My top 6 books of 2022

Fiction ruled this year.

I spent more than half of this year writing Push Off from Here and creating episodes of Tell Me Something True, which meant most of the reading I did during that time was non-fiction and for a specific purpose. So many books and papers and articles about psychology, spiritual traditions, behavior change, addiction, etc., which was great and all, but by the time I finished in August, I was dying to get lost in stories. And so I did, and whew, what a fantastic year for books! This list is pared down from about 40 books I read.

(Sidenote: several people have DMed and emailed recently asking about my list(s) of favorite books. There are only two lists I’ve ever formally published: The 11 Best Addiction and Sobriety Books in 2018 and “11 Books That Changed My Life,” which I’m updating and will release again in early 2023. I post all my other recommendations on Instagram for now, under #lauramckowenreads).

My 6 favorite books of 2022 (in no order)

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

I said there was no order, but this is the exception. This was absolutely my favorite book of 2022 and one of my favorite books of all time. I was blown away the entire time I was reading it, and it caused me to have what I will probably look back on as a life/career-shifting moment. This is Zevin’s 10th book. She’s exactly my age (I’m older by two months). She’s had some blockbusters (The Storied Life of AJ Fikry was a mega-bestseller and was recently made into a movie) and some that bombed. In other words, she’s had an entire career already but is probably only at the mid-point. She’s famously quiet on social media, posting only before and after the release of her books. In other words, she’s focused all her creative energy on writing incredible stories, and it shows.

The shift I experienced reading it was two-fold. First, it clarified that I would try to write fiction someday (after Book #3 is published, which will be another memoir). Second, it crystallized my desire to work towards writing as my primary and only job, which led to closing down some other projects, even one’s I really enjoyed.

But the book! I wasn't sure I'd be into a book about gaming and gamers, but I fell right into their world and loved learning about it through these characters. The story follows three friends (Sadie, Sam, Marx) through a span of several decades, from childhood to their thirties, who are connected by chance but then by a mutual love of games and each other. It takes place in both Boston (my heart) and LA through the late 80s-2010s, and she creates place as character beautifully. It's about how complicated and wonderful and terrible and generous and self-interested and smart and stubborn and destructive and stupid we can be with each other, about love in many forms, about how our family and culture and circumstance shape us, about the ineffable, singular experience of creative partnership. It's also about creativity itself.

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This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

This isn’t a new book, it was published in 2017, and I’m not sure how I stumbled on it (probably my Kindle kept recommending it) but I’m so glad I did.

It’s about a family with five brothers, the youngest of whom, Claude, wants to be a girl. Everyone in the family loves and supports this, even though they don’t understand it at first, but they keep it a secret from the harsh outside world, sort of on accident. Eventually, the secret becomes untenable to hold, and it explodes. The novel explores the impossible task of wanting to protect your children from a complicated world, the limits and boundlessness of love, family dynamics, gender, and so much more. It was intense and very hard to read at times (I had a pit in my stomach for most of it) because you feel the tension of the dilemmas the parents and children face, but I also couldn’t stop reading it. Ultimately, it is a heartwarming, heartbreaking, and exquisitely told story.

I learned the main storyline is autobiographical for the author, which made sense because she writes about the dynamics so tenderly and specifically.

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Joan is Okay by Weike Wang

What a singular voice Wang has. I’ve never read a book that was so minimalist while also being layered, complex, and funny; it was fascinating. This is my first of her books (I heard Chemistry is also great).

It’s a slim novel about Joan, a thirtysomething ICU doctor in New York City during the COVID pandemic. She lives a solitary, focused life devoted to her work and is—well, awkward—with just about everyone. When her father dies, and her mother comes to stay with her from China, her world is thrown into chaos.

As the book description reads:

Joan Is Okay touches on matters that feel deeply resonant: being Chinese-American right now; working in medicine at a high-stakes time; finding one’s voice within a dominant culture; being a woman in a male-dominated workplace; and staying independent within a tight-knit family. But above all, it’s a portrait of one remarkable woman so surprising that you can’t get her out of your head.

It’s true. I couldn’t get her out of my head! This book was a delight.

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Alright, this doesn’t come out until March, but I had to put it on the list. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and devoured it in two days. I fell in love with Ann Napolitano when I read Dear Edward (which you can order now while you wait for this to be released), and so I couldn’t wait to see what she did next.

Hello Beautiful has similar feeling tones to Dear Edward, but it’s a different story, and it’s truly extraordinary. The central character is William Waters, a boy who grows up in a home silenced by tragedy. Basketball is the only thing that gives his life shape and meaning. When he goes to college, he meets Julia Padavano and gets immediately scooped up into her family of three sisters and two charismatic parents. The book follows William’s relationship with Julia, the lives of her sisters and parents, and the dynamics between all of them over several decades. It’s a coming-of-age story laced with themes of loyalty, family, secrets, trauma, mental health, love, and devotion.

If you love character-driven, generational stories, this is for you. It felt similar to me to Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes, which was my favorite book of 2019. Totally worth pre-ordering.

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Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I don’t know that I’ve come across a modern author who can tell a story like TJR. There’s nothing extra in her writing, and I mean that as the highest compliment. No pretension, no show, just a propulsive, smart, captivating story— the kind of clean writing that takes an insane amount of work and talent to achieve.

She writes about worlds I swear I’m not going to give a shit about: Hollywood (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo), a fictitious band (Daisy Jones and The Six), and now this—a tennis world champion—I’m all in. (I also loved Malibu Rising; I’ve not yet read her earlier titles).

I remember hating Carrie Soto when she appeared in Malibu Rising, so I was eager to see how she handled a whole story around this character, and it was awesome. It’s a love story, a father-daughter story, and a story about excellence, drive, and unabashed female ambition, which are themes throughout her other books. Another one I read in two days.

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They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey

Alright, holy moly, this book. I read it less than two weeks ago, and it blew my socks off. Meg Howrey is new to me, and now I’ve spent no less than three hours scouring her Instagram and falling into the rabbit hole of professional ballet, which is the world this book is written about (she is a former dancer).

The book is about Carlile Martin, whose artist parents divorced when her father, Robert, falls in love with James during the onset of the AIDS crisis. After that, Carlile only sees her father for a few weeks a year when she visits him and James at their coveted house on Banks Street in New York City. Carlile forms a special relationship with James, who schools her on art, life, and love in a somewhat precarious way, and through a wild series of events, a riff is created between Carlile and her father, which lasts for decades.

The writing is exceptional, the story is provocative, and the world Howrey brings you into is fascinating and visceral. The blurb on the book cover says, “A perfect book,” and I agree.

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That’s the list! I’d love to know what your favorites were in the comments.

This will be my last newsletter for 2022! I’ve really loved switching over to Substack, and I’m excited to dig in more next year. As a reminder, you can submit questions for me to answer in future newsletters here.

I hope these last days of the year are filled with moments you both want and need.

Love,
Laura

P.S. All I want for Christmas is for you to pre-order my book. xoxoxoxooxoooooo

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Join me at The Art of Living Center in Boone, NC - July 21-23, 2023

My first life retreat in four years! The center recently expanded the capacity for this retreat to accommodate more people and more private rooms (yay!). If you’re interested in grabbing one of those rooms, don’t wait. But also, sharing a room can be a very cool way to meet someone. If you choose that option, they will pair you with someone else attending the retreat.

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