Best Books of the Year
Menu

Before Columbus Foundation · award year

American Book Awards 2022

The 2022 American Book Awards went to Book of the Other: Small in Comparison by Truong Tran, Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner, Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood by Fatima Shaik, Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound by Daphne A. Brooks, Monkey Boy by Francisco Goldman, Mutiny by Phillip B. Williams, Quanundrum: [i will be your many angled thing] by Edwin Torres, Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman, Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie, Sound Recording Technology and American Literature by Jessica E. Teague, The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature by Esther G. Belin, Jeff Berglund, Connie A. Jacobs and Anthony K. Webster, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris, What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy and Yellow Rain by Mai Der Vang.

Winners

  1. Book of the Other: Small in Comparison by Truong Transource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zaunersource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood by Fatima Shaiksource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound by Daphne A. Brookssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Monkey Boy by Francisco Goldmansource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Mutiny by Phillip B. Williamssource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Quanundrum: [i will be your many angled thing] by Edwin Torressource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackermansource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodiesource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Sound Recording Technology and American Literature by Jessica E. Teaguesource (opens in a new tab)
  11. The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature by Esther G. Belin, Jeff Berglund, Connie A. Jacobs and Anthony K. Webstersource (opens in a new tab)
  12. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harrissource (opens in a new tab)
  13. What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancysource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Yellow Rain by Mai Der Vangsource (opens in a new tab)

About the American Book Awards

Every book the Before Columbus Foundation honored, 2006-2025. The award has no categories, nominees or shortlist, so every row is category Book, level Winner. Year is the announcement year. Sources are the Foundation's own press releases and programs (PDFs and images on beforecolumbusfoundation.com) for 2006, 2008-2014, 2016-2021 and 2024-2025. Fallback to Wikipedia's American Book Awards list for 2007 (the Foundation's poster names only the winners, matching Wikipedia's list), 2015, 2022 and 2023 (no Foundation release online; web.archive.org was unreachable). Lifetime achievement, editor/publisher, oral literature and anti-censorship honors for people, journals or presses are skipped. Walter & Lillian Lowenfels Criticism Awards and the 2021 Anti-Censorship Award are included when the release names a book (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025). Edited works list the work's author where the release names one (Jack Spicer, Bob Kaufman, Jean Racine, Lorenzo Thomas, Jose Antonio Burciaga); otherwise the editors. The 2019 Vollmann honor covers both volumes of Carbon Ideologies and is one row. Titles lightly normalized from the releases (typos such as Each Moth I Sing, Victor Lavalle and The Big Machine fixed).

Organization: Before Columbus Foundation. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

The most recommended books of 2022

Shares the most books with