Books I Read in 2022

A small section of my bookshelves in my office.

Books are the greatest companions. Reading is a disease with me.

Theodore Roosevelt

I grew up in a book family, but I didn’t grow up a book reader. Outside of required reading for school, you would have never found me with a book in my hand. When I did sit still long enough to read, I was reading Stg. Rock comic books—not much else. All that changed while working on an undergraduate and a graduate degree. Somewhere along the way I caught the same disease Theodore Roosevelt had. Today, if I’m in the house, you’ll likely catch me in my library, surrounded by thousands of books, writing a book or reading a book.

I’m not a particularly quick reader—certainly not as fast as Roosevelt, who could read a book a day—but I manage to get through a good number each year. The following list reflects all the books I read in 2022 (in order read), whether for pleasure or profit. As a new year dawns, you might find some of these titles to your taste. But if not, whatever you read in 2023, I hope you’ll find a worthy companion in the books you choose. Happy New Year, y’all—and happy reading.

1. Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays, Joan Didion

2. Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, Erik Larson

3. Around Terlingua, Thomas C. Alex & Robert E. Wirt

4. A Bowl of Red, Frank X. Tolbert

5. Cowboy Culture: The Last Frontier of American Antiques, Michael Friedman

6. The Road, Jack London

7. Understanding Cormac McCarthy, Steven Frye

8. Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, Rod Dreher

9. John Wayne’s The Alamo, Donald Clark & Christopher Andersen

10. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes

11. Touching This Leviathan, Peter Wayne Moe

12. Backroads of Texas, Gary Clark & Kathy Adams Clark

13. Lament for a Son, Nicholas Wolterstorff

14. How and How Not to be Happy, J. Budziszewski

15. Robert E. Lee: A Life, Allen C. Guelzo

16. American Is a Christian Nation, Robert Jeffress

17. River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile, Candice Millard

18. The Texas White House, Russ Whitlock

19. The Sons of Charlie Russell, B. Byron Price

20. Open Range, John Langmore

21. Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax

22. Larry McMurtry and the West: An Ambivalent Relationship, Mark Busby

23. Ridgeline, Michael Punke

24. Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We’ve Left Behind, Grace Olmsted

25. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan

26. 18 Minutes with Jesus: Straight Talk From the Savior About Things That Matter Most, Robert Jeffress (with Derrick G. Jeter)

27. Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, Marilyn McEntyre

28. Deep in the Heart, Jay Kleberg, Katy Baldock, and Ben Masters

29. Wit: A Play, Margaret Edson

30. Understanding Larry McMurtry, Steven Frye

31. Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein, John Nixon

32. Foreshadows: 12 Megaclues that Jesus’ Return is Nearer Than Ever, Steve Miller

33. The End Times in Chronological Order: A Complete Overview to Understanding Bible Prophecy, Ron Rhodes

34. What Does the Bible Say About the Future: 30 Questions on Bible Prophecy, Israel, and the End Times, Charles H. Dyer

35. Big Bend: “A Panorama Without End,” Rebecca Worby, ed.

36. The Writers: Portraits, Laura Wilson

37. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

38. Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star, Matthew Kerns

39. How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now, James K.A. Smith

40. No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men, Anthony Esolen