December 8, 2022

For a fiction book to be on my “favorites” list, the writing must be superb and I must have been able to engage with the characters in some way, even if they are from a totally different time and/or background. They must become real to me. I also love books in which I can imagine myself in the setting. Plot isn’t as important to me as the feeling created in the book.

I turn to books to deepen who I am, to grow and to expand my world. That is true for nonfiction books, too. Favorite nonfiction books are ones in which I pause as I am reading to marvel at a new thought, new perspective, a new piece of knowledge. At some point while reading each of the books on this year’s favorite list, I said, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” Or I might have thought, “This is just what I need right now.” Or “What a good idea” or “I can’t wait to share this with…”

As is the case with many fiction titles, one book leads to another –other books by the same author or books on the same or similar topic. Once again, so many books, so little time.

Perhaps my list of favorites will lead you forward into the next good book. I hope so.

• Wife/daughter/self, A Memoir in Essays by Beth Kephart.
• In The Country of Women by Susan Straight
• The Inner Work of Age, Shifting from Role to Soul by Connie Zweig
• Late Migrations, A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
• Crisis Contemplation, Healing the Wounded Village by Barbara A. Holmes
• The Wild Land Within, Cultivating Wholeness Through Spiritual Practice by Lisa Colon Delay
• All That She Carried, The Journey pf Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
• Decision-Making and Spiritual Discernment, The Sacred Art of Making Your Way by Nancy Bieber (a reread)
• Spirit Car, Journey to a Dakota Past by Diane Wilson
• Between Two Kingdoms, A Memoir of life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
• The Divine Dance, The Trinity and Your Transformation, Richard Rohr with Mike Morrell
• Without A Map, A Memoir by Meredith Hall
• A Life in Light, Meditations on Impermanence by Mary Pipher
• Unbinding, The Grace Beyond Self by Kathleen Dowling Singh
• The Green Hour, A Natural History of Home by Alison Townsend
• The White Stone, The Art of Letting Go by Esther deWaal
• Windswept, Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women by Annabel Abby
• The Art of Gathering, How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
• Trusting Change, Finding Your Way Through Personal and Global Transformation by Karen Hering
• How The Word Is Passed, A Reckoning With The History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
• The Electricity of Every Living Thing, A Woman’s Walk in the World to Find Her Way Home by Katherine May

Such rich reading–almost takes my breath away!

An Invitation

What nonfiction books do you recommend from your 2022 reading? Is there anything on this list on your TBR list? I would love to know.