8 Books I Loved in 2021
In the last few years, my love for reading books has come back into my life (I deliberately and without apology paused this and other things for a chapter, as I mentioned in the last tip here). In 2021, I finished 56 books and enjoyed all of them. The reason I can say “all of them” about the ones that I finished is that I have gotten better at just giving up on books I’m not enjoying - no shame in not finishing!
Below are brief descriptions of 8 that were some of my absolute top favorites of the year. I’d love to know in the comments what recommendations you have for me to read in 2022! If you’re on Goodreads, find me here: https://www.goodreads.com/jessicaeastmanstewart. My favorites from 2019 and 2020 are linked at the bottom of this post as well.
You can buy any of these books in my 2021 Favorite Books List on Bookshop, which supports local bookstores.
Best Overall
I am still sad that I finished this book - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound) - it’s one that you finish and grieve being done with it because it’s just that good. It’s an unexpected story (spoiler: it’s not about the husbands) and just so, so fun and engaging. Highly recommend.
Best Stories
These are the two stories that kept me up later at night than I wanted because I was so engrossed in them.
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) - I’m pretty confident Stacey Abrams is the one of the most talented people alive today (maybe tied with Lin Manuel Miranda?). How is she such a smart and effective politician and also an amazing fiction writer? Who knows, I’m just glad we get to benefit. This was a great story.
The President's Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) - I enjoyed the last time these two collaborated on a book, and so I wanted to try this one and it did not disappoint. Politics, government, international relations, and parents doing what it takes to try to get their (badass) daughter back.
Best True Story
I read The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) as part of Sharon McMahon’s book club, and what an inspiring and maddening story of a woman fighting back against men who aimed to institutionalize her for having her own opinions. You’ll shake your head at the injustice and nod it at her wins along the way.
Best Business Book
Recommended to me by so many women who run incredible businesses, Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) was one that I was so glad to read as the year closed. It helped me to learn a system for how to think about money in my new business that I feel like is likely to set me up for success as it grows. I can’t recommend it enough if you’re in business or want to be.
Best Dystopian Fiction
Vox by Christina Dalcher (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) was one of my earliest reads in 2021, and it has stuck with me since. It describes an America where half of the population has been silenced, and the story of a woman who fights to protect herself and her daughter. It’s eerily believable.
Most Impactful on My Life
I gave this book - (Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) - to a few others as holiday gifts this year because I love them and want them to have the same experience I had with this book - to really understand and more deeply value the importance of sleep. This is a well-researched and to-the-point book that will leave you with new knowledge and a commitment to figuring out how to prioritize sleep in our busy lives. You deserve this book.
Best Perspective-Widener
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar (Bookshop | Amazon | Indiebound) was a book I got from President Obama’s 2020 Favorite Books list, and it did not disappoint. It’s a terrific story about the complexities of America and helped me see through the eyes of those with a different identity and experience than my own (which is a type of book I try to read often). The description says it better than I could: “A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams, Homeland Elegies blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in the world that 9/11 made. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son, and the country they both call home.”
My full list of 2021 books is here:
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz
Vox by Christina Dalcher
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
The President's Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams
This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith
How to raise kids who aren’t assholes by Melinda Wenner Moyer
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
Ford County by John Grisham
Do Less: The Unexpected Strategy for Women to Get More of What They Want in Work and Life by Kate Northrup
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy by Ben Macintyre
The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide by Peter Morales
Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera
Camino Winds (Camino Island, #2) by John Grisham
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Where We Come From by Oscar Cásares
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities by Zach Norris
A Time for Mercy (Jake Brigance, #3) by John Grisham
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell
In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life by Alisa Vitti
No Cure for Being Human: And Other Truths I Need to Hear by Kate Bowler
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Luster by Raven Leilani
The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks
The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years by Emily Oster
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
Sooley by John Grisham
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson
I Had a Brother Once: A Poem, a Memoir by Adam Mansbach
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age by Bruce Feiler
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story by Bess Kalb
Sleep: Harness the Power of Sleep for Optimal Health and Wellbeing by Petra Hawker
A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism by John A. Buehrens
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Tell me in the comments what you think I should read in 2022! So far I’m starting with The Light of Days (Bookshop | Amazon) and The Judge’s List (Bookshop | Amazon).
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