Top Ten Books I Read in 2021
Early in the pandemic, around June 2020, after spending five weeks waiting for the world to end, I decided to make two important commitments. The first was to regularly exercise, and happily, that commitment continues just about every morning. The second was to read more, a commitment I really took to heart during 2021. This piece will review the top ten books I read last year that made an impact on me. The full list of works will be provided afterwards.
A Word on Method
To reach this goal, I averaged about two hours of reading per day. One hour I spent reading works from Martin Seymour-Smith’s “The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written”, beginning 2021 with Euclid’s Elements and ending in the middle of Philo’s complete works. Another hour was spent at night before bed, reading from a stack of books on my bedstand I replenish as needed. Each stack contains about fifteen regular authors I’m reading chronologically, and five other works from whatever I happened to find in used bookstores or thrift shops or has been sitting on a shelf waiting to be read for a long time. I’m also working on a deep dive into Peter Kropotkin’s life and works intermittently for an hour per day, but only when I have the time and bandwidth.
Top 10 Books for 2021
The following works are presented in alphabetical order by author.
Margaret Atwood — Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature
Margaret Atwood is one of my regular authors that I am reading. I’ve been working through her early poetry collections and novels during the pandemic, but absolutely devoured this work of literary criticism. Survival is the introduction to (white) Canadian literature that I didn’t know I needed, as Atwood groups together time periods and authors around specific themes, including the idea of survival on the frontier, and evolving to consider more recent themes of national and cultural identity (or a lack thereof). It is perhaps one of the most important works to help establish Canadian literature within the world. Atwood also acknowledges the limitations in her focus on white authors, in no small part due to the lack of inclusion and diversity within Canadian publishing and academia in 1972, an issue which was just beginning to be corrected then and continues today. I look forward to reading her later works on Canadian literature, to see how her thesis expands and changes with more modern work and greater diversity.
James Baldwin — Another Country
James Baldwin is another author I started reading regularly during the pandemic. My prior exposure to Baldwin was largely focused on a reader anthology/omnibus, some essays available online, and his always entertaining media appearances. If I was pressed to pick a favorite from last year, it would have to be Another Country. Baldwin provides a masterclass in the realities of white privilege, homophobia/biphobia, and the reality of interracial relationships, in an effective narrative surrounding the fallout of a jazz musician’s suicide amongst a group of friends on both sides of the color divide. I found myself wincing at times to see the white characters use the same phrases and idioms we hear today from individuals who don’t understand, or don’t accept, the realities of social privilege. On top of all that, Baldwin also injects his own sense of alienation in returning to New York from Paris, both inside his former communities and from the totality of the American experience. A powerful work that still resonates today, perhaps even more so as we come to grips with white privilege and white supremacy in our country today.
T.C. Boyle — The Road to Wellville
Sometimes it feels like the cosmos is winking at you. I felt that way reading The Road to Wellville this year, Boyle’s historical novel which follows three separate stories in Battle Creek, Michigan, the home of Dr. Kellogg’s sanitarium for healthy living (if you were rich enough to afford it). Yes, that Dr. Kellogg, who invented the corn flake, and whose brother took the patent to start to the cereal empire that found itself facing strikes from unionized workers this year. Boyle’s story is a true melting pot of influences and personalities from the historical period, using a fictionalized version of Kellogg’s story, and looking at not just the health food and medical treatment craze of the time, some of which used dubious and even harmful methods which Boyle relishes in describing. He also tackles the immense amount of money and financing surrounding the breakfast cereal and health food empires, complete with worthless stock certificates from failed companies being hawked by kids to suckers off the train, which feels a little too close to the cryptocurrency mania happening right now. This work also helped wash the bad taste that East is East left in my mouth, which I read earlier this year as our modern society began grappling with how poorly Asian cultures have been portrayed in television, movies, and yes, even literature.
Truman Capote — In Cold Blood
One of two foundational works I read this year. Truman Capote almost establishes true crime as a literary endeavor, rescuing the genre from the dime books and pulp novels that flooded the markets since Industrial London. Capote pushes forward the genre, moving the focus away from the salacious details of the case (although the book is packed with them), and broadening it to examine the effects on each person, as well as each community as a whole. Capote is even brave enough to end with a sly indictment of the justice system itself, questioning its effectiveness in addressing the rise in horrific crimes that came with post-war prosperity. Even the story about the writing of In Cold Blood is fascinating and partially woven into the work itself, although no direct mention of Harper Lee appears. After finishing this iconic work, it is not hard to see how just about every effective true crime documentary has taken their direction in part from In Cold Blood.
Ken Kesey — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The second foundational work I read this year, in which Ken Kesey does for the modern psychiatric hospital narrative what Capote did for the true crime genre. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest reminded me of so many films and stories set within psychiatric hospitals I’ve seen over the years, especially those which try to inject humor and redemption into their narratives. Now I realize all those films owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kesey, for changing and expanding the tone of mental illness in literature. Attempts to censor the book, and Jack Nicholson’s expert portrayal of McMurphy in the film adaptation, helped keep the book influential over the decades. But the film doesn’t (and perhaps can’t) capture the postmodern style of the book’s narrator Bromden and his experience of the events which transpire, a point which lead Kesey to leave involvement with the film. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest also has many blind spots, including flagrant, casual misogyny and racist representations of just about all the non-white characters, including the narrator. It may not take away from Kesey’s correct insight into the institutionalization of mental illness, nor the literary influence from the book in modern society, but it does stick out like a sore thumb when reading the work fifty years later.
Peter Kropotkin — Memoirs of a Revolutionist
Many people today don’t know the name of Peter Kropotkin, a member of the Russian aristocracy who sided with the growing socialist/populist movement in Russia before being exiled to Western Europe. Memoirs of a Revolutionist collects his published memoirs, first serialized in The Atlantic. My personal study of Kropotkin began with The Conquest of Bread, Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution, and Fields Factories & Workshops, but it was reading his memoirs that helped solidify not only his views and philosophies, but the context out of which they developed, both within Russia and throughout Western Europe. Kropotkin’s memoirs cover his childhood, his military education, his bravery during the St. Petersburg fire, his time in Siberia as an intelligence officer and transport ferry captain, his immense scientific contributions, his time among the growing Socialist Revolution in Zurich and Vienna, his first time in prison and escape to Western Europe, his time writing and organizing in England and France, his second prison term in France, and how his views have changed over the years. An amazing story from an amazing mind during a time of great change and upheaval.
H.P. Lovecraft — Supernatural Horror in Literature
My experience with horror fiction began with the classics available in my elementary school book fair. Dracula and Frankenstein were the first two, followed by Poe’s short stories, then checking out Stephen King in my high school library. Throughout college, as I toyed with being a writer, I also read a lot of modern horror novels from King, Straub, Barker, and McCammon, slowly working my way backwards until I discovered Lovecraft, one of my favorite authors despite his problems. This year I finished reading his entire fiction, along with this extended essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, originally serialized in Fantasy Fan. Lovecraft provides an almost direct linkage from Shelley’s Frankenstein to his favorite contemporaneous authors, helping me fill in the remaining gaps between Shelley and King in my personal horror journey, including an introduction to the prolific works of Lord Dunsany, a major influence on Lovecraft, and later, Tolkien. A bittersweet end to my journey through Lovecraft, but I am excited to begin reading Howard’s complete Conan tales and will definitely not miss Lovecraft’s barely concealed racism and xenophobia.
Lucretius — On the Nature of Things
I only got through five of the 100 Most Influential Works this year: Euclid’s Elements; Philo’s Allegorical Interpretation of the Holy Laws; Virgil’s Aeneid; The Dhammapada; and Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things. Out of the five works, the one that comes closest to describing reality is easily On the Nature of Things, a philosophical poem extolling the beauty and simplicity of Epicurean philosophy. Not the foodie philosophy, or not just that, but the larger philosophy of Epicurus, which held that we were all comprised of different combinations of the same elements (atomic theory, periodic table), that the universe was bound by specific forces (gravity, atomic theory), that the world could not rationally have supernatural forces (atheism), and that we must trust our senses in order to understand the world (scientific method). I won’t suggest that Lucretius got everything correct, or that this poem adequately explains all these ideas as we understand them today, but I will say Lucretius not only got the closest prior to the Scientific Revolution during the Roman Empire, but also had the most comprehensive worldview which integrates physical and social sciences, art and literature, and the totality of human experience. Euclid’s Elements may be the most foundational mathematics textbook of all time, but life is so much more than mathematics, and Lucretius patiently points the way forward when so many stoic philosophers, blowhard sophists, and logic-minded theologians were dismissing Epicurean ideals. A short, fascinating read for anyone who is interested in the world.
Solomon Northup — Twelve Years a Slave
I picked up an omnibus of slave narratives at some point in my life, and when recommitting to reading during the pandemic, I wanted to make sure I was reading works that expanded my perspectives and worldview. One deficiency I had growing up in rural Illinois was a terrible education in history, confined to names and dates and skipping over the messier, more complicated parts of United States history, which is why it doesn’t surprise me that some people still believe the Civil War was about “states’ rights” and that one of those rights wasn’t the right to own slaves. Reading this omnibus, along with a comprehensive history of the Jamaican people last year, taught me exactly how the slave trade worked. Twelve Years a Slave brought that lesson home, though, with Northup’s descriptions of being discriminated against simply for his skin color, being chased by slave hunters and lynch mobs, and ending up a slave, a story not unlike those today of black and brown teenagers getting picked up by racist officers and ending up in the prison system awaiting trial. In fact, I would say the parallels between then and now almost perfectly illustrates how the 13th Amendment moved slavery into the prison system. The situations might be different, but the white supremacy and racism and fear remains the same. Slave narratives represent the first truly American literature, and their power and bravery continue to show how far we still have to go. I’m also very much looking forward to seeing the movie now that I’ve heard Northup in his own voice.
Koushun Takami — Battle Royale
The work that defined the genre, both in literature and in video games. I whooped a cry of victory when I saw this sitting on a thrift store bookshelf in great condition. Battle Royale is set in a dystopian world where one class of junior high students is selected every year to fight to the death, based on the popular “professional” wrestling match type of the same name. Each student is given a backpack with supplies, a radio, and a random weapon, then set loose intermittently on the island until only one remains. The novel was written in 1996, but published in 1999, and made into a hella disturbing film in 2000. Since then, we’ve seen different variations on the same theme, including The Hunger Games franchise and clones, an explosion in battle royale games like Fortnite now that networking technology has caught up, and most recently on the small screen, Squid Game. What I appreciated the most about Takami’s novel is that each character receives a full story arc, if not always the same in length or detail, which examines that individual’s role in the structural system. It may not have the extended metaphors or massive character development of The Hunger Games or Squid Game, but it has a unique charm to its narrative almost in spite of the gruesome circumstances each kid endures. It is also a reminder to seek out more Asian voices and perspectives in my future reading.
The Full List
Here is the full list of works I read in 2021, listed in alphabetic order by author, then by publication date. Overall, I read somewhere around 126 different works, ranging in size from short stories and essays to incredibly lengthy tomes. I broke up some works into smaller chunks, like Euclid’s Elements. I combined some shorter works into one, like a few Lovecraft entries. It is probably the most diverse list I have ever read, even if I still can do better. Happy to provide any thoughts in the comments on the rest!
Angelou, Maya — Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?
Angelou, Maya — I Shall Not Be Moved
Atwood, Margaret — Surfacing
Atwood, Margaret — Procedures for Underground
Atwood, Margaret — Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature
Atwood, Margaret — You Are Happy
Baldwin, James — The Amen Corner
Baldwin, James — Notes of a Native Son
Baldwin, James — Giovanni’s Room
Baldwin, James — Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son
Baldwin, James — Another Country
Bartol, Vladimir — Alamut
Bloomfield MD, Harold H. with Felder PhD, Leonard — Making Peace with Your Parents
Boyle, T.C. — World’s End
Boyle, T.C. — If The River Was Whiskey
Boyle, T.C. — East is East
Boyle, T.C. — The Road to Wellville
Bukszpan, David — Is that a Word?
Burford, Lorrimer — A Jamaican Storyteller’s Tale
Burroughs, William S. — Port of Saints
Burroughs, William S. — Roosevelt After Inauguration and Other Atrocities
Burroughs, William S. — Cities of the Red Night
Burroughs, William S. — The Retreat Diaries
Burroughs, William S., Pélieu, Claude, & Weissner, Carl — So Who Owns Death TV?
Butcher, Jim — Ghost Story
Butcher, Jim — Cold Days
Butcher, Jim — Skin Game
Butcher, Jim — Brief Cases
Butler, Octavia E. — Wild Seed
Butler, Octavia E. — Mind of My Mind
Butler, Octavia E. — Clay’s Ark
Butler, Octavia E. — Patternmaster
Camus, Albert — The Stranger
Capote, Truman — In Cold Blood
Carson, Rachel — Silent Spring
Cathcart, Thomas & Klein, Daniel — Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar
Dalai Lama — Ethics for the New Millenium
The Dhammapada
Dick, Philip K. — The Man Who Japed
Dick, Philip K. — The Broken Bubble
Dick, Philip K. — The Variable Man and Other Stories
Dick, Philip K. — Puttering About in a Small Land
Euclid — The Elements
Ferrera, America — American Like Me
Gatewood, Charles & Burroughs, William S. — Sidetripping
Gladwell, Malcolm — Outliers
Gladwell, Malcolm — What The Dog Saw
Gladwell, Malcolm — David and Goliath
Gladwell, Malcolm — Talking to Strangers
Graffin, Greg & Olson, Steve — Anarchy Evolution
Grahame-Smith, Seth — Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Harding, Lee — The Altered I: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Science Fiction Writing Workshop
Jacobs, Harriet — Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Kapleau, Philip — The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment
Kesey, Ken — One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Kerouac, Jack — Dr. Sax
Kerouac, Jack — Maggie Cassidy
Kerouac, Jack — San Francisco Blues
Kerouac, Jack — Mexico City Blues
Kropotkin, Peter — The Conquest of Bread
Kropotkin, Peter — Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution
Kropotkin, Peter — Fields, Factories, and Workshops
Kropotkin, Peter — Memoirs of a Revolutionist
Kropotkin, Peter — In Russian and French Prisons
Lagercrantz, David — The Girl Who Takes An Eye For An Eye
Lagercrantz, David — The Girl Who Lived Twice
Le Guin, Ursula K. — Dreams Must Explain Themselves
Le Guin, Ursula K. — Walking in Cornwall
Lovecraft, H.P. — The Thing on the Doorstep
Lovecraft, H.P. — The Evil Clergyman
Lovecraft, H.P. — The Book
Lovecraft, H.P. — The Shadow Out of Time
Lovecraft, H.P. — The Haunter in the Dark
Lovecraft, H.P. — Juvenilia
Lovecraft, H.P. — Supernatural Horror in Literature
Lucretius — On the Nature of Things
Marciuliano, Francesco — I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats
McDonald, Errol — Legitimate Resistance
Moore, Christopher — A Dirty Job
Moore, Christopher — You Suck: A Love Story
Moore, Christopher — Fool
Moore, Christopher — Bite Me
Morris, Jon — The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains
Mullally, Megan & Offerman, Nick — The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
Nicholson, Hope — The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen
Noah, Trevor — Born a Crime
Northup, Solomon — Twelve Years a Slave
Philo of Alexandria — On the Creation
Philo of Alexandria — Allegorical Interpretation of the Holy Laws
Philo of Alexandria — On the Cherubim
Philo of Alexandria — On the Birth of Abel and the Sacrifices Offered By Him and His Brother Cain
Philo of Alexandria — That the Worse is Wont to Attack the Better
Philo of Alexandria — On the Posterity of Cain and His Exile
Philo of Alexandria — On the Giants
Philo of Alexandria — On the Unchangeableness of God
Philo of Alexandria — On Husbandry
Philo of Alexandria — Concerning Noah’s Work as a Planter
Philo of Alexandria — On Drunkenness
Philo of Alexandria — On the Prayers and Curses Uttered by Noah When He Became Sober
Philo of Alexandria — On the Confusion of Tongues
Salinger, J.D. — The Catcher in the Rye
Sheehan, Neil, et. al. — The Pentagon Papers
Stephenson, Neal — Cryptonomicon
Stephenson, Neal — In the Beginning… was the Command Line
Stephenson, Neal — Reamde
Stephenson, Neal — Some Remarks
Takami, Koushun — Battle Royale
Truss, Lynne — Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Virgil — The Aeneid
Vonnegut, Kurt — Happy Birthday, Wanda June!
Vonnegut, Kurt — Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian
Vonnegut, Kurt — Hocus Pocus
Williams, Saul — The Dead Emcee Scrolls
Williams, Saul — The Seventh Octave
Woolf, Virginia — The Voyage Out
Woolf, Virginia & Haddon, Mark — Two Stories
