It’s been a bit, but I’m back with my top reading picks for 2022. If you’re a bookie like myself, I encourage you to check out my list of books for millennials from your library. (Don’t forget to download a copy of my FREE bookmarks at the end!)
Let’s get to it.
13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin
One of my favorite mental health reads of the year so far. Amy Morin, a licensed clinical social worker, offers strategies to help her readers overcome destructive habits and thoughts and shows them how to focus on positive emotions.
I found this book at my library and decided to give it a read when I was going through a really rough time. The book helped me see things more positively (something I struggled with for years).
If you’re looking for some self-improvement, start with this book.
Goodreads Summary
“In this inspirational, affirmative book, Morin expands upon her original message, providing practical strategies to help readers avoid the thirteen common habits that can hold them back from success. Combining compelling anecdotal stories with the latest psychological research, she offers strategies for avoiding destructive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors common to everyone.”
#VERYFAT #VERYBRAVE: The Fat Girl’s Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini by Nicole Byer
I came across this book while searching for new eBooks to read at my local library. I recognized Nicole Byer from MTV’s Girl Code, and if you were a teenager in 2013 like I was, you were most likely watching Girl Code.
This inspirational autobiography talks about Nicole’s experiences as a plus-size woman, and she gives advice to all of the other plus-size women out there who might be too afraid to do something because they feel “too fat.” A feeling I have felt before.
I’ve been afraid to wear crop tops or bikinis because I was labeled “too chubby” by family and friends. I love this book because it helped me realize that we’re fat and want to wear cute clothes. If you’ve ever felt the same, I recommend this book to you.
Goodreads Summary
“I, Nicole Byer, wrote this book to 1. share my impressive bikini collection and my hot body with the world and 2. help other people feel #brave by embracing their body as it is. In this book, I share my journey to becoming #brave, give you my hot tips and tricks—on how to find the perfect bikini, how to find your own #bravery, and how to handle haters—and serve you over 100 bikini looks.”
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
One of my favorite thriller books I’ve read this year. I picked this interesting novel from Stacy Willingham as my Book of the Month pick last winter, and I loved it.
This novel follows a young psychologist named Chloe. While she listens to other people’s issues for a living, she also has a hand full of her own. Her traumatic childhood keeps returning to haunt her until a secret is revealed.
Goodreads Summary
“When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of controlling of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back.”
Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney
Another Book of the Month pick, Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney features a couple, Adam and Amelia, who spend a weekend away from home with their dog, hoping to repair their marriage. This thriller novel gives off vibes from The Shining, as Adam is an angry screenwriter who resents his wife. But Amelia has her own issues as well.
The book reveals Amelia has written a secret letter to her husband every anniversary, but she hasn’t given him the letters. Secrets are revealed, but can they handle it?
Goodreads Summary
“Things have been wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. A self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.”
The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace
I love love LOVE this book! I’m personally a fan of all things witchy, and this book is so cute. It includes pages of short poems, so it’s a short read for those of us who have a short attention span.
Amanda Lovelace inspires generations of women with the book, encouraging them to take control of their own lives and their own stories.
Goodreads Summary
“The witch: supernaturally powerful, independent, and now—indestructible. These moving, relatable poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories. Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one.”
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
A good read from the summer edition of my workplace’s book club.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai started out a bit slow for me at first, but once you start reading, you can’t stop. One side of the story takes place in 1985 and follows a group of young adults who are trying to convince the owner of a beautiful 1920s art collection to hand over the paintings.
The other side of the story takes place 30 years later in 2015. One of the friend’s daughters has gone missing—she joined a cult in college a few years ago, and no one has heard from her since.
The two stories come together with the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as the characters struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.
Goodreads Summary
“In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister.
Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finally grapples with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter.”
More Books for Millennials
These are just some of the books I enjoyed this year. What are some of the titles you’ve enjoyed so far in 2022? Tell me in the comments!
I’m currently reading:
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
- How To Believe Your Positive Self-Talk: 7 Steps To Heal Your Emotional Pain, Make Room For New Thoughts, And Feel Genuinely Happy (You Are Your Happy Place) by Pippa Clark
- Big Chicas Don’t Cry by Annette Chavez Macias
If you want to be reading buddies, feel free to connect with me on Goodreads.
Also – don’t forget to download my FREE bookmarks!
Until next time,
