Here it is! My Top Books of 2022 List!

The end of a year, and the beginning of a new one is a great time to reflect and take inventory of different things in your life. For me, it’s a non-negotiable to pause, look back at what I’ve accomplished, and set goals for the future. I don’t just do this in the books I’ve read, but in every part of my life. I spend a lot of time in reflection in December & January. Hence why this post is getting out in February…so much reflection going on. 

This reflection and inventory practice can be valuable on a daily basis too. It’s my goal to take daily inventory and reconcile each day with a notes app and/or talking with my wife each night. I love our chats on the couch at night, sometimes for hours, with no tv or phones to distract us. We talk out our day and life with each other. This is a habit I’ve loved creating.  

About 8 years ago or so, I developed a reading habit before bed. I still have this habit and I read in bed for 10-15 minutes every night. It puts me to sleep like a Mike Tyson uppercut. It was this habit that started my Top Books list. If you’d like to check out prior top books lists you can visit my blog, tonyfrezza.com. 

I’ve written in previous years how THIS would be the year that I publish my own book. Well THIS, 2023, is the year I want to publish a national bestseller. I know that’s a big goal, and I also know to make that happen I will need YOUR help, yes YOU. If you’ve found value in my writings over the years I know this book will blow you away. I’ve spent almost 3 years writing it and can’t wait to share it with you. It’s about all the lessons my son on the autism spectrum taught me and how my mind has completely transformed in the process. I want to give that transformation of mindset to you! More updates to come via our email list of when the book will be published. 

Spoiler Alert: It’s going to be my top book for 2023 🙂 Telling you that right now!

So here is THE List, my Top 10 Books of 2022. 

10. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change By Stephen R. Covey

This book is #1 on a lot of lists, and for good reason. It’s only #10 here because I’ve read it before and many people have also. It’s not new, it’s over 30 years old, but the principles are still spot on for today’s world. I love the principles and I forgot how personal this book is too. It inspired me to continue writing my book using personal experiences to help create life principles others could follow. This part from the book gave me chills because it aligns so much with my experience with my son and my book. Covey writes, “Instead of trying to change him, we tried to stand apart—to separate us from him—and to sense his identity, individuality, separateness, and worth. Through deep thought and the exercise of faith and prayer, we began to see our son in terms of his own uniqueness. We saw within him layers and layers of potential that would be realized at his own pace and speed. We decided to relax and get out of his way and let his own personality emerge. We saw our natural role as being to affirm, enjoy, and value him. My experience with my son, my study of perception and my reading of the success literature coalesced to create one of those “Aha!” experiences in life when suddenly things click into place.” If you’ve never read this book, make it one of your next reads!

9. Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork By Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

This book was a recommendation from a gym owner’s summit we went to in Nashville, TN. Many gym owners set out to create a great business, but really create a big job or hobby for themselves. They take their work ethic and can-do-attitude they’ve used in fitness, to business, and think they can/need to do everything themselves. I’m very guilty of this. This book will show you how real growth happens with not how you go about doing something, but who is on your team for the ride. From the book: “If you are like most people, the first thing you do when you imagine a bigger future is ask yourself: ‘How do I achieve this goal?’ Although this question seems intuitive, it’s actually the worst possible question you could ask (assuming you want to be happy and successful)…We’re taught from a young age that we need to do everything ourselves. We’re taught that getting help from others is ‘cheating,’ and something we absolutely shouldn’t do. But what if you asked a different question?” Through this book, and book #3 on this list, I’ve realized how poorly school prepares us for the real world and how necessary collaborating with others is to build businesses and provide jobs for others. I have to ask WHO can help me with my business and book? 🙂  

8. Good Leaders Ask Great Questions: Your Foundation for Successful Leadership By John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell deserves a spot on my Top Books list every year. Somehow I didn’t read a book of his in 2021, but I’m looking forward to picking up many more of his in the future. He has a ton of books on leadership. Connected to the previous book, “Who Not How”, this book shows us how to be curious leaders and humble ourselves. Maxwell writes, “It took time for me to become mature enough to say, ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I need your help’.” He also says, “If you begin a task with certainties, you will probably end in doubts. But if you are willing to begin with doubts, you will likely end in certainties.” I like this idea for real collaboration within our team and using all the brains on our team to see many different things, rather than many brains trying to see one thing. 

7. The Everyday Hero Manifesto: Activate Your Positivity, Maximize Your Productivity, Serve The World By Robin Sharma

This book has 100 chapters! No it’s not as big as The Bible. It just has really small chapters. Which is great if you want to read this book as a daily devotional. I read about 3-4 chapters every time I picked up this book which was a great way to dose the information over a longer period of time. I would recommend you do the same with this book. Get it and use it every morning to help inspire your day. If you want to start a morning reading habit, and you’d like to work on your spiritual fitness, also get BOOK #2 on this list and read them both each morning.

6. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life By Donald Miller

This book has a really interesting premise. Donald Miller was talking with movie producers about getting his first bestseller “Blue Like Jazz” turned into a movie. Through that process about making a movie about his life, he realized how uninteresting the life he was living actually was. Miller writes, “I began to realize the stuff I spent money on indicated the stories I was living. By that I mean the stuff I spent money on was, in many ways, the sum of my ambitions. And those ambitions weren’t the stuff of good stories.” This book is inspiring for someone looking to write a really good life story. Also see Book #4 on this list from Donald Miller.

5. The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success By Ed Mylett

Ed has one of the best podcasts out there. If you’ve never listened to the Ed Mylett show, go check it out. I’ve followed Ed’s podcast for a long time and would buy any book he put out simply to support him for all the value he has given me. This book has a really powerful message that came from Ed’s dad’s journey in recovery from alcohol addiction. Ed asked his dad how long he would stay sober for, and Ed’s dad replied, “Just one more day.” That’s all he wanted to focus on, staying sober for one more day. That lesson taught Ed to always go for one more. Make one more phone call, write one more thank you note, do one more rep in the gym, work one more hour on a passion project. Whatever it was, Ed realized that “one mores” add up to huge changes over time. Go listen to the episode of Ed’s podcast from June 2, 2022, “The speech that changed thousands of lives!” It’s incredible and is basically this book in one amazing speech. 

4. Hero on a Mission: A Path To a Meaningful Life By Donald Miller

Donald continues a theme from Book #6 on this list, in that he wants to help you create an awesome life story. I have gone through Conscious Leadership Coaching via the Conscious Leadership Group, an awesome experience by the way, and this book takes their hero, victim, villain framework and adds “the guide” to it. Creating awareness around which character you are playing in your life is extremely valuable. You may play different characters in different situations, and have played different characters in different seasons of your life. We all do. I love that this book includes questions for the reader to answer and a daily planner to fill out to make sure you are living your mission. Putting this book into action will exponentially make this book more valuable to you. Don’t just read it, but make it an active part of your life journey.

3. Why ‘A’ Students Work for ‘C’ Students and ‘B’ Students Work for the Government: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Education for Parents by Robert Kiyosaki

This book could have been #1 if it didn’t repeat itself so much, it is that good. This book isn’t just for homeschool parents like myself, I think all parents can appreciate it. Kiyosaki said he wrote this book for parents so that they could educate their children about life and financial literacy which is completely absent from schools. This book could honestly change the financial legacy of your family. It ranks up there with his most famous book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Kiyosaki writes, “Every child has a genius. Unfortunately, their genius may not be recognized by the educational system. Their genius may even be crushed. Genius is an acronym for “Geni-in-us” – the genie or magician in each of us. Protecting and nurturing the genius in your child is a parent’s most important job.” You will definitely see that quote in my new book. Love it. 

2. The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? By Rick Warren

My wife and I read this book as a daily devotional to start 2022. Each day we read a chapter and held each other accountable. My favorite part was sitting on the couch each night with her talking about what the message meant to us. What a way to create conversation and bring God further into our marriage. It was a special 42 days going through this book that I cherish very much. I would love to do this again with her soon. This is a faith based book by Pastor Rick Warren so Christians will appreciate it more than other religious backgrounds. If you want to grow closer to God, and possibly grow closer to a reading buddy too, go get this book. 

1. Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect By Will Guidara

No book has stuck in my brain, and affected my life greater than this one. Will Guidara is the former owner of Eleven Madison Park, once rated the greatest restaurant in the world. Will chronicles this journey to become voted #1 and it’s so cool to learn his story. I enjoyed the story about his business-owner journey just as much as the lessons I learned about hospitality. This book is a MUST for anyone who serves others in any capacity. If you can’t wait to pick up this book and want to know what Will is all about, go listen to the “A Bit of Optimism” podcast with Simon Sinek, Episode 55 with Will from Oct 18, 2022. We got this book for our entire team at FitTown…and hope one day people will rate us #1 in the world. 

There are so many good books that didn’t make the Top 10 but are in the list below. Thank you to everyone who gave me a recommendation or gifted me one of these books. If you have any questions on the books I’ve read feel free to shoot me a message. I read 28 books total in 2022. Which brings my 6 year total to 195 books. 

Hardcover (16):

Why ‘A’ Students Work for ‘C’ Students and ‘B’ Students Work for the Government: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Education for Parents by Robert Kiyosaki

The End of Mental Illness: How Neuroscience Is Transforming Psychiatry and Helping Prevent or Reverse Mood and Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, Addictions, PTSD, Psychosis, Personality Disorders, and More By Daniel G. Amen, MD

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know By Adam Grant

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative By Austin Kleon

Hero on a Mission: A Path To a Meaningful Life By Donald Miller

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life By Donald Miller

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? By Rick Warren

The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success By Ed Mylett

The Everyday Hero Manifesto: Activate Your Positivity, Maximize Your Productivity, Serve The World By Robin Sharma

Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It By Bob Goff

The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face by Patrick M. Morley

Complete Guide To Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting By Jimmy Moore and Jason Fung, MD

The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives By Dallas Willard

Published: The Proven Path From Blank Page To 10,000 Copies Sold By Chandler Bolt

More Than Just The Catch: A True story of Courage, Hope, and Achieving the Impossible By David Tyree

When Heaven Invades Earth: A Practical Guide to a Life of Miracles By Bill Johnson

Kindle (10):

The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life By Todd Herman

Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (The Stoic Virtues Series) By Ryan Holiday

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change By Stephen R. Covey

High-Ticket For Affiliate Gyms: How To Make An Extra $100,000 This Year By Creating And Selling A Bolt-On Transformation Program By Scott Carpenter

Kids Beyond Limits: The Anat Baniel Method for Awakening the Brain and Transforming the Life of Your Child With Special Needs By Anat Baniel

Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork By Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be By Mark Batterson

Good Leaders Ask Great Questions: Your Foundation for Successful Leadership By John C. Maxwell

The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life By Rick Warren, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman

The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World By Peter Scazzero

Audiobook: (2)

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More than They Expect By Will Guidara

Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick