My Best Books of 2022 <3
my best books of 2022, for you to read in 2023.
Happy new year, even though we are very much into February now. Last year I read 20 books. The most I have read since maybe high school. I didn’t start until the summer but It felt great to get back into reading and I enjoyed the process of tracking my books through goodreads. This upcoming year I want to set a goal of 25 books, which might be wishful thinking or just the right amount. I read lots of great books last year, I am no longer forcing myself to read books that don’t interest me, so that definitely made a difference. I’m excited to share some of my favorites with y’all beautiful folks. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order. :)
Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
An intimate and powerful look into the upbringing of the one and only Viola Davis. I found this book to be emotional and surprising in all the right ways. Having not read a lot of celebrity memoirs, this has set a really high bar for the rest that I encounter. Viola takes us through her journey, through her own words and it is a one of a kind, beautiful, touching and elegant just like her. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one. It felt like I was sitting across the table from her and I often found myself smiling at the thought.
THICK: and other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
This book outlines and analyzes beauty, media, industries through a black feminist lens. Tressie analyzes and offers a painful yet honest look at America and the structures that make and break us. This was one of the first books I have read, that has made me feel seen, looked after and cared for as a black woman. It is a book, that I know I will find myself reading over and over and continue to connect with. I highly recommend everyone read this, to all my black girls, you deserve this book.
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
This book was a tough(emotionally) but memorable telling of the legacy of the word and actions surrounding slavery. It offers a lens into rethinking our proximity to things that are within plain sight. Clint takes a look at the many ways that we can understand how this documentation such as monuments, plantations can explain the positioning of black people within culture and society. This book educated me on so many things still going on within our society and can be often overlooked. A MUST READ!
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us By Hanif Abduraquibb
A collection and combination of personal essays and musical journalism Hanif takes the audience on a journey, through a retelling of time through his own encounters, from a love for the community surrounding punk, to visiting Michael Browns grave a day after a Bruce Springsteen concert. His perspective is much needed as a voice within our generation. A true exploration and showing of complexity, perseverance and joy that black men in modern America aren’t granted an opportunity to show. I found this book to be transcendent, poignant and heartfelt, one of my favs to date.
The Brown Sisters Series by Talia Hibbert
Now, this romance trilogy came as a fun surprise to me. Spanning 3 different books, and following 3 different sisters. Each book follows a different sister and spans their love lives. I really loved these books, for a slew of reasons but it was by far one of the most diverse, body positive romance books I’ve read. It felt like I was watching them compared to reading them, they were engulfing and joyous and I enjoyed every single one.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
A must read. PERIOD.
Honorable mentions:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Hunger by Roxanne Gay
Short but mighty books:
Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Steal Like an Artist series by Austin Kleon
A Fortune For Your Disaster by Hanif Abduraquibb
Thanks as always for reading,
I will see you next Sunday with a piece about manifesting and acceptance.
Lots of love,
Ya Little Mama <3