keke Palmer
7. Chelsea’s Werk Week | Keke Palmer 
8. My Dear Friend Janet | Keke Palmer 
9. Wired Dark | Toby Neal 
10. Wired Justice | Toby Neal 
11. Unsound | Toby Neal
12. Color Tour | Aaron Stander
13. The Vanishing Half | Brit Bennett 
14. The Island | Heather Graham

Nonfiction

1. I’m Glad My Mom Died | Jeanette McCurdy
2. How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery In America | Clint Smith 
3. Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View | Ramin Setoodeh
4. Minor Feelings | Cathy Park Hong 
5. Very Fat, Very Brave | Nicole Byer 
6. The Three Mothers | Anna Malaika Tubbs 
7. Bamboozled by Jesus | Yvonne Orji 
8. Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger | Justin Murphy
9. High Yella | Steve Majors 
10. Bad Nigger! The National Impact of Jack Johnson | Al-Tony Gilmore 
11. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in Silicon Valley | John Carreyrou 
12. Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights | Cynthia Stokes Brown 
13. Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation | Anne Helen Petersen 
14. Prey Tell: Why We Silence Women Who Tell the Truth and How Everyone Can Speak Up | Tiffany Bluhm 
15. Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, & Restoration | Tracy Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts
16. She Memes Well | Quina Brunson 
17. White Borders | Reece Jones 
18. Acrobaddict | Joe Putignano 
19. Nigger: The Strange Story of a Troublesome Word | Randall Kennedy 
20. Brown Enough | Christopher Rivas 
21. The Six Black Presidents | Dr. Auset BaKhufu 
22. Rest Is Resistance | Tricia Hersey 

(he/his/him) Calvin Eaton is a disabled community educator, content creator, and social entrepreneur, whose area of expertise includes antiracism, equity, justice, instructional design, and program development. In 2016 Mr. Eaton founded 540WMain, Inc. a virtual non-profit organization and antiracist education brand that promotes justice for all. The organization encourages individuals to broaden their horizons and learn more about multidisciplinary issues and topics that impact the world.