2021 Books

By popular demand (and also because I feel this digital record fits my blogging goals & style!) — here is my own personal list of books I am hoping to read in 2021, including those already read and those I plan to read in future quintiles.

I get my picks from a combination of sources but my favorite is Modern Mrs. Darcy! This year’s list also contains some backlist titles that I’ve been meaning to read for way too long.

random selection of books atop my favorite reading place: my bed!

Brief note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. 

All of that said, you certainly do not have to use Amazon to check these titles out! I personally mostly use the library (grateful for this resource on a daily basis). Independent bookstores are also wonderful to support – look up your local shop or explore on IndieBound. And if you are looking for anti-racism books (or to support Black business-owners in general), find great places to shop on this list.

Here’s a link to my 2020 list of 50 books read if you’re in need of more ideas!

Symbols Key:

If I really enjoyed a book and can highly recommend it, there will be a ✅

If I obsessively tore through a book and loved it, there will be a ♥️

Don’t get me wrong; I still enjoyed many of the others! The icons are reserved for standouts. If I abandon a book, I will remove it from this list.

2021 TOTAL: 48, 22 nonfiction + memoir / 26 fiction

Q1: January to Spring Break

Becoming by Michelle Obama Finished 1.21 ♥️

The Authenticity Project: A Novel by Claire Pooley Finished 1.9.21

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano Finished 1.18.21 ✅ (but – gut-wrenching)

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi Finished 1.27.21 ♥️

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Finished 2.4.21

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert Finished 2.9.21 ♥️

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore Finished 2.14.21 ♥️

Medical Apartheid by Harriett Washington Finished 3.3.21

All Adults Here by Emma Straub Finished 2.23.21

Power Moms by Joann Lublin Finished 2.28.21

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel Finished 3.14.21

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Finished 4.7.21 ♥️

A World Without Email by Cal Newport Finished 4.8.21 ♥️

Q2: Spring Break’s End to End of School Year (mid-June)

Greenwood by Michael Christie Finished 5.1.21 ♥️

Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey Finished 4.30.21

Win at Work and Succeed at Life by Megan Hyatt Miller + Michael Hyatt ♥️ Finished 5.26.21

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah Finished 4.22.21

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas Finished 5.11.21

Effortless by Greg McKeown Finished 5.21.21

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward Finished 5.23.21

Untamed by Glennon Doyle Finished 5.29.21 ♥️

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson Finished 6.18.21

Good Apple by Elizabeth Passarella ✅ Finished 6.15.21

Q3: Summer Reading!

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen ✅ Finished 6.22.21

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones ♥️ Finished 6.30.21

The Family Firm by Emily Oster ♥️ Finished 7.3.21

Manflu by Simone de Munoz ✅ Finished 7.6.21

Mindful Parenting for ADHD by Mark Bertin ✅ Finished 7.18.21

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris ♥️ Finished 7.18.21

Big Dreams Daily Joys by Elise Blaha Cripe ✅ Finished 7.28.1`

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Finished 8.1.21

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand ✅ Finished 8.4.21

What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear by Danielle Ofri ✅ Finished 8.16.21

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid ♥️ Finished 8.22.21

Q4: Fall & Back to School

Everything I have is Yours by Eleanor Henderson Finished 9.12.21

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim Finished 9.26.21 ♥️

All’s Well by Mona Awad Finished 9.24.21 ✅ (but weird!)

Normal People by Sally Rooney Finished 10.7.21

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian Finished 10.25.21 ♥️

The Comfort Book by Matt Haig Finished 10.13.21

On Purpose by Tanya Dalton Finished 10.30.21

Q5: Reflection Season

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro ✅ Finished 11.10.21

4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman ♥️ Finished 11.18.21

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout ✅ Finished 11.30.21

Restart: Designing a Healthy Post-Pandemic Life by Doreen Dodgen-Magee ✅ Finished 12.7.21

The Fixed Stars by Molly Wizenberg ✅ Finished 12.18.21

Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl ❤️ Finished 12.8.21

Machiavelli for Women by Stacey Vanek Smith ✅ Finished 12.31.21