Book List 2021

Books Read in 2021

The books are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 stars with links to summary reviews. (A) is for audiobook.

Here’s a thumbnail of what the ratings mean:

• 5 stars – all-time classic (I’m very stingy with these)
• 4 stars – a particularly interesting, well-written, or important book
• 3 stars – a good book from start to finish
• 2 stars – not a good book on the whole but has some good parts
• 1 star or less – basically a bad book with no redeeming values

January

• Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz (A) – *****
• Thrawn by Timothy Zahn (A) – ****
• Entrepreneurs: The Boston Business Community, 1700-1850 ed. Conrad Edick Wright and Katheryn P. Viens – ***
• Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri Greenidge – ****
• Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
• Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (A) – ***

February

• The Golden Child by Claire Adam (A) – ***1/2
• Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn (A) – ****
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien – *****
• Jazz by Toni Morrison – *****
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (A) – ****

March

• The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin (A) – ****
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (A) – *****

April

• The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (A) – ***1/2
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead – ***1/2
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (A) –  ***
• Paradise by Toni Morrison (A) – ***

May

• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2
• Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
• The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2

June

• The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan (A) – ***
• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan – ***1/2
• Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid – ***
• The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2021 by Seth Kubersky – ***
• The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***
• 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline – ***
• Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
• Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt by Marc DeMatteis, illustrated by Mike Zeck – ***1/2

July

• The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek – **
• Love by Toni Morrison (A) -****
• Marvel Select – The Life Of Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl, Carlos Pacheco – ***
• Greater Good by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2

August

• Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link – **1/2
• The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (A) –  ***1/2
• Women and the City by Sarah Deustch – ***
• Humankind by Rutger Bregman (A) – ****
• The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan (A) – ****
• The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan – ****
• The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan – ****
• The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps by Stephen J. Hornsby – ***1/2
• Eager by Ben Goldfarb (A) – ****

September

• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (A) – ****
• The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson (A) – **
• From a Certain Point of View : Star Wars (A) – ***1/2

October

• The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett (A) – ***
• Revolution Song by Russell Short (A) – ***1/2
• Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein (A) –  ***1/2
• Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (A) – ****1/2

November

• Sinatra! The Song is You by Will Friedwald –  ****
• Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper (A) – ***1/2
• Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres
  by Kelefa Sanneh (A) – ****
• Prisnms by Gart St. Omer – **

December

• Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (A) – ***1/2
• This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – ***1/2
• The China Mirage by James Bradley – ***
• A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (A) –  ****
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert – ***1/2
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (A) – ***1/2