The Best Books I Read in 2022
Its been covered endlessly on the internet why reading is incredibly good for your brain (I’ve made a few videos and podcasts on why everyone should read more). 2022 has been a particularly good year for reading great books. In no particular order, here’s my top 13 and why I found them worth reading.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey. This is such a classic its hard to believe I hadn’t read it till now. I immediately found why this book has sold tens of millions of copies; its so good. The life principles here are truly transformative.
The Minimalist Entrepreneur, by Sahil Lavingia. I wish this book was out 6 years ago when I was in the thick of starting two nonprofit organizations. Though the focus is more on businesses, there’s plenty of principles and ideas that apply to any organization or team. If you’re in organizational leadership, its worth your time.
Doing Good Better, by William MacAskill. MacAskill is one of the founders of the Effective Altruism Movement, and this book outlines that concept (essentially, how do we decide if a nonprofit is effective in its work, and what’s the best way to analyze that?). Given my work in the nonprofit space, this book gave me much to think about. MacAskill is part of 80,000 Hours, a nonprofit in England and affiliated with Oxford University. You can go to their website and they’ll send you this book for free (can’t beat that!).
So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport. I’m a big fan of Newport’s work, and this book didn’t disappoint. The core premise is the advice to “follow your passion” is a disastrous idea; invest in learning valuable skills instead. In a world where people like Steve Jobs are lifted up for their supposed relentless pursue of “passion”, Newport brings us back to reality and takes a hard look at that idea. If you’re looking for career advice, this book is for you.
The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel. Easily the best book I’ve read on personal finance. Its a compilation of short chapters that push back on the assumption money is all about numbers and data, and instead argues we are missing the human element in how we interact with our money. Lots of great practical advice in here, and how to think well about the resources you have.
Principles: Life and Work, by Ray Dalio. Dalio is one of the most successful investors and entrepreneurs in American history, and this book is the principles he’s developed for personal and professional life. This book is an absolute gold mine and should be on the reading list of anyone in organizational leadership. Its a pretty heavy read, and if you don’t have time, Dalio made a short film that explains the main premises. Its well worth your time.
The Dichotomy of Leadership, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. A helpful look at the challenges of good leadership, and how leadership often is about balancing two ideals that seem opposed. This book is the sequel to Willink and Babin’s Extreme Ownership; I’ve used both these books to help me develop material for various trainings I teach at.
Building a Second Brain, by Tiago Forte. The “second brain” concept is the most significant positive change I’ve made in my workflow in the last 3 years. Essentially, the idea is that our brains are great at thinking of things (coming up with good ideas), but not great at remembering everything we encounter on a daily basis. Instead, we need a system that we can externalize our ideas and things we need to remember. This book explains how to do that, and once you’ve started you’ll never look back. Trust me.
The Clock of the Long Now, by Stewart Brand. Published over 20 years ago, its nearly a crime this book isn’t more popular. It completely changed how I think of time and about how to make our existence here on earth count for many generations to come. If you want to have your mind blown, just check out what Stewart Brand is doing with the Long Now Foundation. I’m definitely going to read this book again and visit it in more detail in a future newsletter and YouTube video.
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl. A classic I can’t believe I hadn’t read till this year. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor of Auschwitz, and wrote this book soon after being liberated. Its an honest, deep pondering of the human soul, asking how life can have meaning when everything has been taken away. The core thesis is that life can have meaning, even in the face of the most extreme suffering. Immensely profound, terribly sad, and incredibly inspiring, from someone who endured the most evil side of humanity.
The Happiness Equation, by Neil Pasricha. Its a bit of a scammy title, and at some points the book its pretty shallow, so don’t take the ideas too far, but I did pick out some solid life principles from this one. Its an easy read, and was a nice change from some of the deeper/intense reading I was doing.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, by Eric Jorgenson. Naval Ravikant is one of the most successful angel investors and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. This book is a compilation of the core principles he uses. It completely blew my mind, and I ended up creating a 4 part podcast series on just this book (here’s the first episode). That being said, the second half of the book gets into his philosophy of life, and its pretty off the rails from there (for example, he suggests the meaning of life is to hasten the heat death of the universe; how sad and bizarre if that’s all life is about!). If you can ignore the very weird and sometimes barbaric life advice in the second half, this book is worth your time.
Atheist Delusions, by David Bentley Hart. This is a fascinating response to the “new atheist” movement, a movement of prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris that claim Christianity has absolutely nothing of value to offer and is immensely harmful to society. Hart’s response is brilliant in looking at church history and how it shaped the Western world. The main point I pulled away is that no matter the argument cast against Christianity, assuredly in the last 2000 years the church has had to face that very challenge and has overcome it. Regardless of what atheism (sometimes gleefully) claims, the church is not going away. This book gave me good historical frameworks for understanding the development of the church and those who are trying to tear it down.
What a list; it was one of the best years for great books I can remember (I struggled to limit it only to 13), and can’t wait for what 2023 will bring. You’ll note there’s no fiction on this list; I wonder if I should be more culturally literate by reading more of it.
Check out my favorite books from 2021. I have a books podcast with my friend Jaran Miller. Follow me on Goodreads to see what I’m reading.