[I wrote this up on December 28, 2021 and never posted it to this blog. Better late than never? I'm not going to bother fixing up the formatting issues due to pasting from OneNote.]
According to the Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge, I read 50 books (so far) this year. That's 26 more than my goal of 24 (208%). That sounds like an amazing over-achievement, until I reveal that 1) this year's goal was half of what I set in 2020, with an eye toward reading longer works with about the same amount of reading time, and 2) I retired at the end of April, which allowed me to spend more time reading than before (though not as much as I anticipated).
Here are some highlights:
Non-fiction. 12 titles of the 50 were non-fiction and several of those were focused on writing. A few stand out:
Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America by Adam Cohen - I learned a lot about how the court has impacted policy and politics and vice versa.
But He Doesn't Know the Territory! by Meredith Wilson - A fun journey with the creator of the Broadway musical The Music Man from concept to opening night.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway - A classic. Spend time in Paris and elsewhere during the earlier part of the famous author's career.
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Gupta, Sanjay - learn about how you learn and how to keep exercising your mental muscle throughout your life.
Inspirational. I wanted to expand my reading of Christian literature. But I only managed one (it's pretty dense).
Knowing God by J.I. Packer - A classic with some deep thoughts about the nature of God and the Bible.
Netgalley. My original plan was to limit myself to preview 5 or fewer titles on Netgalley this year and focus on authors I don't usually read. But with retirement, and a bunch of new books from favorite authors coming out, I was happy to post early reviews for about 10. The most notable:
A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker ★★★★★ - Having spent my high school years not too far from Laguna Beach and not too many years after the setting of the book, I was transfixed by the 16-year-old protagonist's coming of age amidst more than one family crisis and turbulent times.
The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni - This historical look at the Viet Nam war and its impact on various lives hits the sweet spot of character and story and setting Dugoni brings to all his writing. I'm more fond of Dugoni's mystery and spy titles (I also previewed In Her Tracks [Tracy Crosswhite #8] and The Silent Sisters [Charles Jenkins #3] and recommend both).
Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner - (yes, that Brent Spiner; Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, if you still don't know). This isn't a memoir, though he includes some personal vignettes. It's also not really noir, though there is some mystery and some dark characters. It's a good, goofy novel for fans of STTNG.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - The first half of this novel felt like too much work for me and I only stuck with it because I made the commitment to review it. But around the halfway point, the story really got rolling and I enjoyed the rest of it quite a bit.
Some other treats this year:
This Tender Land by William Kent Kreuger ★★★★★ - A delightful coming-of-age story mashing up Tom Sawyer and The Great Depression and good Midwestern values.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles ★★★★★ - A book I didn't want to end. The gentleman in question is a lesser nobleman compelled by the Soviet government to remain in the luxury hotel where he is already somewhat of a fixture. A perpetual house-arrest. We spend many years with him and his friends, adapting to changing bureaucrats and circumstances.
Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson - One of those longer works I wanted to read this year, about 2,000 pages of fantasy. This is not Tolkien. But it is well-written and entertaining with wit and magic and thoughtful characters.
Dune by Frank Herbert - I reread this before the new film premiered - another long work.
That's not 50. You can see more of my reactions (not reviews) to books on my blog at https://perpetualreboot.blogspot.com/ And you can see my Goodreads.com 2021 wrap-up is at https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/25255662.
I'm going to aim a little higher in 2022: 50 books again. I still want to reduce my TBR pile and keep up with some current titles, choosing authors I don't usually read. And I'll be sure to read some challenging non-fiction. I'll also continue to tackle those longer works and series that I've been putting off until I had more time. I've got my eye on The Expanse series. I really enjoyed the first book.
Keep reading! And share a book with a friend.
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