Books I read in 2021

Here we are at the last day of 2021. It’s been a doozy of a year. Wishing you and your loved ones a calm, peaceful 2022.

Now for my favorite post of the year–a look back at what I read over the past 12 months. I read a total of 104 books! The full list is below, but I’ve picked my 21 favorites (16 fiction, 5 nonfiction) here. I always love to hear from other readers about their favorites, so feel free to share in the comments! Happy reading in 2022 🙂

My top 21 of 2021:

Fiction:
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The Dating Plan by Sara Desai
The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood
The Red Thread by Ann Hood
The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Vox by Christina Dalcher
This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
The Push by Audrey Audain
The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok
Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Motherhood by Sheila Heti
When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
Weather by Jenny Offill
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Husbands by Chandler Baker
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Monogamy by Sue Miller
What You Don’t Know by JoAnn Chaney
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins
Adultery by Paulo Coelho
Circe by Madeline Miller
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan
Fault Lines by Emily Itami
The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins
When I Ran Away by Ilona Bannister
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty 
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Fight Night by Miriam Toews

Nonfiction:
Cassandra Speaks: When Women are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes by Elizabeth Lesser
Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff
Craigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers by Helena Dea Bala
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic
Our House is On Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis by Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman, Beata Ernman
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David
The Loneliest Polar Bear: A True Story of Survival and Peril on the Edge of a Warming World by Kale Williams
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went From Family Man to Family Killer by Lena Derhally
Overwhelmed: How to Live, Work, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte
Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self by Nicole Lepera
Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation by Deborah Tannen
A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath by Jeanine Cummins 
The Long Goodbye: A Memoir by Meghan O’Rourke
The Light of the World: A Memoir by Elizabeth Alexander
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich
Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
The State of Affairs by Esther Perel
Untamed by Glennon Doyle (I listened to this in 2020; read it this year)
The Blue Jay’s Dance: A Memoir of Early Motherhood by Louise Erdrich
Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life by Dani Shapiro
Slow Motion: A Memoir of a Life Rescued by Tragedy by Dani Shapiro
Fear Less: How to Win at Life Without Losing Yourself by Dr. Pippa Grange
No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler
Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive by Kristin Neff
A Radical Awakening: Turn Pain Into Power, Embrace Your Truth, Live Free by Dr. Shefali Tsabary
Wired for Love: How Understanding Your Partner’s Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship by Stan Tatkin
Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids: A Timeless Anthology by Zibby Owens
Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive by Mary Hartzell and Daniel J. Siegel
How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos by David Pogue
But You Seemed So Happy: A Marriage, in Pieces and Bits by Kimberly Harrington
Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford

Poetry:
Inward by Yung Pueblo
Clarity & Connection by Yung Pueblo