My Favorite Books of 2022

My morning rituals have been the same for long years.

Meditation, dress up, go to the favorite coffee place as the first customer of the day, chat with the barista, order an oat flat-white, morning jazz on Bose headphones, write on journal, read for about 45 mins. Precise habits. :)

Books make my life richer. I find most of the answers to the unsolved chatters in my mind while reading.

With that, here is my favorite book list of 2022.

I’ve sorted the list by author’s first name. Thanks to all the authors for accompanying my morning coffee sessions and helping me sail through last year.

Happy reading.

1)   A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman . The book gives a peek to curiosity conversations that inspired Brian Grazer to create some of the world’s most iconic movies and television shows. He explains how we can channel the power of curiosity to lead bigger and more rewarding lives.

2)   Never Split the Difference by Christopher Voss . I first watched the MasterClass of Chris Voss and I loved it. I was not sure if I should buy the book also but I am happy that I did. Because I was able to better understand his nine principles for negotiations by reading the book.

3)   Profit From Your Podcast by Dave Jackson . I didn’t buy this book with a direct revenue goal from my podcast right now. I read it because it provides strategies and real-life examples for creating better podcasts.

4)   The Creative Brief Blueprint by Derek Rucker and Kevin McTigue . One of the best of 2022. I read some of the chapters twice, not that I didn’t understand it, but I really enjoyed reading it. The authors merge decades of academic insights and their own practical experience to offer a guide to crafting a communications strategy.

5)   Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller . When a book is too popular, I have the tendency to avoid it but I must admit that I regret my decision to postpone reading this book. Many of the concepts that I spent so much time to craft for my work are already framed comprehensively at this book. I wish I had this guide with me much earlier.

6)   Obsessed by Emily Heyward . I was introduced to the book through our Marketing Book Club on LinkedIn . Emily Heyward takes you behind the scenes of the creation of some of today's hottest new brands, sharing very nice insights. I love it because the cases are fresh, it’s written by an expert that lives in the marketing world every day. Now that I am in NYC, I really hope to meet her one day for coffee in Brooklyn. :)

7)   Fatoş Anneannenin Seyahatnamesi by Fatma Eraslan . This is my number one book for 2022 and will be my #1 for all the years ahead unless she writes another book. My mom wrote this book while we were stuck together for 4 months in our summer house during Covid. She travelled around the world as an agricultural engineer. This is not a travel book, this is a book where she shares different anecdotes, interesting stories from every trip. (Book is in Turkish only)

8)   Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman . I did lots of reflections while reading this book. It rejects the modern fixation on getting everything done, questioning many of the concepts we hear as an advice from popular personal development gurus. Highly suggest. 

9)   The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists by Richard Rumelt . I bought this book as Paul Lewis suggested it (follow him if you are into brands, strategy and books). It’s the best strategy book that I’ve read in 2022. Just an fyi, I read 3 more strategy books this year and they are not on this list. He mentions that leaders become effective strategists when they focus on challenges rather than goals.

 10) The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . The book offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and so on. I generally read 2-3 of them before going to bed. Was a bliss right before sleep.

Happy Holidays, Itir