2021 Reading List

Every year, starting in 2020, I have compiled a list of the books that got me through the year. Typically, and this year was no exception, I read books for religious study, fiction, even books I’ve read before. Books from all over the place, from recommendations or a book that screams at me from the shelf at a book store. 2021 was a great year for reading.

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Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck — Mark Manson

I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend. I found it at Target of all places, not exactly a haven for books worth picking up.

Mark Manson takes you on a journey of removing the crap from your life, because at the end of the day why do we care how we measure up when it relates to the rest of the world? Most importantly, let’s just be ourselves.

Mark talks about how having a plan to make something better than something similar out there can lead to its own disappointment, which in itself can lead to an obsession, which in turn can lead to its own disappointment. It’s all a sad cycle. When we learn to remove expectations, things get a lot better for us.

I’m being vague about this book here. That’s intentional. I’m telling you what to expect, but I want you to experience it for yourself. You’ll thank me later.

God Bless You Dr. Kavorkian — Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut has for a long time been one of my favorite authors. His wit, his humor, his satire, his general writing ability, and his storytelling, have always drawn me in.

I first read God Bless You Dr. Kavorkian in college. It reads in a day, easy.

We find the narrator going on a series of near-death experiences, aided by Dr. Kavorkian, where he is able to have one last interview with famous figures.

This is of course a satire of Dr. Kavorkian’s work as the project takes place in the execution chamber of the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, TX.

If I were afforded the opportunity, Mr. Vonnegut would be my choice/destination for one last interview.

Inbound Marketing — Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

Ever since I discovered the principles of Inbound Marketing around 7 years ago, I’ve used these methods as a foundation for how I conduct business. It makes sense really. The last thing you want to do is interrupt a customer’s day at the wrong time of day. Inbound Marketing, the book, lays out the points of inbound for a new user or a seasoned professional, or anyone in between. I reread it, not necessarily every year, but often enough to get a refresher. Once you get the proper foundations in place it is easy to navigate the book and skip some areas that don’t always apply.

A New Kind of Christian — Brian D. McClaren

This is one of the books I bought years ago and carried with me before I finally read it. Remember Blue Like Jazz from the 2020 list? I’ve been going through some spiritual rebirth and discovery lately, so it finally felt the right time to pick it up and give it a try. I couldn’t put it down. Brian takes the reader through his own journey of asking questions about faith. As a pastor, these questions weighed a little heavier than ours.

Fortunately for Brian, and like a lot of us, he almost by accident finds a mentor who pushes him almost to his limits, to think about these heavy questions. Neo, the mentor, leads us on this journey of questions and sometimes finding our own answers in the post-modern church. Post-modern Christianity is not a new thing by any means, but I think it is good for anyone on this journey to go through this set of questions and growth.

Searching for God Knows What — Donald Miller

Around the time I bought Blue Like Jazz, I found Searching for God Knows What. I like the title right away. We’re all searching for something, and only God knows what the answer is. This book is a great continuation or companion piece to Blue Like Jazz. Miller writes that “being a Christian is more like falling in love than understanding a series of ideas.” This is a great book for anyone on their journey.

A Generous Orthodoxy — Brian D. McClaren

The title is longer, but I didn’t want to take an entire article with the title. What Brian does in this book is explore how every type of Christian, every version of Jesus he has encountered, even non-Christians, has influenced and shaped who he is as a Christian. It’s an interesting book as a follow-up to A New Kind of Christian. This is also a book that I bought over a decade ago while living at a bible college in Estes Park, CO. It finally spoke to me from its current place on the shelf and I picked it up to read. It gets heavy at times, but I like that. It’s hard to dive into a lot of these topics without getting heavy. If you, like me, are on a spiritual journey I cannon recommend this book enough.

The Great Gatsby — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Saved the best for last, or did I? Like most of us, I read The Great Gatsby for the first time in high school. I wasn’t wowed by it. At the time, I thought maybe I was too young to really appreciate it. This is my third read-through. The second was on a trip to Paris a few years ago. It seemed appropriate at the time. I decided to close out 2021 with another read-through. Twenty years after my first read-through and I still don’t get it. I remember being told in high school that this is considered Fitzgerald’s greatest work. I thought then, as I do now, that I don’t think I would want to read any of his other books. I have never found any of the characters to be relatable, save for Nick, the narrator, who happens to separate himself from the rest of the characters by the end. The novel is well written and is obviously written about a certain moment in time. Aside from that, none of the characters or events made me want to be friends with them or a part of their scene. It made me sad honestly.

2021 was a good year for reading. I have already started on my reading list for 2022 and can’t wait to get through these books so that I can share them with you next year. I’d love to hear about with you are reading as well.