Two posts in two days spanning content from two years? You too would be surprised what the human body is capable of when pushed to its upper limtis.
Another quick summary, and some highlights, from my reading consumption in 2021.
The List
- A Dance with Dragons
- The Courage to be Disliked
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
- The Nickel Boys
- Never Let Me Go
- A Visit From the Goon Squad
- Deacon King Kong
- Midnight in Chernobyl
- Wampeters, Foma & Granfaloons
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Leviathan Wakes
- The Girl Who Played with Fire
- Yearbook
- Humble Pi
- Caliban’s War
- Talking to Strangers
- Abaddon’s Gate
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
- The Lovely Bones
Best Series – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
If you’re unfortunate enough to know me in real life, you’ve probably heard me talk about this book. When I finished the first of this trillogy I set the book down in front of me and promptly texted about 6 people to recommend they read it immediately. I (rightfully) got flamed left and right by people who reminded me that this book was a big thing like, twenty years ago, but I don’t care – a book this engaging immediately shot to the top of my favorite books list and has remaind there since. The second and third books of the series are also fantastic, but don’t quite capture the entangled and engrossing plotlines from the first.
Most Incredibly Easy to Confuse Russian Names – Midnight in Chernobyl
Historical non-fiction is not generally my cup of tea. I have a poor memory, and on top of that I also have a poor memory. This is another book that I received as a gift, and one that I deserately wished had some sort of index. Despite being researched to the nines, free of that good old Russian propaganda, and well-written at an accessible level, my tiny pea brain struggled at times to separate which Ivan was which and which Alexander worked where. I will ackowledge here that this is likely because I am American and there were not enough Todds and Tonys in the book for my brain to catalogue and remember.
Book I Retained the Least From – A Dance with Dragons
It turns out that writing like five ten-thousand page long books sometimes confuses a reader, especially a reader who just acknowledged a need for Todds and Tonys, of which there are zero in this book. Between the show’s conclusion a few years back and me catching up on the books ove the course of 1.5 years, things were lost. I couldn’t tell you where this book left off. I don’t remember where the plot of the books deviated from the plot of the show. The first time I watched GoT, I thought that Jon Snow and Robb Stark were the same person for like three episodes.
Best Book Not by Steig Larsen – Deacon King Kong
Top tier book right here. Do highly recommend.