My 2021 Book Recommendations & 2022 Intentions
I believe everyone has been “going through it” in one way or another these last two years. For me, 2021 was one of vastly contrasting experiences of loss, grief, stress, love, and accomplishment, all occurring simultaneously. My reading habits as well as spending time creating art have been collateral damage to the stress and strain of these last two years.
I don’t believe in “new year’s resolutions” for myself any longer. What I do believe in is that it’s the little things that matter most, not grand gestures or accomplishments. Setting intentions can be helpful, but moving forward, I do not want to do this in a formulaic, “all or nothing” way. I’m honestly so tired of setting a personal goal for myself and feeling like a failure because I didn’t achieve it. When this happens I find that nothing was actually ruined- aside from my own peace. So, my intentions for this year are to keep setting firm boundaries externally, but also, to do better about setting boundaries internally with myself.
I set a goal of 75 books for 2021, and reached 69. I set a goal for 100 in 2020, and reached 79. For 2022, I’m resetting my Goodreads Challenge goal back to 100 books. I’m doing this because I know I can. I exceeded this number three years in a row from 2017–2019. I’m also setting this goal because I want to set an intention to get back to old routines that I found satisfaction in, while at the same time, pruning away the things that need to go. If I don’t reach this goal, then so what? And if I do, then I hope it was because I was doing more of something I enjoy and find pleasure in, not because of stressful striving.
Here are a few highlights of the books I read in 2021 that I felt were most impactful, enlightening, and enjoyable.
Non-fiction
These include recommendations for personal growth that aren’t based in toxic positivity and a general theme of dismantling oppression in all its many forms. Many of these books invite the reader to confront the default adage of “this is just the way it is” and to critically examine one’s values in the context of our broader culture.
The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills by Jesse Singal
Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness by Roy Richard Grinker
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland by Jonathan M. Metzl
White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America by Anthea Butler
Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone by Sarah Jaffe
Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation by John Lewis
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman
Visions for the 21st Century by Carl Sagan (and others)
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab
No Cure for Being Human: And Other Truths I Need to Hear by Kate Bowler
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump’s America by Adam Serwer
The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It by Jennifer Moss
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
Fiction
Dune by Frank Herbert (7th time reading this one!)
Goldilocks by Laura Lam
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1) by Becky Chambers
Later by Stephen King
My favorite reading and book apps
Overdrive. Get yourself a library card, log in, and thousands of ebooks and audiobooks are at your fingertips. FREE.
Libro.fm is a great alternative to Audible and helps to support local bookstores in your local community. For the price of the subscription, you get 1 credit a month for an audiobook. You own the audiobook after redeeming your credit. $14.99/month.
Scribed is another great alternative to Audible, and is more of a subscription service. You get access to many types of content, audiobooks, e-books, magazines, podcasts, etc., but you don’t “own” the titles. The book selection isn’t as good as the other services I’ve listed above, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the large selection of quality titles this offers. $9.99/month.
Find me on Goodreads for more book reviews and recommendations.
