My 2021 Reading Log
Another strange COVID-19 affected year, another above average reading year. I read a total of 12 books during 2021. Of the 12 books, 8 were non-fiction. Seems to be a bit of a trend I've noticed.
The older I get the more I tend to be attracted to non-fiction books. It isn’t a conscious thing, come book choosing time I seem to veer towards non-fiction for some reason. If I was guessing as to why, I would suspect it is due to a bit of risk aversion kicking in. Fiction seems like a much riskier proposition especially when a lot of fiction is pushing 400-500 pages and almost inevitably each book is part of a trilogy especially in my favorite genre science fiction & fantasy.
My favorite book of 2021 was Stoner by John Williams. Nothing very exciting happens in the book, but the small events that did happen were of great significance to the protagonists in the book. A life, when all is said and done, boils down to significant interactions with very few people. Maybe a dozen if you are lucky.
My favorite non-fiction book is a fascinating book by Sir Trevor Phillips the erstwhile head of the Commission for Racial Equality. The book takes a look at how Britain manages diversity in a time of superdiversity.
January
Ballard, J.G: Miracles of Life (non-fiction)
Edwards, Eddie: Eddie the Eagle: My Story (non-fiction)
February
March
Meier, Sid: Sid Meier’s Memoir: A Life in Computer Games (non-fiction)
April
Hackett, John W.: The Third World War: The Untold Story
Rayson, Steve: The Fall of the Red Wall (non-fiction)
May
Coyle, Harold: Sword Point
June
July
August
September
Morton, Michael: Getting Life: An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace (non-fiction)
Samworth, Neil: Strangeways: A Prison Officer’s Life (non-fiction)
October
Williams, John: Stoner
Currie, Evan: Archangel One
Phillips, Trevor: Race and Faith: The Deafening Silence (non-fiction)
November
December
Kershaw, Robert: Tank Men, The Human Story of Tanks at War (non-fiction)
