2021: A Year in books

2021: My Year in Reading, Told Chronologically

1.     Circe by Madeline Miller. Oh how I love a challenging female lead, especially as rendered by Miller.

2.     Running Home by Katie Arnold. I love great books about running almost as I love running and writing books. Arnold’s memoir is a stunner.

3.     Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Incredibly sense-rich. Gorgeous and heart-breaking, which is generally my favorite combination.

4.     The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan. Potato chip-style page-turner. How’d I eat the whole bag already?

5.     What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. I run and I write. That is to say, I share things in common with Haruki Murakami!

6.     Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. Evocative naturalist writing. This book may have ignited my recent obsession with the earth’s poles.

7.     Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Each anecdote made me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously.

8.     Weather by Jenny Offill.

9.     Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi. Whoa.

10.  We’re All Adults Here by Emma Straub.

11.  Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis. If my kids recommend books, I read them. They are always right. I don’t suggest doing what I did: reading this YA novel while alone in a remote wilderness cabin. Or maybe I do. Who needs sleep?

12.  Killers Of The Flower Moon by David Grann. This book made me angry, because this predatory, violent and systemic theft actually happened. And because I’d no idea about it before reading.

13.  Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. Great page-turner. Also British.

14.  Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig. A helpful, accessible and practicable literary craft book.

15.  A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet. Dark and haunting. Really so good.

16.  If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin.

17.  The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. This novel swept me away from paragraph one. Gorgeous.

18.  This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. A touching and modern motherhood story.

19.  WOLFPACK by Abby Wambach. I’m a former soccer player and a mother of competitive soccer players. Wamback is truly one of the GOATs.

20.  The Tender Grave by Sheri Reynolds. Just bury yourself (pun intended) and don’t come up for air until you’re finished. You’ll thank me.

21.  Homebody by Rupi Kaur.

22.  Vox by Christina Dalcher.

23.  To The Greatest Heights by Vanessa O’Brien. I love this adventure-woman story.

24.  On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah.

25.  Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Swoon, amiright?

26.  The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Lovely, poignant and worth the TikTok hype.

27.  Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. My absolute favorite novel of 2021. Just read it and we’ll talk.

28.  Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty.

29.  Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole. I think this book is 40 years too late for me.

30.  Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon.

31.  Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic. Holy moly. This book grabbed me by the throat. Cancel your plans before cracking this one open.

32.  Know The Mother by Desiree Cooper. Detailede and often painfully on-point vignettes about motherhood.

33.  The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf. Lovely, sad and true.

34.  Roar by Stacy Sims. Valuable and practicable strength and nutrition information for female athletes.

35.  False Witness by Karin Slaughter. Want to ignore everything and everyone around you? Pick up this novel.

36.  Mrs. March by Virginia Feito.

37.  The Homespun Wisdom of Myrtle T. Cribb by Sheri Reynolds. Reynolds is a literary boss, and this book is warm and wonderful.

38.  Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. Yes, I’m invested in this series.

39.  The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec. Another daughter-recommended show-stopper of a read.

40.  The Dilemma by B.A. Paris. Satisfying page-turner with a beating heart.

41.  Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.

42.  The Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon.

43.  The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. Place is such a central character in this compelling novel.

44.  The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. Fun and twisty.