Having spent a chunk of time compiling everyone else’s lists I thought I’d better get around to my own before the year runs away with me and the opportunity feels missed. I once again aimed for 75 books and managed 61 which is on a par with last year but the 3rd year in a row I missed my target of 75. I’m not too worried about the totals especially, I set it to push me into the discipline of doing something I really enjoy. But I noticed that once again in the autumn, which tends to be a particularly busy time at church, I really struggled to read books and not just blogs or emails. But reading is a joy and a gift and when I invest in it, I love it. I also continue to recognise, perhaps more than ever, that reading is a muscle that needs exercising and developing and that few things will atrophy my ability to focus and hold my attention as much as my phone can.

Goodreads offers up a few stats if you’re interested, as I invariably am.

Anyway, on to the books, favourites up top and in bold, the others in no particular order ¹

Fiction

I loved Wolf Hall

1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2. Tick Tock by Simon Mayo
3. The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula LeGuin
4. Knife Edge by Simon Mayo
5. The Racketeer by John Grisham
6. Contact by Carl Sagan
7. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
8. The Judge’s List by John Grisham
9. Camino Winds by John Grisham
10. Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham
11. Billy Summers by Stephen King
12. Queen of Storms by Raymond Feist
13. Elephant Adventure by Willard Price

Non-fiction

1. The Wisdom Pyramid by Brett McCracken
2. The Intentional Father by Jon Tyson
3. Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey
4. The Kingdom of Jesus by Richard Forster
5. The Sexual Reformation by Aimee Byrd
6. Preach Well by Darryl Dash
7. Agent Sonya by Ben Macintyre
8. Life Tastes Better by Terry Virgo
9. Coasting by Elise Downing
10. Spirit & Sacrament by Andrew Wilson
11. How (Not) to read the Bible by Dan Kimball
12. The Power of Geography by Tim Marshall
13. To My Sons by Bear Grylls
14. Succession or Multiplication? by David Devenish
15. Man Up! by Tim Baker
16. How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
17. Opening up Nahum by Clive Anderson
18. God’s Treasured Possession by Terry Virgo
19. Ted Talks by Chris Anderson
20. One Month of the Well Watered Life by Todd Shuler

Audiobooks

A chunk of my ‘reading’ is actually listening. These can be broken up into two distinct categories. Those I listened to with my kids and those I listened to on my own.

With both kids

1. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
2. Great Northern by Arthur Ransome
3. How to Break a Dragon’s Heart by Cressida Cowell
4. The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
5. How to Steal a Dragon’s Sword by Cressida Cowell
6. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
7. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
8. The Imagination Box by Martyn Ford
9. The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson
10. Jungle Drop by Abi Elphinstone
11. Just William’s Luck by Richmal Crompton
12. The Owl Service by Alan Garner
13. Stories of Wizards & Witches by Enid Blyton
14. Just William at Christmas by Richmal Crompton
15. Susanna Wesley by Kathy McReynolds

With my son

1. Hail Mary by Andy Weir
2. The Body by Bill Bryson
3. The Maintenance Race by Stewart Brand
4. Playing to Win by Michael Lewis
5. How to Survive your first trip in the Wild by Paul Magnanti

Just me

1. Endurance by Alfred Lansing
2. A History of Britain Volume 1 by Simon Schama
3. The Lost World of Genesis 1 by John H Walton
4. 24/6 by Matthew Sleeth
5. Judaism by Geoffrey Wigoder
6. How to Run a Marathon by Vassos Alexander
7. HMS Surprise by Patrick O’Brian

____________________________________________________________

1. links in the pictures are affiliate links, which means if you click on it and then buy something I get a small commission. I almost always spend this on more books.

The post My books of the year (2022) appeared first on The Simple Pastor.