Books I read in 2020-2021
Here’s a list of titles, authors, and links to books I read in 2020 and 2021. You may notice that I found a deep well of enjoyment from mystery novels this year, reading all 17 Chief Inspector Gamache Novels by Louise Penny and starting numerous other series. Whenever possible I’ve included Bookshop.org links. Bookshop has distributed $18,349,916.20 raised for local bookstores, helping to keep them in business at a time when it’s difficult but more important than ever to do so.
Full disclosure: If you purchase via these affiliate links, I’ll receive a small commission (for which I’ll be very grateful). You can help the bookstores and this little, independent reader-artist-writer at the same time!
Scroll down for the complete list or click here for my TOP 25 picks.
2021
Race and the Cosmos by Barbara A. Holmes
Devotion by Patti Smith
Faithful Change: The Personal and Public Challenges of Postmodern Life by James Fowler
The Other Einstein (Novel) by Marie Benedict
The Glass Hotel (Novel) by Emily St. John Mandel
No One is Talking About This (Novel) by Patricia Lockwood
The Conscious Enneagram: How to Move from Typology to Transformation by Abi Robins
Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile
This is My Body by Cameron Dezen Hammon
Hunting Magic Eels by Richard Beck
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan
Northern Spy (Novel) by Flynn Berry
At the Crossroads by Charlie Peacock
You Will Know Me (Novel) by Megan Abbott
The Long Call: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel by Ann Cleeves (#1)
Break the Fall (Novel) by Jennifer Iacopelli
God Spare the Girls (Novel) by Kelsey McKinney
Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#1)
Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#2)
The Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home by Katherine May
A Drink of Deadly Wine (Novel) by Kate Charles, A Book of Psalms Mystery (#1)
The Cruelest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#3)
A Rule Against Murder: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#4)
Snares of Death (Novel) by Kate Charles, A Book of Psalms Mystery (#2)
The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#5)
Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#6)
White Nights (Novel) by Ann Cleeves, Shetland Series (#2)
A Trick of Light: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#7)
The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#8)
On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity by Daniel Bowman, Jr.
How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#9)
The Long Way Home: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#10)
Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#11)
Credible Threat (Novel) by J.A. Jance, An Ali Reynolds Mystery (#15)
The Great Reckoning: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#12)
Glass Houses: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#13)
Kingdom of the Blind: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#14)
Heron’s Cry: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel by Ann Cleeves (#2)
A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#15)
All the Devils are Here: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#16)
The Stranger Diaries (Novel) by Elly Griffiths
The Postscript Murders (Novel) by Elly Griffiths
The Madness of Crowds: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#17)
Red Pill (Novel) by Hari Kunzru
Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith
Bewilderment (Novel) by Richard Powers
State of Terror (Novel) by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
Clarity & Connection by Yung Pueblo
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman
2020
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain by Thomas Armstrong
Just Kids by Patti Smith
No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
The Great Spiritual Migration by Brian McLaren
Inward by Yung Pueblo
Fates and Furies (Novel) by Lauren Groff
Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum
The Witches are Coming by Lindy West
You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass): Embracing the Emotions, Habits, and Mystery That Make You You by Mike McHargue
Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice
The Brain-Based Enneagram: You are not A number by Dr. Jerome D. Lubbe
The Resisters (Novel) by Gish Jen
Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy by John Shelby Spong
What We Talk About When We Talk About God by Rob Bell
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton
Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams
Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters by Joan Ryan
Intimations: Six Essays by Zadie Smith
The Testaments (Novel) by Margaret Atwood
Everything is Spiritual: Finding Your Way in a Turbulent World by Rob Bell
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
Weather (Novel) by Jenny Offill
Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood
Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-With-Us Then, Here, and Now by Scott Erickson
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg
How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back by Jeff Tweedy
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