Sharing a list of all the books you’ve read over the course of an entire year makes you vulnerable. Not only can you tell a lot about a person’s taste by going over their books, but you can also see their worries and hopes for the future. But let’s be honest, I’m not important and it’s not like there’s a lot of people who care about how I spent 2021, so here’s the list. By the way, I read 49 books (one book I didn’t include on the list) and I started reading the 50th in 2021, but I didn’t finish it in time. Hopefully, that book will be part of next year’s list with 49 others.
Books I Read in 2021
- Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
- Show Your Work: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon
- Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zaretsky
- It’s So Easy and Other Lies by Duff McKagan
- Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
- The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
- Rebel Without a Crew, or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert Rodriguez
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
- Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows that Changed the World of Japanese Animation by Chris Stuckmann
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
- Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
- Fluent Japanese from Anime and Manga: How to Learn Japanese Vocabulary, Grammar and Kanji the Easy and Fun Way by Eric Bodnar
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
- How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life by Catherine Price
- From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars by Virginia Grohl
- The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondo
- Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
- Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing” by Derek Sivers
- Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
- Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your S*it by Condo Messie
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
- Everything is F*cked: A Book about Hope by Marc Manson
- Blood, Sweat and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier
- Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
- The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
- Time-Blocking: Your Method to Supercharge Productivity & Reach Your Goals by Luke Seavers
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
- You Died: The Dark Souls Companion by Keza MacDonald
- 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing: Proven Professional Techniques for Writing With Style and Power by Gary Provost
- The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention and Energy by Chris Baley
- Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
- Hiroshima by John Hersey
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- The Dip: A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit by Seth Godin
- Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
- The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
- Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown
- Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Marie Kondo
- You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too by Tammy Strobel
- Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction by Chris Bailey
- Adventures in Opting Out: A Field Guide to Leading an Intentional Life by Cait Flanders
- Destination: Simple – Rituals and Rhythms for a Simpler Daily Life by McAlary Brooke
- Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
- Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life by Joshua Becker
- The Art of Discarding: How to Get Rid of Clutter and Find Joy by Nagisa Tatsumi
As you can see, there are numerous books about productivity and organizing. There are also a few titles about anime, video games, and even some autobiographies, so there’s something for everybody. As you can see, some books from the list are the best 2021 had to offer, but many were written before.
Finally, I’m more than open to recommendations, so if you have any, leave them in the comments section down below.