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It’s that time of the year when people make resolutions for the coming year. I’m not big on that practice most years, but in 1998 I made a resolution to read at least two books a month and I’m proud to say I’ve kept that resolution ever since. This year marks the 25th anniversary of that New Year’s Resolution and that makes it a great time to look back on what I’ve accomplished and what I’ve learned.
In the last 25 years I’ve read 1025 books! Full disclosure; a few of them I enjoyed so much I read them more than once. But that still leaves me with over one thousand new books read. That’s many hours of entertainment and education that is generally much more satisfying than watching television. Along the way I’ve learned many things I didn’t know or learned much more about subjects I barely knew.
Imagine the impact on our culture if young people, who spend most of their time with their faces buried in cell phones, spent the same time reading books. What a game changer! Education remains the key to economic advancement and reading makes that possible.
Here are my top ten books for 2022 in no particular order:
- Taking Paris – Martin Dugard – This is a great World War II account of the German forces taking Paris early in the war, the response of the Parisians to their occupancy, and the French Resistance movement that played such an important role in the eventual overcoming of the Germans by the Allied Forces.
- Fault Lines – Voddie Baucham, Jr. – An insightful look at the social justice movement in America from the perspective of a black minister. He exposes the truth about the Black Lives Matter movement, Critical Race Theory, and other misleading propaganda from a Christian preacher’s point of view.
- Hostages No More – Betsy DeVos – A great read from the former Secretary of Education in the Trump administration. She explains how school choice is giving millions of low-income students the opportunities to get ahead they have previously been denied by our educational system.
- A Plague Upon Our House – Scott W. Atlas, M.D. – This Stanford University Medical School professor brings clarity to the confusion that surrounded the Covid-19 pandemic and our government’s response. When the CDC, FDA, and the White House colluded to spread misinformation that suited its political and public health agendas, Dr. Atlas remained steadfast in his pursuance of the truth. A must read.
- Big Government Socialism – Newt Gingrich – An insightful look at the ways our government is imposing socialism upon our country without the people’s consent, and the bleak future if this trend is not turned around.
- Killing the Killers – Bill O’Reilly/Martin Dugard – Another in their “Killing Series”, this time about payback for those terrorists who have terrorized the world. Much of this book has not been covered in the news.
- Sooley – John Grisham – The master of the legal thriller is quite good at writing novels about sports, too. This one concerns a basketball player from Africa who escapes poverty through college basketball.
- Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly – The creator of the Harry Bosch series has a new character named Renee Ballard; a female detective to give Bosch some competition. Connelly remains the best at detective thrillers.
- Portrait of an Unknown Woman – Daniel Silva – The Gabriel Allon series continues with a deep dive into the art forgery business. Silva shows an amazing depth of knowledge of the art world while bringing great suspense to the story.
- Dream Town – David Baldacci – Baldacci gives us a new look at Los Angeles in the early days after World War II and a new hero named Aloysius Archer. He demonstrates again why he is considered a great storyteller.
There you have them; read and enjoy. Make a resolution to read more books and watch less television. You’ll be glad you did!
