Olive’s Top 5 Reads of 2022

Here we are at the end of 2022. It’s been a good reading year for me – finished 52 books and found many gems along the way. It’s a difficult task to boil it down to 5 top reads, but I will try! (In case you missed it, here’s my list from 2021). I’ll also include a list of honourable mentions at the bottom of this post. I’ve linked the books to Amazon here, purely for convenience of reference. If you’re able to support your local bookstore or get these from your local library, please do so.

My top 5 reads of 2022 by genre:

On Understanding Self

Permission to Come Home by Dr. Jenny Wang

The subtitle of this book is “Reclaiming Mental Health for Asian Americans” which pretty much sums up the book. This is the first book I’ve read about mental health as it relates to the Asian diaspora experience. Dr. Wang covers many pertinent topics and cites a variety of examples both from her own personal life as well as from the experiences of her clients. I appreciated hearing about this topic in a more nuanced way specific to being Asian in North America. One of my takeaways was that there are things I grieve simply because I live in a culture removed from my “root” culture – and that it’s important to acknowledge those losses.

Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown

The idea behind this book was to give vocabulary to our human experiences so that we could understand ourselves and help others to understand us. Kind of like a dictionary for emotions, Brene Brown goes through 87 emotions and experiences and defines them in this book. I read this book out loud with my kids (there are a few swear words and it was a bit over their heads at times, but it opened up a lot of opportunities for conversation). I really hope she’s developing a version for kids because it is so useful to have shared vocabulary to describe the feelings we feel.

On Parenting

The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry

This book was recommended to me by the grown daughter of our marriage mentors. I had reached out to the couple who had done our pre-marital counseling with us to see if they had suggestions for resources to help us prepare for parenting teenagers and this is the title their daughter suggested. Written by a psychologist and mother, this was an insightful and practical book that explores how our own unhealed childhood experiences can be triggered by our children’s interactions with us. A lot of the book was geared toward parenting young children, but there were still salient points for older children.

Memoir

The Naked Don’t Fear the Water by Matthieu Aikins

This account of Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins ditching his passport to traverse an underground refugee route with his Afghan friend was a gripping read. For someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about the European refugee crisis, this was eye-opening and informative. Reading about the challenges facing refugees grew my compassion for those around the world who need to escape from their homelands and for those countries through which these people travel. This year I have intentionally sought out stories from people whose life experiences are different from my own and I’m really grateful to have read this book.

On Indigenous Experience

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

This novel was heartrending, insightful, and beautiful. It follows the lives of five Indigenous survivors of Canadians residential schools and allows us a glimpse into the impacts of the trauma as well as the various ways people cope with pain. The story itself was beautifully woven. It’s no wonder it won so many accolades! This was definitely an emotionally challenging read but it felt important to me in my own work of understanding my place in Canada. I think every Canadian would benefit from reading this book, even if only to listen to the Indigenous experience.

Honourable Mentions

All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell – Not a book for the squeamish. The author is a journalist who interviews an array of people who make a living working with the dead, from an embalmer to an executioner, to a mass fatality investigator and other roles I had never heard of. This was both fascinating and sobering. I also appreciated that the author included her own inner journey along the way. If you’re the type of person who enjoys anatomy and isn’t bothered by graphic descriptions of bodies, this book is for you.

The Great Sex Rescue by Joanna Sawatsky, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Sheila Wray Gregoire – This book is based on research where over 20,000 evangelical women were surveyed about sex and exposes how many common evangelical teachings about sex are more destructive than helpful. As someone who grew up in the “purity culture,” this book was quite relatable and helped me to see how some of my past beliefs were not true. I would recommend this to anyone struggling with enjoying sex because of what they were taught by the church or “Christian” media.

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez – As a child who grew up on a steady diet of Focus on the Family, I didn’t know that the brand of Christianity I was raised with was classified as White Evangelicalism. This book helped me understand the wider story of how American Evangelicalism came to be and how it continues to influence America today. It gave me more context for the teachings I heard growing up and if I’m honest, made me kind of angry at how much influence those teachings had on my life.

Still Stace by Stacey Chomiaks – This illustrated memoir traces the coming of age of a gay Christian woman and the struggles of reconciling being both gay and Christian. I am friends with the author and admire her courage in sharing her story, particularly because there may be others out there who would relate to her struggles. Regardless of what anyone’s theological views are on homosexuality, I think it this is a valuable read because it’s her story told with honesty and vulnerability.

The Unteachables by Gordon Korman – This is a kids’ novel that I read with my daughters and I loved it. The story is about a grade 8 class of “Unteachables,” misfits whom the school had given up on, taught by Mr. Kermit, a disillusioned man on the cusp of early retirement. Full of humour and poignant moments, this is a story of unlikely redemption that was truly a pleasure to read.