2022 Reading Goals and Challenge - Book Recommendations and Book Haul

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Starting a new year is exciting filled with aspirations and setting intentions. In the spirit of setting goals, I wanted to share a few of my 2022 reading goals. I highly encourage you to do something similar or consider doing a reading challenge. Goodreads allows you to set a number of books that you want to read by the end of the year and it definitely has encouraged me to stay on target. I’ve heard great things about Storygraph as well. I personally have not tried Storygraph but I hear it’s more interactive and has more immersive reading challenges.

2022 Reading Goals

Read 50 books by the end of 2022. I wanted to do 52 books in 52 weeks but rounded in down to 50 to make it a bit more feasible?
Finish all the books I already own before I buy anymore. I bought quite a few books during the lockdown that I have accumulated which I’ve either started and stopped reading or not started at all. I’m going to try my best to read through all the backlog.
Book buying ban. Whilst, I don’t think I will be on a zero book buy this year – I will limit it to as close as zero as possible. I mentioned in a post that I will not be spending money on books in 2022. This is because it literally costs zero dollars to own a library membership. I really enjoy borrowing books at a library. Now all City of Sydney libraries will no longer be charging late fees so this should only motivate me to read books from libraries.

Blog consistently. In 2021, I had written a few book reviews and a few monthly posts reviewing all books I had read in the month. However, this was not consistent at all. I definitely want to blog more consistently with at least 2 book related posts every month. I don’t consider myself a book blogger (in fact I don’t know what I consider myself) but I do enjoy book bloggers a lot.
Diversify my reading. I definitely have a preference to reading non-fiction and romantic and comedic fiction. I want to branch out and read more genres – specifically historical, mystery and thrillers. Maybe 1 or 2 fantasy novels.
Read some classics. I found these difficult and cumbersome to read mainly because it seems we get forced to read this in school. However, as an adult I hope to appreciate the artistic and timeless quality that many of these novels uphold. Classics are classics for a reason.
Attend a book club or event. Because I never have. I know Goodreads does have a few discussion groups so I will definitely look into that.
Listen to an audiobook. Because I never have.

I would also love if you gave me a Goodreads follow here. Whilst I do keep my profile to myself and I’m generally quite private, I think it would be great to be more involved in the reading community. So let’s be friends.

I know I broke my own goal of not buying books but trust me when I brought this in December. A 20% off storewide sale at Dymocks was too good to resist. I wanted to show the books I picked up. Hopefully these give you a few book recommendations. They did tickle my fancy.

*This post is not sponsored but contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Purchase on Amazon

I put this on my to read list on Goodreads after seeing this in a Best of 2021 list voted by Goodreads. I loved the premise of the plot. It is right up my alley being a satirical fiction with perhaps an underlying critique of corporate culture. If you’re looking for more African American fiction – this might be for you.

‘For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street—a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.’

Outline by Rachel Cusk

Purchase on Amazon

I bought this because of the cover. There I said it. Although I do enjoy contemporary fiction and despite the jargon of the synopsis listed below, I am very intrigued about the structure and plot of this novel. The novel is said to be set in Athens, Greece. I am curious to see if this plot is heavily connected with place. Hopefully this novel takes me back to the fresh sea and salt of the Greek seas.

‘Outline is a novel about writing and talking, about self-effacement and self-expression, about the desire to create and the human art of self-portraiture in which that desire finds its universal form.’

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Purchase on Amazon

Similarly to Black Buck, I had put this on my to read list after seeing it appear in the top non-fiction books list for 2021. That added with my fascination of cults and I knew I absolutely had to read this. For a while, I’ve had a huge fascination of multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) and how power and language reel people in.

I started a Peloton subscription and boy I was not surprised but I was impressed and how ‘cultish’ it felt. Drinking the kool-aid is real. I always knew Peloton was intense. Anyway, I digress.

‘Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.’

For my Formula One/motorsport fans

How to be an F1 Driver by Jenson Button

Purchase on Amazon

I wanted to purchase Kimi Räikkönen’s autobiography but I couldn’t find it in store so I settled with Jenson Button, another retired and previous championship winner. In hindsight, this was a better choice as I instantly fell in love with Button’s witty yet comedic style of writing. It feels really personal yet insightful giving a really good insight to Button’s experience in Formula One in racing and being on the road. Räikkönen definitely wouldn’t have had the same feel as much as I love him.

Driven: The Men Who Made Formula One by Kevin Eason

Purchase on Amazon

I purchased this book because it would look really great on my coffee table. That’s it. However, I’ve always been fascinated at the rich history of Formula One. I only started watching the sport around 2016-2017 and seeing my father brush up on his history has made me want to brush up on mine. With Eason being a sports correspondent, I hope this book delivers some great anecdotes at the F1 paddock over the years brushing up with some of the best drivers of the sport.

There we have it – my reading goals for 2022 and my book haul that I wanted to show. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this post. Have you set some reading goals for 2022? I would love to hear about them!