Tis The Season To Be Reading: 18 of The Best 2022 Books For You
Some of the best nonfiction offerings of 2022 by authors identifying as women and writing on issues and news related to women in the workplace.
If you’re like me, and have a pile of books you are aiming to complete before the end of the year yet are still craving to know what is new and not to be missed, this list is for you. This is also a list for amazing gifts for the friends and colleagues in your life hungry for the best and brightest in nonfiction written by women who tackle workplace issues, personal struggles, strategies and insights to being your best self.
(Note: Each book title has an Amazon Affiliate hyperlink and a percentage of proceeds from the book sale benefit Take The Lead.)
“This is a list for amazing gifts for the friends and colleagues in your life hungry for the best and brightest in #nonfiction written by #women who tackle #workplace issues, personal struggles, strategies and insights to being your best self. #bestbooks”
1. Rachel Aviv, Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us. “The stories we tell become the world we live in,” is a mantra of The OpEd Project and could also be an opening line in this nonfiction book addressing the impact the stories the author told herself about her mental health struggles, as well as the stories of others. Together they serve as a roadmap for understanding our own personal histories as well as opening the door to compassion for others.
2. Marva Bailer, Be Unexpected: Resetting Routines to Revolutionize the Future of Work. The author, tech leader and breast cancer survivor spoke at Take The Lead’s PowerUp Conference in 2022. In this book, she deconstructs practices from meetings to phone calls to conference presentations and makes recommendations on adding new creative energy to every encounter. Read more on Marva Bailer in Take The Lead.
“@MarvaBailer, “Be Unexpected: Resetting Routines to Revolutionize the Future of Work.” The author, tech leader and breast cancer survivor spoke at @Takeleadwomen #PowerUp Conference in 2022. #womenleaders #bestreads”
3. Elizabeth Borelli, Breathe Into Breakthrough: An Easy and Proven Process for Shifting Mindset, Overcoming Obstacles, and Achieving Your Goals. Addressing the audience at Take The Lead’s PowerUp Conference in September, ICF certified coach in Applied Neuroscience for Anxiety, and RYT Certified Breathwork teacher, Borelli offers specific and proven exercises to regain control and calm during stressful phases and moments. She offers new pathways to restructure purpose and positivity with these anywhere, anytime approaches. Read more on Elizabeth Boreli in Take The Lead.
“In, “Breathe Into Breakthrough: An Easy and Proven Process for Shifting Mindset, Overcoming Obstacles, and Achieving Your Goals,” Elizabeth Borelli offers specific and proven exercises to regain control and calm during stressful phases and moments. #mindfullness #2022books”
4. Michelle Gladieux, Communicate with Courage: Taking Risks to Overcome the Four Hidden Challenges. Communication is not just a key, sometimes it is the only way to solve a problem or move ahead. The author, a communication coach, explains the blocks to key communication including: Hiding, or fear of exposing our supposed weaknesses; Defining: putting too much stock into our assumptions, being quick to judge; Rationalizing: leaning on pessimism to shield ourselves from taking chances, engaging in conflict, or doing other scary but potentially rewarding actions; and Settling: stopping at “good enough” instead of aiming for something better in interactions. Gladieux doesn’t just name the problems, she offers steps to solve these career blockades.
5. Carla Harris, Lead to Win: How to Be a Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader in Any Environment. Longtime ally with Take The Lead and recipient of the 2022 Leading Woman award, Harris, who is a senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, author, acclaimed singer and leadership icon, writes about the skills needed to rise in a career and life with advice on partnerships delivering outcomes. Her eight principles to manifest intention are authenticity, building trust, creating other leaders, clarity, diversity, innovation, inclusivity, and voice. Read more about Carla Harris at Take The Lead.
“@Carlaannharris, “Lead to Win: How to Be a Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader in Any Environment.” Longtime ally with @Takeleadwomen and recipient of the 2022 Leading Woman award, Harris writes about the skills needed to rise in a #career and #life with #advice on partnerships delivering outcomes. ”
6. Anita Hill, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence. Thirty-one years after she testified against Clarence Thomas in the confirmation proceedings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, professor and advocate Hill is still fighting for gender fairness, equality and the erasure of violence against women in all arenas. Her book covers the struggles, challenges, compromises and victories over three decades and asserts what more can be done in a well-researched and deeply moving account of the imbalance of power in American culture. Read more on Anita Hill in Take The Lead.
7. Tara Jaye Frank, The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence. Examining the dimensions of difference assures you that having power is simpler than you might think, writes Tara Jaye Frank, equity expert, author and keynote at the recent PowerUp conference. “Every person needs to be seen, respected, valued and protected. Inclusion is not about being nice, it’s about being respected.” Jaye Frank makes her case for authentic equity in workplaces with stories, strategies, data and insights from deep research and experience. She offers steps and ways to recognize and see paths ahead for real change. Read more about Tara Jaye Frank in Take The Lead.
“In “The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence,” @TaraJFrank makes her case for authentic #equity in #workplaces with stories, strategies, data and insights from deep research and experience. #bookrecs #bestreads”
8. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, She Said: Breaking The Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite A Movement. The pair of journalists won a Pulitzer Prize for their work in the New York Times, that is now encapsulated into this account of their dogged pursuit of the truth about Hollywood predator Harvey Weinstein. Their relentless chase opened the floodgates of stories of abuse, harassment and rape that had been the norm in some Hollywood circles of power. This book, now a movie, is about how they kept pushing forward and why their work to break the silence of women harmed by a legacy of keeping quiet changed not just this industry, but the world.
9. Vicki Larson, Not Too Old for That: How Women Are Changing the Story of Aging. Journalist, truth teller and advocate for anti-ageism, Larson intends to change the narrative about older women in current culture and succeeds in shining the searchlights on habits, stereotypes and tropes that erase half the population once they reach 50. By questioning the accuracy and the origins of aging myths—for women—Larson shows how it possible to be creative in recreating a second act that is unlimited by societal expectations.
“@OMGchronicles, “Not Too Old for That: How Women Are Changing the Story of Aging.” Journalist, truth teller and advocate for #antiageism, Larson intends to change the narrative about older women in current culture. #aging #booksforwomen”
10. Elizabeth Leiba, I'm Not Yelling: A Black Woman’s Guide To Navigating The Workplace. Black women are doused with the expectations and labeling of being angry when they are successful, forced to respond to racist and sexist accusations fueled by bias and discrimination. Uncovering the narratives in the system is one step, but Leiba offers strategies and recommendations to disarm the bias and succeed.
“Elizabeth Leiba, “I’m Not Yelling: A Black Woman’s Guide To Navigating The Workplace.” Uncovering the narratives in the system is one step, but Leiba offers strategies and recommendations to disarm the #bias and succeed. #nonfiction #blackauthors”
11. Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber, MD, The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk. Intending to spark a movement of gender-focused investing, the authors put forth a case that women’s leadership from local to global can address not just the economy but also climate change and the future of the planet. Citing the latest data, research and examples of women in top leadership positions, the authors maintain that women can address and solve enormous global issues concerning the environment and the future of the planet. 100 percent of the proceeds from the book will go to The Women of the World Endowment and the Tara Health Foundation.
“In, “The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk,” authors @PatienceMaBall and @RuthShaber, MD, put forth a case that #women’s #leadership from local to global can address not just the economy but also #climatechange and the future of the planet. ”
12. Michele Obama, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times. The former First Lady delivers an insightful and honest examination of the possibility of approaching realtionships, community, work and purpose with integrity and positivity when it all seems too much. Acknowledging the chaos and uncertainty of the times, she bears witness to ways to be our best selves with conviction and truth.
13. Sheila Ohlsson Walker and Jim Loehr, Wise Decisions. The authors dissect what goes into making good business decisions and why, and how everyone can become their own decision advisor. The key characteristics of good decision making involve value, purpose and truth. Loehr, a performance psychologist, and Ohlsson Walker, a behavioral geneticist, tackle the path to potential and how an individual’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health inform every diecison in life form the smallest to the largest. The authors outline “the process of rising above the demands and stresses of the moment, in order to make decisions that are grounded in transcendent values, core beliefs, and high ethical standards.”
“@DrSheilaOWalker and Jim Loehr, “Wise Decisions.” The authors dissect what goes into making good business decisions and why, and how everyone can become their own decision advisor. #decisionmaking #bestnonfiction”
14. April Ryan, Black Women Will Save The World: An Anthem. The CNN analyst and author shares her insights on successful Black women from her life and her work, observing decades of leaders and influencers as one of the most prominent journalists in the world covering the White House. “I always want my daughter to see women who look like us to imagine a future for herself and show her what she can do,” says Ryan, who has been the only Black woman to cover the White House consistently since President Bill Clinton was in office. Read more about April Ryan in Take The Lead here.
15. Laurie Segall, Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech’s Titans and Misfits, A Memoir. A former editor at CNN and “60 Minutes,” journalist Seagall is the founder and executive producer of Dot Dot Dot Media, and in this memoir she deftly uncovers the world of fast tech in the boom days of 2008 and later. By weaving the stories of her coverage of newly emerging moguls with her own life and learnings, Segall makes transparent what it was like to be a young female journalist at the center of a transforming tech scene that was changing the world.
16. Margaret Sullivan, Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from An Ink-Stained Life. The first woman public editor at the New York Times, Sullivan worked her way to the top of media criticism where she was a must-read columnist for the Washington Post, and as a deeply respected editor-in-chief for decades at Buffalo News. With great wit and sometimes self-deprecation, Sullivan pulls back the curtain so readers can peak into the newsrooms and offices of legacy media where decisions are made that can change history and the world, just by what story is told. She is ultimately an unapologetic crusader for telling the whole truth and for mandating that the journalists entrusted with reporting the stories of every day be about integrity, ethics and transparency. Weaving in her own life anecdotes helps to put her positions in perspective.
17. Linda Villarosa, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes an exceptional reporter to raise the questions and report the stories on the racism affecting America and the health of all its residents. Villarosa compounds her reporting with her personal insights and discoveries of how systems betray BIPOC and how everyone’s life depends on those systems. She makes a fervent case for equality, access and equity and demands that infrastructure be the remedy, not the cause of so many problems.
“In “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation,” author @Lindavillarosa makes a fervent case for equality, access and #equity and demands that infrastructure be the remedy, not the cause of so many problems. #bestreads #bestnonfiction”
18. Aileen Weintraub, Knocked Down: A High Risk Memoir. Sometimes we just need to absorb the details of a brave woman’s honest story to learn about resilience and risk plus strategies coping with difficult truths. The book description reads, “A laugh-out-loud memoir about a free-spirited, commitment-phobic Brooklyn girl who, after a whirlwind romance, finds herself living in a rickety farmhouse, pregnant, and faced with five months of doctor-prescribed bed rest because of unusually large fibroids. “ Weintraub explores health, parenting, realtionships, history and more, giving readers a chance to see how they might cope when faced with more or less.
Take The Lead Leadership Tip of The Week:
“Every person needs to be seen, respected, valued and protected. Inclusion is not about being nice, it’s about being respected.”—Tara Jaye Frank, author, The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence
