2021 Book Rundown

Book List 2021

It’s time for the annual book roundup. Here are most of the books I read in 2021, the ones I loved, the ones that entertained and the ones you can probably skip. Here’s the rundown of the rankings. A five-star book: is a must-read/life-changing. Four-stars is worth the time, enjoyable and enriching. Three stars, is overall positive, relatively unremarkable, read if you’re bored.  Two stars: will not change your life, some merits sprinkled around, valuable for the color of the book so I can color coordinate my shelves. One star, not worth your time or space on your shelf. Tell me your favorite book you read this year and I’ll add to my to-read list for next year! Within each category the books are in no particular order. All books are linked so you can get more info!

Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  1. In Praise of Risk by Anne Duforumantle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  2. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  3. Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
  4. Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  5. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  6. Ways of Seeing by John Berger ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐
  7. House Girl by Tara Conklin ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
  8. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  9. Caste By Isabel Wilkerson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  10. Uprooted by Grace Olmstead ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  11. White Fragility by Robin Diangelo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Four ⭐⭐⭐⭐

  1. Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  2. Such a Fun Age Kiley Reid ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  3. A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  4. Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lemke ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  5. The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  6. Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  7. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  8. If It Bleeds Stephen King ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  9. Love Walked Among Us by Paul E. Miller ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  10. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Three ⭐⭐⭐

  1. To Hell With the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke ⭐⭐⭐
  2. Try Softer by Aundi Kobler ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  3. Love People Use Things by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  4. Becoming by Michelle Obama ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  5. The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 
  6. Beautiful World Where You Are by Sally Rooney ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  7. Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  8. Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  9. Out of Many One by George W. Bush ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  10. Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
  11. Cultish by Amanda Montell ⭐⭐ ⭐
  12. Nothing the Same Everything Haunted by Gary Barwin ⭐⭐ ⭐
  13. This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousins ⭐⭐ ⭐
  14. The Second Mountain by David Brooks ⭐⭐⭐
  15. Out of the Shadows by Emily Midorikawa ⭐⭐ ⭐
  16. In Defense of Elitism by Joel Stein ⭐⭐ ⭐
  17. Hell Shit Damn 9 Nasty Words  by John McWhorter ⭐⭐ ⭐
  18. American Gods by Neil Gaiman ⭐⭐⭐
  19. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum ⭐⭐⭐
  20. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss ⭐⭐⭐
  21. Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty ⭐⭐⭐
  22. The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher⭐⭐⭐
  23. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey ⭐⭐⭐
  24. New Women in the Old West by Winifred Gallagher ⭐⭐⭐

Two ⭐⭐

  1. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry ⭐ ⭐
  2. Atomic Habits by James Clear ⭐ ⭐
  3. Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra Jonas ⭐ ⭐
  4. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein ⭐ ⭐
  5. Everything I Have is Yours by Eleanor Henderson ⭐ ⭐
  6. We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange ⭐ ⭐
  7. Mystery by Jonah Lehrer ⭐ ⭐
  8. What About the Baby by Alice McDermott ⭐ ⭐
  9. Mergers and Acquisitions by Cate Doty ⭐ ⭐
  10. Year Book by Seth Rogan ⭐⭐
  11. Quantum Life Hakeem Oluseyi ⭐⭐
  12. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner ⭐⭐
  13. The River of a Consciousness by Oliver Sacks ⭐⭐
  14. Hooked by Michael Moss ⭐ ⭐
  15. A Promised Land by Barack Obama ⭐⭐
  16. The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas ⭐⭐
  17. One Of the Boys by Daniel Magariel ⭐⭐
  18. Architectural Body by Madeline Gins & Arakawa⭐⭐
  19. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi ⭐⭐
  20. The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner ⭐⭐
  21. The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie ⭐⭐

One ⭐

  1. This Will All Be Over Soon by Cecily Strong ⭐
  2. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong ⭐
  3. With or Without You by Domenica Ruta ⭐
  4. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport ⭐
  5. Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison ⭐
  6. Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor ⭐
  7. Untamed by Glennon Doyle ⭐
  8. The Greatest Love Story of All Time Megan Mullally & Nick Offerman ⭐

Keep in mind, all of these are just my opinions. I’m sure I was (as we all are) heavily influenced by the seasons in my own life as well as the previous books I read when rating these. Take it all with a grain of salt, stay sweet my friends! Drop a comment and tell me what I should read next!

 

 

Comments

  1. Reply

    SHOCKED by the rating on Digital Minimalism and Atomic Habits! Those were some of my all-time fabs. But I get it, how reading in certain seasons changes our view of books!

    1. Author
      Reply

      Haha! I’m sorry Sarah. I felt like Atomic habits was really privileged and came from a lot of male oriented assumptions. Digital minimalism just didn’t resonate/seemed untenable. But like I said, surely a phase of life/state of mind thing! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  2. Reply

    You are the only other person I know of who rated Untamed so low 😆. It came highly recommended and I was SO unimpressed

    1. Author
      Reply

      It was so highly rated. Sometimes I think we conflate vulnerability with truth or value. It was a courageous book, but it wasn’t for me.

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