When I try to think why I read so (relatively) little this year, I assume (just like I assumed in 2020) it’s because I didn’t have a commute. (And not just for most of the year, but ALL of the year!) So watching TV became more the default, and reading became more of a ‘going to sleep’ activity. That said, when I started thinking about this post late in the year, and looked at what I’d read, I pushed myself to knock off a few more so I could at least get to a nice, round number that looks intentional. So, without further ado, the TWENTY books I read in 2021. (And for what it’s worth, it may have been the weight of the times, but a number of them made me cry! So maybe it was a good year reading-wise in terms of QUALITY!)
- I Remember Nothing, and other reflections, Nora Ephron
- I Don’t Seem So Bright In a Well-Lit Room, Sean Browning
- Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman
- You Shall Know Our Velocity!, Dave Eggers
- Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely
- We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates
- Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film, Patton Oswalt
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon
- Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Peter Biskind
- Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, Christie Tate
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab
- The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John
- Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funnier People Be Funnier, Alan Zweibel
- Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up & Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz
- Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam
- Uncanny Valley, Anna Wiener
- Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Maria Konnikova
- The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth: Book One), N.K. Jemisin
- Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
- Hamnet & Judith, Maggie O’Farrell