The Books I Read in 2021

Read on for all the books I read in 2021!

At the start of 2020 I set myself a goal to read 52 books. On average one book a week.

In 2021 I aimed to chip away at the second hand books and classics I had collected over the years. I didn’t get very far but I did read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

In this blog I cover:

• A list of all the books I read, with my links!

• The books I have started but not yet finished.

• My reading goal for 2022

The List of Books I Read

Here are the books I read, listed in order of completion, with the author and type of book.

Each book in the list allows you to click through using my Booktopia Affiliate link (if you purchase this way you can support my reading habit - including for my Yoga studies). I really encourage you whenever possible to purchase from your local bookstore or second hand, here in Adelaide I love Imprints and Adelaide’s Pop-Up Bookshop.

1. Monkey Grip by Helen Garner

2. The Art of Frugal Hedonism by Annie Raser-Rowland, Adam Grubb

3. Transcendental Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

4. The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams

5. A New Name for the Colour Blue by Annette Marner

6. Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier

7. Home Body by Rupi Kaur

8. The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

9. The Details by Tegan Bennett Daylight

10. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron - Non-fiction on rediscovering your creative self

11. How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

12. Lurking: How a Person Became a User by Joanne McNeil (Audiobook)

13. Willpower Doesn’t Work by Benjamin Hardy (Audiobook)

14. Dare to Lead by Brené Brown (Audiobook)

15. The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown (Audiobook Only)

16. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown (Audiobook)

17. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

18. The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll

19. Who Gets to Be Smart by Bri Lee

20. Northanger Abby by Jane Austen

21. My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

22. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport

23. Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy

24. The Panic Years by Nell Frizzell

25. The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy

26. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

27. Followers by Megan Angelo

28. Getting Things Done by David Allen (Audiobook)

29. After Story by Larissa Behrendt

30. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

31. The Lucky Escape by Laura Jane Williams

32. Grand Union by Zadie Smith

33. Love & Virtue by Diana Reid

Essays/Journals I’m Picking my Way Through:

1. Feel Free by Zadie Smith

2. True Stories by Helen Garner

3. Yellow Notebook by Helen Garner

I have found sticking with non-fiction books challenging this year. This is not at all a reflection of their quality! Just the mental fatigue that hit in the final months of my PhD. I certainly expect to finish each of these by the end of 2022! Here is some non-fiction that have begun but not finished yet:

1. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

2. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

3. Embrace Yoga’s Roots by Susanna Barkataki

4. A World Without Email by Cal Newport

5. Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager by Kory Kogan, Suzette Blakemore and James Wood

6. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker (Audiobook)

My Goal for 2022?

This year without much effort, just as a product of my daily reading habit I managed to read 30 books. For 2021 I wanted to read daily and chip away at the second hand classics that I have collected over the year. As this habit is pretty well established from reading 52 books in 52 weeks in 2020, reading daily didn’t take much effort. Looking back at my list now though, I realise I only read one classic! So I think I will try double that this year with two classics!

What am I Reading Now?

We are in the final days of 2021 as I hit publish on this article and I am currently reading Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray River of Dreams by Anita Heiss and Yellow Notebook by Helen Garner.

Did you read any of the books I read? What was your favourite? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Get in contact with me here.

Looking forward to sharing with you my 2022 reads! I often share books as I read them in my weekly Sunday morning email.

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