Five Books I Loved in 2021 | July to December
I’m sitting down this week and polishing my 2022 master reading list, where I share all the books that I intend to read in the year, most of which are filling prompts in a number of reading challenges I participate in. Ever the list maker, these really are my favorite posts to write. One, because they are about books, and two, because I love to be ultra-organized and plan out things in advance so that I have one less thing to overthink or obsess about in the future.
I have a confession for you. I still haven’t finished 2021’s reading list. I have about twenty more books that I’m working my way through or am waiting for them to become available at my local library. (Darn those holds.) I normally read about two hundred books a year. This year, I’m just over one hundred fifty. I know, I know. That’s ridiculous to shame myself for only reading that many books, but my schedule has kept me from keeping as much of a rotating stack on my nightstand. All is well, though. I will finish my 2021 TBR list in a few weeks’ time and will get on with the new one.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a few of my favorites from the second half of this year. (If you missed the first half, you can see that list here.) These are books that kept coming back to me, long after I finished them. There are three memoirs - yes, it was a great season for those. There is also a novel that was calling my name from the moment it was published two years ago, as well as a true story that reads like fiction… or horror. I can only hope that the new year holds as many page-turning books as this one.
When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough: A Shooting Survivor’s Journey Into the Realities of Gun Violence by Taylor S. Schumann
I first heard Taylor’s story several years ago through a mutual friend and immediately connected with her on Instagram. When I heard that she was publishing a book, I knew that so many lives were going to be touched by her writing. So much research went into this book and Taylor shares a lot of common sense ways that we can decrease the number of gun violence deaths and injuries, but does so in a way that is inclusive to people on all sides of the gun debate.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
If you want to travel the world and eat all the food, but can’t afford to or don’t want to during a pandemic, you must read this book. Tucci is in a relationship with food, specifically Italian food. And who can blame him? This foodie absolutely loved hearing about all the delicious things he’s eaten and experienced in his life and I think I gained ten pounds, just reading this book. But, oh, was it worth it. In addition to a stack of recipes that I want to prepare for my loved ones, I also have a list of little towns and restaurants that I want to visit, if I ever get the chance to travel to Italy.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
I don’t normally enjoy novels that focus on a love story, but this one stood out for so many reasons. It’s the 1950s in Tehran, and a young couple who has fallen in love, by way of a stationery shop, is torn apart by political unrest. When her love disappears, Roya decides to move on with her life, eventually moving to the United States and marrying another man. This book is a study in patience, forgiveness, and knowing that what is meant for you will come back around, no matter how long it takes. Kamali’s writing is beautiful and I fell right into this novel from the first page.
Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
Yep, another food memoir, but this one tells the story from inside the restaurant industry and what it takes to get from the position of a dishwasher or gardener to executive chef. Marcus Samuelsson is one of my favorite chefs/food television personalities and reading his biography was a joy. It is such an inspiration to see how hard he worked to climb to the top of the ladder and it was really cool to better understand the Swedish and Ethiopian cultures in which he grew up.
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
This book freaked me the hell out. It’s about the Galvin children, six of the ten boys eventually diagnosed with a serious mental illness, from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia. You learn about some of the bizarre and outright horrific behavior that some of the boys were accused of, like torturing stray animals, and it raises the question of whether mental illness is influenced by nurture and not just nature. I could not put this book down, and to this day, I still think about it. It was such an interesting study in psychology in the mid-20th century and how far we’ve come since then.
If you are interested in reading my full reviews of each of these books, visit my Goodreads page.
