All the books I read in 2021
As I did the previous year, I am sharing a list of all the books I read in 2021. Going through all of the titles always fills me with reflection: I recall the emotions evoked by all the different characters or helpful concepts learned.
In 2021, I set out on a mission to understand more about introversion and what it really means to be an introvert. It was both reassuring and powerful to realize how many others share similar life experiences, challenges, and gifts. Last year, I’ve finally come to appreciate fiction after years of dismissing it as a waste of time. My heart was devastated after reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara or fascinated by the clever application of ideologies and beliefs to fictional characters by Ayn Rand in The Fountainhead. I also purposefully chose books written by female authors with autobiographical components, craving their perspectives on issues such as independence, creative expression, and balancing family and work life. Martha Beck’s The Way of Integrity will serve as my road map for the unforeseeable future. Awakening creativity remained a major theme for me as I kept discovering new mediums, such as collages, and began to draw. It will surely continue to be essential in the coming year.
Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee
Podaj Dalej by Urszula Chincz
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Slow Professor by Barbara K. Seeber and Maggie Berg
The Seven Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writer’s Block by Hillary Rettig
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy
The Escape Manual for Introverts by Katie Vaz
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson
Seeing What Others Cannot See: The Hidden Advantages of Visual Thinkers and Differently Wired Brains by Thomas G. West
Make Yourself Cozy: A Guide for Practicing Self-Care by Katie Vaz
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling by Matthew Dicks
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Unfair Advantage: How You Already Have What It Takes to Succeed by Ash Ali & Hasan Kubba
Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck
Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can’t Live Without Them by Adrienne Raphel
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Finding Your Way In a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want by Martha Beck
The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention by Julia Cameron
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant
Make Your Art No Matter What: Moving Beyond Creative Hurdles by Beth Pickens
Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck
Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work by Steven Pressfield
The Artist's Journey: The Wake of the Hero’s Journey and the Lifelong Pursuit of Meaning by Steven Pressfield
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done by Monica Ramirez Basco
How It Works: The Husband by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris
Patience, Miyuki by Roxane Marie Galliez
Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders by Stuart Kells
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Bird Who Cleans the World and Other Mayan Fables by Victor Montejo
Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg
If you Can Cut, You Can Collage: From Paper Scraps to Works of Art by Hollie Chastain
Exploring Collage and Mixed Media Techniques by Victor Escandell
Creative Collage: 30 Projects to Transform Your Collages into Wall Art, Personalized Stationery, Home Accessories, and More by Clare Youngs
Notes from a Public Typewriter by Michael Gustafson and Oliver Uberti
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
The Introvert's Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World by Sophia Dembling
The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World by Jenn Granneman
The Powerful Purpose of Introverts: Why the World Needs You to Be You by Holley Gerth
The Introvert’s Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone by Matthew Pollard
Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead by Nancy Ancowitz
Mayan and Aztec Mythology by Jim Ollhoff
Raw Drawing: Spontaneous and Carefree Drawing by Alessandro Bonaccorsi
Prawdziwa Historia Królowej Życia by Dagmara Kaźmierska
Magda by Magda Gessler and Dominik Linowski
Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
I’m looking forward to a new year filled with reading. But that’ll have to wait till next year... Unless you don’t want to wait a year for my reading update, I recommend signing up for my monthly newsletter, in which I share regularly what I’m reading.
