What I Read This Year

It was another excellent reading year in which I met my goal to read more than 50 books in 2021. As the pandemic continued to plague us¹, I found myself drawn toward re-reading a number of books that I had read before. There is definitely comfort to be found in the familiar. On top of the books I read this year, I was no less inveterate with the amount of news articles and blog posts that I consumed. Although, in-keeping with another of my goals, I avoided as much doom-leaden news as I could.

1. Aurelius, Marcus: Meditations (r²)
2. Dahl, Roald: Fantastic Mr. Fox (r)
3. Dahl, Roald: Danny the Champion of the World
4. Dexter, Colin: The Dead of Jericho
5. Dexter, Colin: The Riddle of The Third Mile
6. Dexter, Colin: The Secret of Annexe 3
7. Dexter, Colin: The Wench is Dead
8. Dexter, Colin: The Jewel That Was Ours
9. Dexter, Colin: The Way Through the Woods
10. Dexter, Colin: The Daughters of Cain
11. Dexter, Colin: Death is Now My Neighbour
12. Dexter, Colin: The Remorseful Day

13. Flea: Acid for the Children
14. Glei, Jocelyn K.: Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done
15. Kiedis, Anthony (with Larry Sloman): Scar Tissue (r)
16. King, Stephen: On Writing
17. Kureishi, Hanif: The Buddha of Suburbia (r)
18. le Carré, John: The Looking Glass War
19. Murakami, Haruki: Sputnik Sweetheart
20. Murakami, Haruki: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle³
21. Packer, Dr J. I., et al (Ed): Holy Bible (ESV) (r)
22. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone⁴ (r)
23. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (r)
24. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (r)
25. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (r)
26. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (r)
27. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (r)
28. Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (r)
29. Rowling, J. K.: Tales of Beadle the Bard
30. Shakespeare, William: Macbeth (r)

31. Simenon, Georges: Pietr the Latvian⁵
32. Simenon, Georges: The Late Monsieur Gallet
33. Simenon, Georges: The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien
34. Simenon, Georges: The Carter of Le Providence
35. Simenon, Georges: The Yellow Dog
36. Simenon, Georges: Night at the Crossroads
37. Simenon, Georges: A Crime in Holland
38. Simenon, Georges: The Grand Banks Café
39. Simenon, Georges: A Man’s Head
40. Simenon, Georges: The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin
41. Simenon, Georges: The Two-Penny Bar
42. Simenon, Georges: The Shadow Puppet
43. Simenon, Georges: The Saint-Fiacre Affair
44. Simenon, Georges: The Flemish House
45. Simenon, Georges: The Madman of Bergerac
46. Simenon, Georges: The Misty Harbour
47. Simenon, Georges: Liberty Bar
48. Simenon, Georges: Lock No. 1
49. Simenon, Georges: Maigret
50. Simenon, Georges: Cécile is Dead
51. White, T. H.: The Sword in the Stone
52. Wolf, Virgina: A Room of One’s Own

In 2022, I intend to continue my journey with the inimitable Inspector Maigret; immerse myself in George Smiley‘s battle with his nemesis Karla; and return to the fantastical realms of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Tolkein’s Middle-earth.

1. Pun definitely intended.[↩]
2. (r) Indicates ‘re–reading’.[↩]
3. Easily the most enjoyable, strange and challenging book I read this year.[↩]
4. Revisiting the world of Harry Potter during the summer holiday epitomises the pull towards comfort that I felt this year.[↩]
5. Having completed the Martin Beck series last year and the Inspector Morse series early this year. I needed to select the next detective, whose world I could lose myself within. I settled on Georges Simenon’s Jules Maigret and have not been disappointed. I am already 20 books in to the series of 75 currently available from Penguin.[↩]