The Best 8 Books in 2022 for Sustainable Excellence

Welcome to my annual reading list. If you are familiar with my work, you’ll know that it integrates ideas, research, and practices from diverse domains. (See my latest book, for example.) People always ask me how I do this. The answer is simple: I do my best to live in the world with my eyes open. And I read lots, and lots, and lots of books, from a variety of disciplines and authors. And then I discuss them with friends and colleagues at length.

I am also an enthusiast and supporter of what I call deep reading, or full engagement in a book. Deep reading is an absolute joy. It is good for mind and spirit, and it is also an advantage in today’s knowledge-based economy. Increasingly, people struggle to pay attention to just about anything, let alone a book. Yet deep reading confers many benefits above and beyond watching a YouTube video or skimming an article. These benefits include developing a richer understanding of a topic, increasing your ability to pay attention itself, more empathy, and enhanced creative thinking. (For more on deep reading, check my guide on the topic.)

With that, here are the 8 non-fiction books I loved most in 2022. These books were not necessarily published this year, but I read them for the first time this year.