The 2021 ‘short list’ (by my standards)

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!)

  1. I Remember Nothing, and other reflections, Nora Ephron
  2. I Don’t Seem So Bright In a Well-Lit Room, Sean Browning
  3. Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman
  4. You Shall Know Our Velocity!, Dave Eggers
  5. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely
  6. We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates
  7. Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film, Patton Oswalt
  8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon
  9. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Peter Biskind
  10. Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, Christie Tate
  11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab
  12. The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John
  13. Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funnier People Be Funnier, Alan Zweibel
  14. Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up & Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz
  15. Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam
  16. Uncanny Valley, Anna Wiener
  17. Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, Maria Konnikova
  18. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth: Book One), N.K. Jemisin
  19. Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
  20. Hamnet & Judith, Maggie O’Farrell

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