My Favorite Books of 2022

Hello and welcome to my blog!

Today, I want to share with you my top 10 books that I listened to this year. These books are not directly related to my work, but rather are for personal development and enjoyment. I’m an avid reader and love to listen to books while I’m doing routine work. Listening to books helps me make the most of my time and keeps my mind engaged. I usually listen to about 15 hours of books per month, which allows me to get through 2-3 books. I use the Audible app for all my book listening and have been really happy with the selection and service they provide.

The opening for me of this year was “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman, and I am thankful to Mykola Dzhus for recommending this author. In this year-end summary, I wanted to share my top 10 books of the year, along with some thoughts and quotes from each one, in order of my personal preference for them:

1. “Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service” by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal: “The Mossad is constantly at the forefront of covert operations, gathering intelligence and eliminating threats to the security of the State of Israel.” This book provided an in-depth look at the inner workings of the Mossad, one of the most mysterious and renowned intelligence agencies in the world. I was fascinated by the stories of daring covert operations and the intelligence gathering techniques used by the Mossad.

2. “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman: “Love is the only thing that makes a person truly rich.” This heartwarming story follows the life of a grumpy old man who learns to open his heart and find joy in the world. I loved the characters and the themes of love, friendship, and forgiveness in this book.

3. “The Courage to Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga: “Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them.” This book is based on the ideas of Alfred Adler, a pioneer in the field of psychology, and explores the concept of living a fulfilling life. I found the ideas in this book to be inspiring and thought-provoking.

4. “Inspired” by Marty Cagan: “The best product teams have a clear mission, a strong team culture, and a collaborative process.” This book is a guide to building successful product teams and creating great products. I found the strategies and best practices in this book to be useful and have started applying them in my own work.

5. “Range” by David Epstein: “The most valuable things in life cannot be measured.” This book challenges the idea of the “10,000 hour rule” and the importance of specialization in achieving success. It argues that a diverse range of experiences and skills can be just as valuable, if not more so, in achieving success. I found the ideas in this book to be thought-provoking and challenging to conventional wisdom.

6. “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon: “Positive energy is contagious. It’s like a virus that spreads from person to person, creating a culture of optimism, hope, and possibility.” This book is a parable about the power of positive energy and how it can transform both individuals and organizations. I found the lessons about the importance of attitude and perspective to be inspiring and applicable to my own life.

7. “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman: “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” This witty and heartwarming story follows a group of strangers who are brought together in a failed bank robbery and learn to find joy and connection in unexpected places. I loved the characters and the themes of love, friendship, and forgiveness in this book.

8. “Building a Second Brain” by Tiago Forte: “Effective knowledge management is about creating a system for capturing, organizing, and accessing the knowledge you need to be productive and successful.” This book is a guide to building a “second brain,” or a system for managing and organizing your knowledge and ideas. I found the strategies in this book to be useful and have started implementing them in my own work.

9. “Four Thousand Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman: “Happiness doesn’t always come from achieving your goals. Sometimes it comes from letting go of them.” This book explores the idea that the things we think will make us happy often don’t, and that true happiness comes from within. I found the concepts in this book to be thought-provoking and challenged some of my own assumptions about happiness.

10. “The Inner Game of Tennis” by W. Timothy Gallwey: “The best way to get the most out of your game is to focus on the process, not the outcome.” This book is a guide to mastering the mental game of tennis, but the principles apply to any pursuit. I found the ideas about focus and mindfulness in this book to be useful and have started applying them in my own life.

I hope you enjoyed this list of my top 10 books of the year. Happy reading and happy new year!