Our Most Popular Reading Lists of 2022

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Curating the best nonfiction stories on the web is at the heart of what we do. Investing in and publishing more reading lists over the past few years has been a great way to work with more authors, especially first-time contributors. This format gives writers the space to dig into their interests and to make connections between resonant pieces of writing they’ve discovered and enjoyed.

The 10 posts below are our most popular reading lists of the year. Among them, you’ll find recommended reads about hermits and Hollywood’s famous blondes, thoughtful compilations on blues music and wrongful conviction stories, and much more.

Reading lists are the backbone of Longreads, and we’ll continue to commission and publish them in 2023. If you think you’ve got a perfect idea for a list, please pitch us.

1. Stranger Things: A Reading List of Unsolved Mysteries (Lisa Bubert, June 2022)

Tales of odd phenomena stoke our imagination even as they tease us.

2. The Substance of Silence: A Reading List About Hermits (Chris Wheatley, September 2022)

Humans are social creatures, and loneliness can be debilitating — yet, many have discovered solace in the solitary life.

3. Ten Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2022 (Pravesh Bhardwaj, January 2022)

Longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj read and shared 276 short stories on the #longreads Twitter hashtag in 2021. Here are his favorites.

4. Analyzing the ‘Bimbo’: A Reading List on Hollywood Blondes (Sascha Cohen, March 2022)

The source of glamour, sex, and transgression? Or a carefully crafted persona? A closer look at the Hollywood blonde.

5. Becoming Human Again: A Reading List for the Extremely Offline (Lisa Bubert, March 2022)

Think it’s time to get off social media? Then this is the reading list for you.

6. The Excesses of Compassion: A Reading List on Fallen Gurus (Blair Glaser, August 2022)

Stories about spiritual teachers who lose their way.

7. Letting Go of The ’90s (Carolyn Wells, October 2022)

Remembering the Longreads series “The ’90s Are Old” by Rebecca Schuman.

8. Tomorrow Isn’t Over: A Reading List About Brighter Futures (Peter Hemminger, April 2022)

Hope may seem to be in short supply these days, but these stories dare to chart a course toward something better.

9. More Than a Feeling: A Blues Reading List (Chris Wheatley, July 2022)

A hundred years on from its birth, the music continues to speak to the heart — an art form that also serves as social commentary, communal history, and cathartic release.

10. How to Save True Crime: A Reading List of Wrongful Conviction Stories (Maurice Chammah, March 2022)

Stories about wrongful convictions open our eyes to systemic injustices in the U.S. court system. Maurice Chammah, a staff writer at The Marshall Project, compiles his recommended longreads within the genre.