2021 Year In Review

Another year comes to a close. I had three goals this year: read 52 books, walk or run 2021 miles, and identify 221 species.

I didn’t make it to 52 books this year! I only read 36, as an exciting life was good to me and pulled me in lots of other directions. Next year I hope to return to 52. My three favorite books from 2021:

Parable of the Talents: I read this for a book club with college friends, and realized how stupid I was for not reading Butler before this. We followed it with Parable of the Sower, and I am excited to read more by her.

Solitary: A memoir by one of the Angola Three, men unjustly held in solitary confinement for decades. He shows incredible resilience and strength through this decades-long torture. An inspiration, and a reminder of the horrors of prison, and particularly solitary.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Exit West was one of my favorite books of 2018, but I didn’t read another book by Hamid until this year. His books are captivating and innovative.

Of the 36 books I read, 16 were fiction and 20 were nonfiction, the highest percentage nonfiction since 2018. I gave one book two stars, nine books three stars, 18 books four stars, and eight books five stars. For the second year in a row the majority of the books I read were by authors of color, and for the third year in a row, the majority of the books I read were by women.

The oldest book I read was Home to Harlem, which was published in 1928, and I read three books published in 2021. The shortest book I read was What we Know About Climate Change at 85 pages, and the longest book I read was A Promised Land at 768 pages. According to Goodreads, the most popular book I read was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and the least popular was The Autobiography of Medgar Evers.

I initiated a book club with friends in December of 2020, and we read and discussed three books in 2021 (and a spinoff group read and discussed a fourth). I look forward to continuing this club in 2022 (and have already read the first book we are discussing!).

As always, I strongly prefer to read recommendations of friends and acquaintances, so please, please email me to chat books. I would love to hear what you have to say.

My second goal was to walk or run 2021 miles in 2021. I achieved this on November 3rd, and totaled 2279 miles for the year, up from 2208 in 2020. 60% of these miles were in the first half of the year, as I was running a lot. I think achieving 2022 miles in 2022 should again be achievable, as I train to run in the Boston Marathon April 18th.

My third goal (my new goal in 2021) was to identify 221 species. This meant I carried my binoculars and field guide around far more than my loved ones would have preferred, but I really enjoyed learning so much. I grew increasingly enamored with birdwatching, and identified 168 bird species. I identified only two fungi, because I have no confidence and didn’t have the time to ensure that my few other identifications were correct. I identified 24 animals and 54 plants, rounding out my 248 total species for the year. I am looking forward to remembering so of what I learned in 2021, as well as learning lots more, to identify 222 species in 2022.

My final goal for 2022 is to write 222 letters and postcards. If you want one, email me!

P.S. To complete my book reviews for the year, I will note I only read one book in December of 2021, and it was Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall. I was really hoping to love this book, but it fell flat for me on writing style. I agree with everything the author was saying, and believe in the power of feminism as a lens through which to analyze intersectional issues, but was not captured by the writing. 50/100