2021 Year of Reading -- Non-Fiction

 2021 MEMOIRS, ESSAYS, and OTHER NON-FICTION

Liz Alterman

Sad Sacked: A Memoir (audiobook via Audible)

Sam Anderson

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Ist Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis  

(audiobook via Libby)

Maeve Binchy

Maeve's Times (audiobook via Libby)

Cheryl Diamond

Nowhere Girl: A Memoir of a Fugitive Childhood (audiobook via Hoopla)

 

Oonagh Duncan

Healthy as F*ck: The Habits You Need to Get Lean, Stay Healthy, and Kick Ass at Life 

(audiobook via Hoopla)

 

Emma Forrest

Your Voice in My Head (audiobook via Hoopla)

Danielle Henderson

The Ugly Cry (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Carl Hiaasen

The Downhill Life: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport (audiobook via CloudLibrary) 

Olivia Hussey

The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet (audiobook via Audible)

 

Marian Keyes

Making It Up As I Go Along (audiobook via Hoopla)

Joseph Langford

I Thirst: 40 Days with Mother Teresa (paperback)

Michael Leviton 

To Be Honest (audiobook via Hoopla) 

 

Andrew McCarthy

Brat: An 80s Story (ebook via CloudLibrary) 

Matthew McConaughey

Greenlights (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Hayley Mills

Forever Young (audiobook via Audible)

 

Amanda Montell

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (audiobook via Audible) 

 

Elizabeth Passarella

Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York

 

Ann Patchett

These Precious Days: Essays (audiobook via Audible) 

Tom Rath

It's Not About You: A Brief Guide to a Meaningful Life (audiobook via Audible Included)

Seth Rogen

Yearbook (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Maggie Rowe

Sin Bravely: My Great Escape from Evangelical Hell (audiobook via Hoopla)

Sara Schaefer

Grand: A Memoir (audiobook via Audible)

 

David Sedaris

A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 (audiobook via Audible)

Themes and Variations (audiobook via Audible Included) 

 

Maggie Smith

Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change (hardcover)

 

Ray Studevent

Black Sheep: A Blue-Eyed Negro Speaks of Abandonment, Belonging, Racism, and Redemption (audiobook via Hoopla) 

Laura Tremaine

Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level 

(ebook via CloudLibrary)

Nina Willner

Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall 

(audiobook via Hoopla)

Michelle Zauner

Crying in H Mart (audiobook via Libby)

 

 

 

An (*) indicates a reread.  All ebooks are purchased on sale via the Kindle Store or checked out from the e-offerings of the Elmhurst Public Library.  All audiobooks are from Audible.com or the Elmhurst Public Library's e-offerings (Hoopla and Libby Apps).

2021 Year of Reading -- Fiction

 2021 FICTION 

Sara Nisha Adams

The Reading List (audiobook via Audible)

 

Kate Albus

A Place to Hang the Moon (library book)

Dolly Alderton

Ghosts (library book)

Kristen Arnett

With Teeth (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Mateo Askaripour

Black Buck (ebook via CloudLibrary)

 

Ashley Audrain

The Push (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Jane Austen

Persuasion* (audiobook via Hoopla) 

Chandler Baker

Oh. What. Fun.  (audiobook via Audible)

Jenny Bayliss

A Season for Second Chances (ebook via CloudLibrary)

 

Maeve Binchy

The Glass Lake* (audiobook via Hoopla)

Scarlet Feather* (audiobook via Hoopla) 

 

Matt Boren

Brackish Waters (audiobook via Audible Included)

Katy Birchall

The Secret Bridesmaid (ebook via CloudLibrary)

Laura Blackett

The Very Nice Box (audiobook via Audible)

 

Holly Bourne

Pretending (audiobook via Hoopla)

 

C.J. Box

Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) (audiobook via Libby) 

Melissa Broder

Milk Fed (audiobook via Libby)

 

Alafair Burke

The Wife (audiobook via Hoopla) 

 

Frances Burney

Evelina (audiobook via Hoopla) 

Mary H.K. Choi

Yolk (ebook via CloudLibrary)

Diane Clarke

Thin Girls (audiobook via Hoopla)

Molly Clavering

Love Comes Home (ebook via Kindle Store)

Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer (ebook via Kindle Store)

 

Kate Clayborn

Love at First (audiobook via Hoopla) 

Jenny Colgan

The Christmas Bookshop (audiobook via Audible)

 

Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1) (ebook via CloudLibrary) 

Sophie Cousens

This Time Next Year (paperback)

Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me (hardcover)

 

Jen DeLuca

Well Matched (Well Met #3)

 

Trish Doller

Float Plan (audiobook via Hoopla)

Emma Duffy-Comparone 

Love Like That: Stories (ebook via Libby)

 

Jesse Eisenberg

When You Finish Saving the World (audiobook via Audible)

Helen Ellis

American Housewife (hardcover)

 

Elizabeth Fair

The Mingham Air (ebook via Hoopla)

A Winter Away (ebook via Kindle Store)

 

Virginia Felton

Mrs. March (ebook via CloudLibrary) 

Linda Rui Feng

Swimming Back to Trout River (audiobook via Libby)

Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary (And Other Writing): 25th Anniversary Edition (hardcover)

Kate Forster

The Best Worst Christmas (audiobook via Audible)

Jonathan Franzen

Crossroads (audiobook via Audible)

  

Tana French

The Searcher (audiobook via Libby)

The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad #6) (audiobook via Libby)

The Witch Elm (audiobook via Libby) 

 

Elyssa Friedland

Last Summer at the Golden Hotel (audiobook via Audible) 

Emma Gannon

Olive (audiobook via Hoopla)

 

Mike Gayle

All the Lonely People (audiobook via Audible)

Laurie Gelman

Yoga Pant Nation (Class Mom #3) (library book)

Jasmine Guillory

While We Were Dating (Wedding Date #6) (ebook via CloudLibrary)

 

Karina Halle

The Royals Next Door (ebook via Libby)

 

Joe Halstead

West Virginia (audiobook via Hoopla)

Laura Hankin

A Special Place for Women (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Rebecca Hardiman

Good Eggs (ebook via CloudLibrary)

Jane Harper

The Survivors (audiobook via Audible)

Zakiya Dalila Harris

The Other Black Girl (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Rachel Hawkins

The Wife Upstairs (audiobook via Hoopla) 

 

Katherine Heiny

Early Morning Riser (audiobook via Audible)

 

Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation (hardcover)

 

Sally Hepworth

The Good Sister (hardcover)

 

Kristan Higgins

Pack Up the Moon (library book) 

Elin Hilderbrand

Golden Girl (hardcover)

The Sixth Wedding (28 Summers #1.5) (ebook via Kindle Store)

Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Angie Hockman

Shipped (audiobook via Audible) 

 

Natalie Jenner

The Jane Austen Society (hardcover)

Lisa Jewell

Invisible Girl (audiobook via Libby)

Abby Jiminez

Life's Too Short (The Friend Zone #3) (ebook via Libby)

Sandie Jones

The Half Sister (audiobook via Libby)

Claire Keegan

Small Things Like These (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Lindsey Kelk

We Were On a Break (ebook via Kindle) 

 

Lily King

Five Tuesdays in Winter (audiobook via Audible)

Stephen King

Later (audiobook via Libby) 

 

Jean Hanff Korelitz

The Plot (audiobook via Libby) 

William Kent Krueger

Ordinary Grace (paperback)

Dorothy Lambert

Much Dithering (ebook via Kindle Store)

 

Tracey Lange

We Are the Brennans (hardcover)

 

Allison Larkin

The People We Keep (hardcover) 

Christina Lauren

The Soulmate Equation (audiobook via Libby)

 

Mary Lawson

A Town Called Solace (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Emily Layden

All Girls (audiobook via Hoopla)

Lauren Layne

To Sir, with Love (ebook via CloudLibrary)

 

Jenny Lee

Anna K: Away (Anna K#2) (audiobook via Hoopla)

Alex Light

The Upside of Falling (ebook via Kindle Prime Reading)

Emma Lord

You Have a Match (audiobook via Hoopla)

Claire Luchette

Agatha of Little Neon (audiobook via Hoopla)

 

Portia Macintosh

Faking It (audiobook via Hoopla)

Life's A Beach (audiobook via Hoopla)

Will They, Won't They? (audiobook via Hoopla)

 

Meg Mason

Sorrow and Bliss (audiobook via Audible)

 

Mhairi McFarlane

Just Last Night (audiobook via Audible)

Who's That Girl? (audiobook via Audible) 

You Had Me At Hello (audiobook via Audible)

 

Dervla McTiernan

The Sisters (Cormac Reilly, #0.5) (audiobook via Audible)

The Roommate (Cormac Reilly, #0.7) (audiobook via Audible)

 

Mameve Medwed

Minus Me (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Denise Mina

The Less Dead (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Beth Moran

Christmas Every Day (audiobook via Audible)

 

Liane Moriarty

Apples Never Fall (audiobook via Audible) 

Julie Murphy

If The Shoe Fits (Meant to Be #1) (ebook via Hoopla)

Matthew Norman

All Together Now (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet (hardcover) 

 

Beth O'Leary

The Road Trip (audiobook via Audible)

Louise Penny

The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Gamache #17) (audiobook via Audible)

Christina Pishiris

Love Songs for Skeptics (audiobook via Hoopla)

Julia Quinn

The Viscount Who Loved Me  (Bridgertons #2) (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3) (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (Bridgertons #4) (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Kirthana Ramisetti

Dava Shastri's Last Day (audiobook via Audible)

Penny Reid

Kissing Tolstoy (audiobook via Audible Included)

Beauty and the Mustache (audiobook via Audible Included) 

 

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Malibu Rising (hardcover)

Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You (audiobook via Audible)

Jane L. Rosen

Eliza Starts a Rumor (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Rainbow Rowell

Kindred Spirits (audiobook via Audible)

 

Kate Russo

Super Host (audiobook via CloudLibrary) 

J.D. Salinger

Nine Stories* (paperback)

 

R.C. Sherriff

The Fortnight in September (paperback)

Laura Silverman

Recommended for You (library book)

 

Rachel Lynn Solomon

The Ex Talk (ebook via CloudLibrary) 

Marissa Stapley

Lucky (audiobook via Libby)

 

Brina Starler

Anne of Manhattan (library book) 

Domenico Starnone

Trust (ebook via Hoopla)

 

D.E. Stevenson

Smouldering Fire (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Vittoria Cottage (Dering Family #1) (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Mrs. Tim Flies Home (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Music in the Hills (Dering Family #2) (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Winter and Rough Weather (Dering Family #3) (audiobook via CloudLibrary) 

Elizabeth Strout

Oh William!  (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

J. Courtney Sullivan

Model Home (audiobook via Audible)

 

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Good Company (audiobook via Audible)

 

Sally Thorne

Second First Impressions (audiobook via Audible) 

Amor Towles

The Lincoln Highway (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

Lacie Waldon

The Layover  (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Dawnie Walton

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (hardcover)

 

Jennifer Weiner

That Summer (hardcover)

 

Lauren Weisberger

Where the Grass is Green and the Girls Are Pretty (audiobook via Audible) 

Denise Williams

How to Fail at Flirting (ebook via CloudLibrary)

Kerry Winfrey

Very Sincerely Yours (ebook via CloudLibrary)

 

Rachel Yoder 

Nightbitch (audiobook via CloudLibrary)

 

Samantha Young

Much Ado About You (audiobook via Audible)

 

An (*) indicates a reread.  All ebooks are purchased on sale via the Kindle Store or checked out from the e-offerings of the Elmhurst Public Library.  All audiobooks are from Audible.com or the Elmhurst Public Library's e-offerings (Hoopla, Cloud Library or Libby/Digital Library of Illinois).

2021 Reading Highlights

You know what they say about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. 

Prepare yourself for an imperfect look at my best reading experiences of 2021.  I can't promise to do these books justice.  I can't promise that you'll love the same books I love.  I can promise that if you're a middle-aged, Midwestern suburban mom, you'll be able to find at least one book you'll enjoy (and probably more).

 

2021 Fiction Highlights 

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason -- the torture of mental illness but with wit and humor and one beautiful moment of generosity

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell -- gorgeous writing, imagines the life of Shakespeare's beloved, deceased son Hamnet and his mother

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny -- community, an expansive view of family, the extraordinary ordinary

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan -- short Christmas book set in 1985 Ireland, hard but also beautiful

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson -- the lifts and limits of small town life

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout -- Strout is a genius.  Third book of a series that begins with My Name is Lucy Barton 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles -- A Great American Story (caps necessary) of friendship and brotherhood, my heart swelled

The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff -- British classic and the loveliest novel of an ordinary family on holiday

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty -- parents, siblings, spouses, tennis ... Moriarty at her (recent) best

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder -- if new motherhood was tough for you, this story of a mom who becomes (sort of) a dog may resonate with you, it won't be everyone's cup of tea but it worked for me

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle -- British setting, sometimes hard but a heartwarming story of community and connection

The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett -- an IKEA-esque product designer reckons with her past, very unique 

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand -- Elin did it again!  Probably my favorite of her last five books.

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett -- woman struggles in life, love, parenthood ... really strong writing and scenes that have stuck with me ... another one that won't be everyone's cup of tea

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz -- literary mystery that is perfectly plotted!

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi -- baggage, sisterhood, NYC, Texas

The Push by Ashley Audrain -- read this book early in the year and am still thinking about it, guaranteed to shake you up

 

2021 Non-Fiction Highlights

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett -- perfect collection of essays by a national treasure ... it's the follow up to This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage so read that gem first

Boom Town:  The Fantasical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis by Sam Anderson -- everything you didn't know that you wanted and needed to know about OKC, you will be rapt, excellent storytelling

Keep Moving by Maggie Smith -- short book for anyone who needs a dose of inspiration and courage 

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell -- I wanted more but still enjoyed this look at various cultish groups, movements, companies, MLMs, etc.

Crying in the H Mart by Michelle Zauner -- beautiful memoir of a mother and daughter, music, persistence, food

The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport by Carl Hiaasen -- you may not know that I am obsessed with golf (despite being closer to terrible than decent at it) ... Hiaasen's memoir of his return to the game had me nodding my head like yeah

 

"Jump Right In" Reads 

I feel uncomfortable when someone recommends a book and says, "but it's just a fluffy beach book" since I'd cut off my big toe to be able to write a book that someone would be willing to read on her vacation.  So anyway, the books below are not "beach books" but books that would be easy to jump right into any time you need to be transported into a story that's satisfying but not too heavy.  They're in no particular order.

The G-Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Good Eggs by Rebecca Hardiman

Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane Rosen

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (BTW, the most delightful author to follow on Instagram)

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall

Yoga Pant Nation by Laurie Gelman (read Class Mom and You've Been Volunteered first)

Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

 

Final Thoughts

This booklist is not intended to be a flex.  Reading is my (unpaid) life's work.  A lot of my reading is via audiobook (and no, I'm not interested in discussions about whether audiobooks "count") and that has been especially true this past year, which has been frequently stressful and sometimes shitty and did not lend itself to as many cozy hours in a chair with a book as I'd have liked.  All of this is just to say if you read even one book you enjoyed this past year, that's enough. 

I find so many wonderful ebooks and audiobooks, including new releases, through the awesome Elmhurst Public Library.  If you haven't explored the digital options at your local library, make it a priority!!!  Also, I have been an Audible subscriber since 2003 and have been so pleased with the "bonus" content (more and more each month) that they offer in addition to monthly credits (which I use for new releases I don't want to wait to read).  

I couldn't make myself put together a collage of book covers so I hope you enjoy the beautiful scene from our mountain vacation.

I'm still thinking about my 2022 reading goals so stay tuned.

If you're waiting on my 2019 and 2020 Reading Highlights, please continue waiting until I find the notebooks where I collected my thoughts.

I hope to write more in 2022, but just in case I don't, you can more reliably find my bookish content on Instagram.  I'm @booksandcarbs and would love to connect with you there.

Please share your recent reading highlights in the comments!