Goodreads--an excellent app for book people--is where I keep track of what I've read. At the end of the year, they aggregate everything I've read into a list with stats. I enjoy looking it over and mildly evaluating what was worthwhile reading, and what what wasn't. Then, I pick my favorite book of the year. One year it was The Boys In the Boat by Daniel James Brown, and another year, it was When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Both are excellent books, and both are memoirs.
My favorite book of 2021 is also a memoir. It is a book about a young boy who flees a wealthy life in Iran with his mother and sister. They wash up in Oklahoma living hand to mouth. It is called Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. It is poignant and notable. It talks a lot about poop. 🤓 It made me laugh at his adventures, while my heart squeezed painfully at his bewilderment and isolation. I think I liked it so much because it gave me insight to being a stranger in a strange land. That strange land is my country.
This year I discovered Becky Chambers. She writes science fiction. Her strength is in imagination and character development. There are two reasons I wanted to read her book: 1) science fiction by a woman and 2) the title: A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1).
Thank you 2021 for many good books and the time to read them!
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