The Books I Read in 2021

What was great, and what was a waste of time

Photo by Chris Benson on Unsplash

I didn’t read as much this year as I have in previous years. I typically read, on average, one book per month. I only got to seven books this year, and the vast majority of those were duds.

I blame Covid for my lack of reading this year. After 2020 sentenced us to perpetual solitude, this year made me want to do anything but sit around on my tuchus.

I try and alternate my reading selection between fiction and non-fiction. I like to learn for a while, and then escape for a little while. I’m also a big Stephen King fan, though this year notable for being the first year in many that I didn’t pick up a single Stephen King novel (or collection of novellas). I’ll probably correct that as my first book of 2022.

Without further ado:

The good

These are the books I wouldn’t be against picking up again one day and re-reading them.

• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson: Best book of the year! There are a few topics I’m just not too terribly interested in, and he goes over those topics ad nauseum (like taxonomy… snoozefest!). The biggest take-away from this book is this: most of the knowledge we have today is VERY young — much of it less than 100 years. On top of that…