What I read in 2021
books
lists
I hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 50 for the first time after a number of years falling short. If you want to, you can jump straight to the list of all 50 books here.
Here are the best of those 50 books sorted into various categories. Hit the link for each book for some additional notes and information about each. (Hit the heading link for a soundtrack while you read, or use the Spotify playlist below).
Top of the Pops
The three books I read in 2021 that had the strongest emotional impact on me were: - Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: Not a conventional book at all, this was a work of fan-fiction that was published entirely online (I downloaded the epub version of it). By far the longest ‘book’ I read this year (probably the equivalent of five volumes of the actual Harry Potter Series). - A Place For Us: An immigrant story and a coming of age story that affected me strongly. - Red Notice: A whirlwind story of greed and corruption amongst the oligarchs and officials of post-communist Russia.
Change (You Can Change)
I read a few different books on the topic of change. The best was Think Again by Adam Grant. How We Change looked at the subject from a psychotherapists point of view. Better is about trying to make things better in the medical world. Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) was updated last year to add a chapter on the Trump phenomenon - a very interesting book about self-deception, cognitive dissonance and why people don’t change their mind even in the face of clear evidence. I also started How To Change but didn’t manage to finish it before the end of the year.
I Remember That
I read quite a few memoirs, especially ones focused on growing up as an immigrant. My favorite was Greetings from Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor. The others were No Land’s Man, Somebody’s Daughter and Funny in Farsi. Also worth mentioning in this category is Sophia Of Silicon Valley a novel which is in fact a thinly-veiled memoir of the author’s time working with Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.
Time After Time
I’m always drawn to time-travel books - its probably my favorite science-fiction sub-genre. A Gift of Time and All Our Wrong Todays were both excellent.
Good Technology
Kill Process is a techno-thriller that actually gets the technology right.
Mad World
The Premonition by Michael Lewis was a damning indictment of the inaction of the CDC during the Covid-19 pandemic and of the US health system at large.
Rome (If You Want To)
Ever since reading Robert Harris’ excellent Cicero Trilogy I have found myself wanting to know more about Roman history. Both The Storm Before The Storm and SPQR were accessible entry points to the broad sweep of Roman politics. I also read Medicus a murder mystery set in Roman Britain which was … okay.
Friends (I’ll Be There For You)
A couple of friends and former colleagues published (separately) two excellent books this year - please go out and buy them: - Communication For Engineers by Chris Laffra - The Accidental Sexist by Stephen Koch et al.
Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Some fun, sometimes funny, novels about superheroes, telekenesis and the metaverse among other things: - The Sidekicks Initiative - Orlando People and Dade County Death Cruise - Ready Player One
I Will Follow
There are some writers that I read pretty much anything they publish. Michael Connelly is one such author. Nick Hornby is another writer that can generally be relied upon to produce a readable novel. Blake Crouch is getting there for me as I work my way through his earlier works. - The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly - Just Like You by Nick Hornby - Good Behavior by Blake Crouch.
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Some miscellaneous good reads: - Numbers Don’t Lie - The Nine Lives Of Pakistan - Mythos - The Right It
Overall I read slightly more non-fiction books this year than fiction. I think this was helped by the number of memoirs I read. Audible was far and away my input source of choice.
Full book list
| # | Book Title | Author | Type | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Pie Charts
