Books of the Past

My goal for 2021 was to read 1 book a week. I will start off by saying that like most resolutions, this one failed. BUT, I did come pretty close and it did teach me a lot of things. In total I read 43 books, 9 books short of my goal. I still think that's an impressive feat, so let me toot my own horn. Here is a list of every book I read this past year:

January: Circe, Needful things, The Inheritance games, and The song of Achilles

February: The kite runner, Pillow thoughts, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Man's Search for meaning, A bend in the road, and Unstoppable Prosperity.

Think and Grow Rich, They both die at the end, The invisible life of Addie Larue, and The Ghost in the Wires.

April: The gifts of imperfection, The book thief, Atomic Habits, and Candide.

May: Siddhartha, A thousand splendid suns, Purple hibiscus, and The time keeper.

(June and July were dry months for me)

August: How to be bored, Camino Island, Thinking fast and slow, The sun does shine.

September: Blink, Go set a watchman

October: Educated, The bell Jar, Whereas, Women race and class, The flatshare, and Where the crawdads sing.

November: The sun and her flowers, The female persuasion, What the dog knows, and The catcher in the rye.

December: Stumbling on happiness, The boys in the boat, and What I was doing while you were breeding.

Oh and Invisible Man. I can't remember when I read it, but I did.

I learned so much from each of these books separately, but more importantly, I learned quite a lot from them when put together. Much more than my feeble mind can attempt to try and share. But, I'll give the gist: life has no genre. We go through life trying to label everything, but that's not right. We go through life living in every genre. At once, life can be a fantasy story, a non-fiction autobiography, and a mystery thriller. Stop trying to determine which category you fall under because the truth is that you are under all of them. And even more, you are the author. You choose how the story is written, how its portrayed, and the ending. It is yours, afterall. I am feeling very much like a slice of sharp cheddar right now, but this is all true, I'm telling you.

My top 5 favorites of the year would have to include The Book Thief, Circe, The Sun Does Shine, The Bell Jar, and The Boys in the Boat. If you're looking for a greek mythology as a tragic retelling, I highly recommend checking out Circe. If you want a true account of an innocent man who spent thirty years on the death row, I beg you to read The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton. The book Thief is a great classic book for those who want a good story to accompany a plausible history. The boys in the boat is the story of how 9 poor boys from Seattle made their way the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Last, but never least, would be Sylvia Plath's, The Bell Jar, which is a haunting story that leaves you with much to think over.

I highly recommend everyone else trying this, and the best part is that you can modify it to you in any way! You could do one book per month or you don't even have to let it be books! You could choose any hobby really, and start with that! The rewards that you will reap will be insurmountable to any other resolution you may have had, I promise!