Top FOUR Reads of 2022

I know I’m late to the party, but I wanted to make sure my last read of 2022 wasn’t going to become a fave, but alas it was a #DNF. 

I’m a pretty picky and moody reader. I’m stingy with my five star reads and even more selective about “fave book” status. For me, five star books changed my perspective greatly in some way. They are usually books that surprise me by doing something completely different with a genre or trope. My favorite books are the ones that hit me SOUL deep and that I develop an intense obsession over. I essentially can’t stop thinking about them and recommending to everyone and their mama. 

Here are the books I became obsessed with in 2022 and if you’ve been here a while, none of the titles should surprise you: 

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

• Completely altered my perspective on Syrian refugee crisis
• Achingly beautiful Muslim love story
• The use of speculative elements to illustrate PTSD

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Arango Beatriz 

• Needs to be in EVERY middle school across the country
• Made me reflect on how much we expected young people to “fake it” in school while adults are given permission to grieve. 
• Normalization of mental health and therapy for young people

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones

• Listened on audiobook and immediately bought a physical copy that I can't wait to reread so I can write allll over it!
• Felt levels of rage I didn’t realize my being was capable of
• American schools’ history curriculums really ain’t sh*t.
• You don’t know what you don’t know until you learn what you didn’t know.

Kindred by Octavia Butler, Graphic Novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings

• Hauntingly powerful storytelling
• Compelling art
• Alliterative names (D.D. and J.J. lol)
• Can’t wait to read more Butler, especially in graphic novel form. Looking at Parable of a Sower

→ Which of these did you read? Do you have any recs based on these for me to check out in 2023?