My 2022 Book List & My Top Ten Songs

Happy New Year, friends and family!

As I did in 2021, this past year I kept track of all the books I read, either as family read-alouds or on my own. (This list doesn’t include the books the kids asked me to read out loud to them–that would be a very long list!) As a family, we especially enjoyed Brave Ollie Possum by Ethan Nicolle, the Green Ember and Archer series by S.D. Smith, and the Nnewts series by Doug TenNapel. My favortie books on the list this year are The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald. The book that held my attention for the longest reading sessions was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I think I sat and read Unbroken for three hours one day–not a record for younger me, who had fewer responsibilites, but definitely a record for older me, who had to catch up on dishes and laundry after reading for that long.

This year I also included a list of my top ten songs according to Spotify. They all come from the same three artists: Claude Debussy and Aaron Copland, both Modern classical music composers, and Andrew Osenga, whose concept album Leonard the Lonely Astronaut I adore.

My 2022 Book List

Note: An * next to a book means I didn’t finish reading that book. For some on the list I explain why, but for most on the list another book simply interested me more.

Books I Began Reading Last Year, but Finished This Year:
How to Train Your Dragon: How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm by Cressida Cowell
Preparing Children for Marriage by Josh Mulvihill

January
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns by T. David Gordon

February
*Centerburg Tales by Robert McCloskey
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (Audiobook)
Calling Evil Good by Spencer Smith

March
*The Liberated Imagination by Leland Ryken–This is an excellent book, but it includes so much information per chapter that I’m reading it one chapter section at a time.
*Church History: Volume Two by Philip Schaff
A Classical Guide to Narration by Jason Barney

April
I didn’t start reading any new books this month, but continued on with those listed above.

May
Livestock Guardians: Using Dogs, Donkeys, and Llamas to Protect Your Herd by Janet Vorwald Dohner
The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald–Why have I never read George MacDonald before now? Where has he been all my life?

June
Brave Ollie Possum by Ethan Nicolle (Audiobook)
Men, Microscopes, and Living Things by Katherine B. Shippen–For Biology.
You Who? Why You Matter and How to Deal With It by Rachel Jankovic (Audiobook)
*The Gospel of Ruth by Carolyn Custis James–I couldn’t finish this one. She claims in the introduction that this is the book she was born to write, which makes the rest of the book feel contrived. She works from her view of the world instead of working directly from Scripture.

July
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (Audiobook)
Evanjellyfish by Douglas Wilson (Audiobook)
*Crucibles: The Story of Chemistry by Bernard Jaffe–For Chemistry.
*The Winter King by Christine Cohen (Audiobook)–I couldn’t finish this one, either. The protagonist’s family is starving and her little sister reminded me too much of Ruthie. I also found the plot predictable and the protagonist annoying.

August
The Green Ember by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
*Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott–I loved her advice for writers, but struggled with her theology.

September
The Black Star of Kingston by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
Ember Falls by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Last Archer by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit (Audiobook)

October
*Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Cardboard by Doug TenNapel–I didn’t think I could like a graphic novel so much. This book is fantastic. Its weird, funny, and sweet all at the same time.
Ember Rising by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
Nnewts: Escape from the Lizzarks by Doug TenNapel

November
Ember Ends by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater (with illustrations by Robert Lawson, one of my favorite artists)
Nnewts: The Rise of Herk by Doug TenNapel
Nnewts: The Battle for Amphibopolis by Doug TenNapel
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
*The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit (Audiobook)
*Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend
The First Fowler by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)
*The Archer’s Cup by S.D. Smith (Audiobook)

December
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi
*The Pioneers by Scott McCullough

My Top Ten Songs of 2022:

1. Clair de Lune, L. 32 by Claude Debussy

2. Appalachian Spring: IV. Quite Fast by Aaron Copland

3. Suite Bergamasque, L. 75: Passepied by Claude Debussy

4. Appalachian Spring: V. Subito allegro by Aaron Copland

5. “Out of Time” by Andrew Osenga

6. “Only Man in the World” by Andrew Osenga

7. “Brushstroke” by Andrew Osenga

8. Appalachian Spring: VI. Meno mosso by Aaron Copland

9. 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo: I. Buckaroo Holiday by Aaron Copland

10. 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo: III. Saturday Night Waltz by Aaron Copland

Do you have a favortie book or song that you enjoyed this past year? Please share in the comments below. I love hearing from you, and thank you all for supporting another year of Teacher by Nature! It’s a blessing to write for you.

Photo: My music stand, a birthday gift from Brian, and my headphones, a Christmas gift from Brian. Now I can play and listen to even more music :).