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

  1. Race and the Cosmos by Barbara A. Holmes

  2. Devotion by Patti Smith

  3. Faithful Change: The Personal and Public Challenges of Postmodern Life by James Fowler

  4. The Other Einstein (Novel) by Marie Benedict

  5. The Glass Hotel (Novel) by Emily St. John Mandel

  6. No One is Talking About This (Novel) by Patricia Lockwood

  7. The Conscious Enneagram: How to Move from Typology to Transformation by Abi Robins

  8. Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile

  9. This is My Body by Cameron Dezen Hammon

  10. Hunting Magic Eels by Richard Beck

  11. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan

  12. Northern Spy (Novel) by Flynn Berry

  13. At the Crossroads by Charlie Peacock

  14. You Will Know Me (Novel) by Megan Abbott

  15. The Long Call: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel by Ann Cleeves (#1)

  16. Break the Fall (Novel) by Jennifer Iacopelli

  17. God Spare the Girls (Novel) by Kelsey McKinney

  18. Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#1)

  19. Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#2)

  20. The Electricity of Every Living Thing: A Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home by Katherine May

  21. A Drink of Deadly Wine (Novel) by Kate Charles, A Book of Psalms Mystery (#1)

  22. The Cruelest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#3)

  23. A Rule Against Murder: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#4)

  24. Snares of Death (Novel) by Kate Charles, A Book of Psalms Mystery (#2)

  25. The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#5)

  26. Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#6)

  27. White Nights (Novel) by Ann Cleeves, Shetland Series (#2)

  28. A Trick of Light: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#7)

  29. The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#8)

  30. On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity by Daniel Bowman, Jr.

  31. How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#9)

  32. The Long Way Home: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#10)

  33. Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#11)

  34. Credible Threat (Novel) by J.A. Jance, An Ali Reynolds Mystery (#15)

  35. The Great Reckoning: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#12)

  36. Glass Houses: A Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#13)

  37. Kingdom of the Blind: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#14)

  38. Heron’s Cry: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel by Ann Cleeves (#2)

  39. A Better Man: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#15)

  40. All the Devils are Here: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#16)

  41. The Stranger Diaries (Novel) by Elly Griffiths

  42. The Postscript Murders (Novel) by Elly Griffiths

  43. The Madness of Crowds: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny (#17)

  44. Red Pill (Novel) by Hari Kunzru

  45. Year of the Monkey by Patti Smith

  46. Bewilderment (Novel) by Richard Powers

  47. State of Terror (Novel) by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

  48. Clarity & Connection by Yung Pueblo

  49. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

  50. The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman

2020

  1. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

  2. The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain by Thomas Armstrong

  3. Just Kids by Patti Smith

  4. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

  5. The Great Spiritual Migration by Brian McLaren

  6. Inward by Yung Pueblo

  7. Fates and Furies (Novel) by Lauren Groff

  8. Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book by Courtney Maum

  9. The Witches are Coming by Lindy West

  10. You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass): Embracing the Emotions, Habits, and Mystery That Make You You by Mike McHargue

  11. Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice

  12. The Brain-Based Enneagram: You are not A number by Dr. Jerome D. Lubbe

  13. The Resisters (Novel) by Gish Jen

  14. Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy by John Shelby Spong

  15. What We Talk About When We Talk About God by Rob Bell

  16. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton

  17. Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America by Stacey Abrams

  18. Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen

  19. Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters by Joan Ryan

  20. Intimations: Six Essays by Zadie Smith

  21. The Testaments (Novel) by Margaret Atwood

  22. Everything is Spiritual: Finding Your Way in a Turbulent World by Rob Bell

  23. Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen

  24. Weather (Novel) by Jenny Offill

  25. Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood

  26. Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-With-Us Then, Here, and Now by Scott Erickson

  27. Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg

  28. How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back by Jeff Tweedy

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