top ten - 2022

ranking a year of reading, watching, and listening

I’ve spent this year sharing with you all what I’ve been reading, watching, and listening to each week. I’ve enjoyed the many responses to these lists as folks listen to Caamp or watch Ramy because they saw it in my newsletter.

Every year I like to look back and rank the shows I’ve watched, music I’ve listened to, and books I’ve read. This process is less about finding what was the best and more about remembering all of these moments over the past year.

Below you’ll find the books, articles, albums, and shows/movies that have most impacted and interested me this year:

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Books:

1. This Sacred Life: Humanity’s Place in a Wounded World by Norman Wirzba

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

   Read my review of Jamie Smith’s book here.

3. Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism by Jonathan Tran

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

5. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmer

6. Kenosis: The Self-Emptying of Christ in Scripture and Theology by Paul Nimmo, Keith Johnson (eds).

7. Convinced in Doubt: Religion and Politics in the New American Nation by Amanda Porterfield

8. Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American by Wajahat Ali

   read my conversation with Waj here.

9. Race for Revival: How Cold War South Korea Shaped the American Evangelical Empire by Helen Jin Kim

10. The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Gosh

Articles:

1. “Festival of Lights: Diwali in the Light of Jesus,” by Ashish Varma (CAAC)

2. “God Has Heard,” by Joshua Bombino and Chelsea Langston Bombino (Breaking Ground)

3. “My Dad Died, and Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” Helped Me Heal,” by Shreya Ramachandran (CAAC)

4. “Who Do You Say that I Am? Protecting personhood in a newly dehumanizing era,” by Anne Snyder (Comment)

5. “Are You Sure You’re Not Guilty of the ‘Millennial Pause’?,” by Kate Lindsay (The Atlantic)

6. “Daddy Issues,” by Yanan Melo (Sacred Sonder)

7. “Glimpses of Family 10020,” by John Inazu (Some Assembly Required)

8. “Evangelical Elites,” by Michael and Melissa Wear (Reclaiming Hope)

9. “Compline & Confusion in a Manhattan Hospital,” by Rachel Rim (Ekstasis)

10. “When Privileged Students Protest,” by Eboo Patel (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Albums:

1. Five Seconds Flat —Lizzy McAlpine

2. Twelve Carat Toothache — Post Malone

3. Lavender Days — Caamp

4. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers — Kendrick Lamar

5. Harry’s House — Harry Styles

6. The Off-Season — J. Cole

7. Special — Lizzo

8. Paaglait — Arijit Singh

9. NOT TiGHT — DOMi & JD Beck

10. Imagination & the Misfit Kid — Labrinth

Movies/TV:

1. Never Have I Ever (Netflix)

2. Euphoria (HBO Max)

3. Better Call Saul (AMC)

4. Peaky Blinders (Netflix)

5. Rings of Power (Amazon Prime)

6. House of the Dragon (HBO Max)

7. Malignant

8. Ramy (Hulu)

9. White Lotus (HBO Max)

10. Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)