Books of 2021

I’ve previously used and stuck with the rating scale I use for my Book Notes page. Here are all the books I read or listened to in 2021!

5 Stars: Loved It

Non-Fiction

The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians by David M. Rubenstein
Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan
Billion Dollar Brand Club: The Rebel Startups Disrupting Industry Empires by Lawrence Ingrassia
Get Out of Your Own Way: A Skeptic’s Guide to Growth and Fulfillment by Dave Hollis
Restoration: God’s Call to the 21st Century World by Patrick Q. Mason
The Magnolia Story by Chip Gaines
Dare to Fly by Martha McSally
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
Grant by Ron Chernow
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis

Fiction

Forever Home by Jenna Ayoub
Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle, #4) by Christopher Paolini
Brisingr (The Inheritance Cycle, #3) by Christopher Paolini
Eldest (The Inheritance Cycle, #2) by Christopher Paolini
Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1) by Christopher Paolini
Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by Ernest Cline
Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey by Brian Michael Bendis
Star Wars: Thrawn by Jody Houser
House of M by Brian Michael Bendis
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

4 Stars: Liked It

Non-Fiction

Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability by David Owen
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
Hidden Figures by Margot Leet Shetterly
Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic and the Domestic by Esther Perel
Titan by Ron Chernow

Fiction

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson
Star Wars: Darth Maul by Cullen Bunn
FF by Jonathan Hickman, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
Spawn Origins, Volume 1 by Todd McFarlane

3 Stars: It Was Okay

Non-Fiction

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski PhD and Amelia Nagoski DMA
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
A Patriot’s Calling: My Life as an F-16 Fighter Pilot by Dan Rooney
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg
Kill Chain: Drones and The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn
Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division by Jimmy Blackmon

Fiction

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin by Tim Siedell
Judge Dredd: The Cape and Cowl Crimes by John Wagner
Star Wars, Vol. 2: Showdown on the Smuggler’s Moon by Jason Aaron
Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron
Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth by Dan Slott
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose (Black Widow (Black Widow (2010)) by Marjorie M. Liu
Spawn Origins, Volume 6 by Todd McFarlane
Road of the Patriarch (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #3) by R.A. Salvatore
Promise of the Witch King (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #2) by R.A. Salvatore
Once an Eagle by Anton Meyer

2 Stars: Disliked It

Non-Fiction

Fiction

Justice League, Vol. 1: The Extinction Machines by Bryan Hitch
Teen Titans, Vol. 1: Damian Knows Best by Benjamin Percy
Spider-Man & The X-Men by Elliott Kalan
52, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns
FF, Volume 2 by Jonathan Hickman

1 Star: Hated It

Non-Fiction

Ungodly Soul Ties: How to identify and Break Them (Spiritual Warfare Book 4) by Nellie Odhuno-Shani
- Note: I actually enjoyed quite a bit of the book, but she started peddling blatantly false information

Fiction

Batman, Incorporated by Grant Morrison

Put On Pause or Quit

Non-Fiction

What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz

Fiction

1984 by George Orwell

2021 in Data

To continue last year’s simple data analysis of the types of books I read, I used a Google Sheet to review whether or not I’m branching out in my reading or staying the same. I’d say I’m largely keeping to my known genres of fantasy and sci-fi for fiction and self-help and (auto)biography for non-fiction.

Unfortunately, my go-to types of books tend to lean white and male. Please make recommendations for female and people-of-color authors and books you enjoy or books from another genre!

Rating—My sum of 5-star and 4-star books decreased by 15%. I’m not sure if I should care or not. Part of me wants to only be reading good books, but at the same time, I value diverse perspectives, and I strayed out of my comfort zone in some aspects. Interesting to note, but I’m not hung up on it.

Format—I read way more comics this year, which I really enjoy. I’m glad to be getting back into a medium that meant a lot to me growing up. I hope to tie reading more comics to drawing more, too. My total percentage of physical reading (paper + digital) excluding comics decreased by 3.3%. Not bad.

Reading physical, non-fiction books reinvigorate me when I’m not in school already reading a bunch. Flight school is over, but I still feel compelled to study every day to keep up on it. My non-fiction reading suffers, but audio is still booming! I prefer reading hardcover paper books for fiction and Kindle for non-fiction (easier to take notes).

Female Author—My percentage of female authors increased by 4%, which is great. I didn’t consciously try to improve this as much as I thought I would, so I’m glad it increased, but I definitely need to find more female authors I love reading.

POC Author—I’m not sure if this is a good metric to track or not, because I find myself googling the author and having to make somewhat of a snap-judgement based on their Wikipedia picture. It also dawned on me that I members of other religions or of the LGBTQ community aren’t included. Maybe I just need to change this to “different from me” if the point is to get a variety of perspectives? I dunno. This one’s hard to track and find accurate information on. Two examples came to mind:

Esther Perel is a Jewish woman from Eastern Europe. Her parents survived the Holocaust. Does person of color just mean not of European descent? Under that definition, she wouldn’t qualify, but she still brings such a different worldview to the table.
G. Willow Wilson is an American convert to Islam. That is definitely a unique perspective, but wouldn’t be a POC.

Feedback is always welcome. Again, I’d love some recommendations for female and people-of-color authors.

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