I read 14 books in 2022 which is just about my usual. I aim for 12 a year and usually end up with a few more thanks to a few shorter works.
This was a tough year for reading for me. While time is always an issue, this time it was more a mood thing. Faced with so many choices, specially those offering bite-sized entertainment, I struggled to reach out to a book that requires so much more commitment.
Like prior years, I read most of these books on the Kindle app on the iPhone/iPad and some books I listened to on the Audible app on the iPhone while a handful I used both Kindle and Audible for the same book using the app that was most accessible at the time.
I usually list the most liked books at the end, but this year I am reversing that and starting with the ones I liked the most. Just seems more logical.
1. My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
This is a fascinating little short story that anyone who likes tongue-in-cheek humor or enjoys the eternal struggles between mothers and daughters and, as Oscar Wilde quipped how women end up like their mothers despite themselves.
2. The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Mukherjee’s third opus, while a departure in tone from previous works, is still a very good book for civilians to get a high-level view into the functioning of cells in the human body. Having said that, this is the least impressive of his works. Mukherjee is far more introspective and philosophical this time. Also, his general structure of introducing every topic with an anecdote from the 1800s, then another from the 1900s and finally to the current day, is a bit old and tedious now. It is increasingly hard to care for what a scientist said in 1800s about cell membranes.
I must admit that I look forward to his next book with less fervor than I have in the past.
3. The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger
Recent drama about Iger and Chapek notwithstanding, this book was both entertaining and educational. Iger is often regarded as one of the world’s great CEOs and made Disney really soar and for making some of the extraordinary deals (Pixar, Marvel, etc.) during this tenure. I think the book is a bit of a ‘disneyfied’ view of his professional life and spends a bit too much time on his trying to become the CEO. Where it really shines is Iger listing down his leadership values such as optimism and decisiveness.
4. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy’s grim tale of an ordinary man’s anguish when faced with mortality is both entertaining and thought-provoking. My love for Russian literature continues to grow and this novella added some more.
5. Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
Another year, another J.K. Rowling detective novel, this is the fifth in the series. I see Ink Black Heart as a significant return for Rowling to her brilliant storytelling in service of the gumshoe genre. Definitely the best in the last couple of years. Tricky plot devices, deep social media influence, and a story that generally adds up well despite significant character complications. The two lead characters are just too much fun!
6. Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Not sure how I missed reading this book over the years given how famous and ingrained in popular culture this book in particular and Lewis in general are. Oh well, while a fun read, I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would. Perhaps this has dated a bit and perhaps being a bond salesman isn’t “cool” quite the way it used to be.
7. How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil
This book was a bit of a disappointment for me specially given how much fun I had reading Smil’s last book “Numbers don’t lie.” This is a dense book, packed with numbers that make sense but narratives that sometimes don’t. Smil comes across as pedantic and the material is a bit hard to handle because it strips out home and future possibility that often tends to multiply at great rates, if not quite the way we envision it.
8. Man’s search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Another difficult book, this book is the author's exploration of life under Nazi death camps and search for meaning in the unnecessary suffering. It is a brutal story as expected and yet Frankl has some important insight into the nature of struggle itself. A line that will forever say with me (though is from Nietzsche): “He who has a ‘why’ can bear almost any ‘how’.”
9. Playing to Win by Michael Lewis
This book had a quite a readymade hook for me: “families are investing blood, sweat, tears, and retirement savings in their children’s sports careers, all with the ultimate goal of…what exactly?”. I must admit I understand what Lewis is talking about quite personally given my kids involvement in competitive Ski racing for almost a decade. I am not quite sure why everyone is pursuing this so passionately and so expensively given that it is almost never amounting to anything.
Lewis writes good stories and explains the problem quite well. However, he doesn’t offer any answer at all. The book sort of meanders around and just ends. Much like our amateur child athletes, leaving a deeply unsatisfying feeling.
10. Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
I love an old-fashioned mystery and despite having run many of her novels, here I found yet another I had somehow missed reading. It is a fun little read. Not the most mind-blowing mystery but definitely entertaining. Look out for a modern treatment on Amazon Prime that I am sure is around the corner.
11. The Genetic Lottery by Kathryn Paige Harden
I was really looking forward to reading this and unfortunately found it to be largely a dud. A seemingly controversial book that goes to such lengths to avoid saying anything controversial that it avoids saying anything at all.
12. Don’t Trust your Gut by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
This book should’ve been a twee thread. I don’t know why I keep reading these pseudo-science books by modern soothsayers who claim to rely on data. It has seemed intriguing enough initially but then it just became a series of one-liners that were probably better served as a short-lived tweet-thread.
13. The Cloisters by Katy Hays
I am such a sucker for mystery thrillers! And add the prefix ‘literary’ to that and you got me! And this book surely did. A terribly written, horrible book that would’ve been even worse had it not provided a few interesting details about The Cloisters museum in my favorite place in New York City called the Fort Tryon Park.
14. Trust by Hernan by Hernan Diaz
This book was praised by almost everyone and made so many ‘best of’ lists for 2022. I did not enjoy this at all. It was a total and complete drag and completely pointless. Easily the worst book I read this year.