Happy New Year, everyone!

There’s no more convenient time to reorient yourselves than the new year. On New Year’s Day, Holly and I spent the morning discussing our hopes and aspirations for the coming twelve months. We even spent the afternoon and evening putting some of our goals to practice. It was bliss. Time stands still for a day or two before the hustle of the new semester threatens to capture all of our attention.

And while I love looking forward, I also look back in wonder over such an unforgettable year. In fact, so much happened this year* that my reading goal took a major backseat this past year. While I only read about half as many books as I did last year, I still found a handful that were 5-star reads for me. I’m happy to continue our tradition and share with you my favorite books of 2021:

*= Including a graduation, a brief stint in corporate leadership at a company you are all familiar with, almost changing careers, instead taking on more clients than ever, moving across the country, our new program making BOA Grand National Semifinals… it was by far the most eventful year of my life.

Fiction

I did not spend much time reading fiction this year. But of bunch I did read, here were my favorites:

Leviathan Wakes- James S.A. Corey

Has this ever happened to you: 

A confidant recommends to you a TV show that they love. As you go to watch it, you then discover that it is also a highly lauded book series? I just can’t bring myself to watch the shows until I read the books. And that’s exactly what sucked me in to The Expanse book series.

Corey (a pen name for a pair of George RR Martin’s former writing assistants) find(s) their niche in the sci-fi genre in such an imaginative way. Instead of near-future or far-future sci-fi, Leviathan Wakes opens to humanity spanning the solar system. But we are still ignorant to the far depths of space. It (at least for me) is the birth of medium-future sci-fi, a subgenre largely unexplored. They pose questions about life outside of the solar system, and question where the lines of humanity blur as we begin our interstellar expansion. Some would call this Game of Thrones in space, which is an acceptable explanation for a new reader. But it doesn’t capture the hollywood-esque grandeur of the story. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how this could translate to an unforgettable TV series.

Uzumaki- Junji Ito

I was craving suspense early in the year. After some research on what to read, I decided to branch out and try reading manga. While graphic novels captivated teenage Jordan, I shunned manga entirely.  I didn’t want to be attached to the stigma of manga readers. But after discovering Ito’s The Enigma of Amigara Fault, I was instantly hooked on this bizarre and unusual combination of storytelling elements. Uzumaki is often considered his magnum opus, and after the first chapter, it’s clear why.

This story will make you squirm. It will keep you guessing until the final panel and when the story is done toying with you, it will bury itself in your head for a long time after. Even writing this review brings back memories of unforgettable moments discovered in the panels of this book. Lesson learned: never let what others think of you drive your decisions. You never know what wonderful things you might be missing. If you are looking for novelty in your reading this year, this is my fiction pick of the year.

It- Stephen King

Ito didn’t quell my thirst for suspense, it added fuel to the fire. And to me, there are few books as satisfyingly suspenseful as Stephen King’s ultimate classic. This was one of the only books I reread in 2021. You will find a whole host of complaints by critics of “It”. For one, It is an endlessly long book spanning two separate generations (plus one-off chapters spanning another hundred years or so of history). But some of the complaints are what make It so charming. It reminds me of the film “The Shawshank Redemption” in its iconic nature. While it is long-spanning, every new “scene” is its own classic unforgettable scene. And that’s essentially what most of the book is. Even at its unbelievably long page count, It moves on and on from one classic moment to another at breakneck speed. 

Nonfiction

If you’ve read my past book reviews, it won’t surprise you to hear that I read substantially more nonfiction books this year. I love to learn, and there’s just no better way than with the words of brilliant people put to action. These are the nonfiction books I rated as 5-stars in 2021:

Peak Performance- Brad Stulberg & Steve Magness

Oh, look! I’ve reviewed this one before! I won’t say much about this one that I didn’t before. This book is remarkably actionable, and I specifically read this one again to redefine my purpose for a program that I founded in 2021. I never finish this book without action, and to me that makes it about as impactful a book as one could read.

A Promised Land- Barack Obama

This was my first read of the year as it had just recently been released. I read a good share of historical biographies and nonfiction. This book stands above most in two distinct ways:

One is personal: these moments leading up to and including his presidency are vivid, not some story about founding fathers generations past. They feel fresh and elicit a different set of feelings than stories of a past unexperienced.

The second, oratorial. Of the presidential writings I’ve read, it’s hard to say any do a better job at explaining nuance and their logic more clearly than Barack. In one way he is succinct, you will understand his view clearly. On the other hand he is endlessly meticulously detailed. It outlines only towards the end of his first term in office, and a second book is on its way. 

The Art of Learning- Josh Waizkin

For most of the year, this one was my pick for book of the year. Josh achieved the rank of chess International Master by age 16, the same year that the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer” released detailing his early years of life. He then left his chess prodigy days behind early and then devoted his life to a new art: Tai Chi. Josh would ultimately become a world champion Tai Chi master as well. 

The Art of Learning is filled with frameworks for learning and performance psychology that draws from Josh’s autobiographical retelling of his life as masters of both arts. I could write pages of advice and actions I’ve taken from this book. If you are eager to learn how to learn better: read this book.

On Writing- Stephen King

This book has nested near the top of my “to read” pile for 3 years now. Stephen King speaks to me as an artist. His work is almost exclusively referred to as “imperfect” or “beautiful messes”. I praise his unfathomable consistency to pump out books over his decades-long career. After finishing “It”, I knew it was time to crack this one open. 

Much like The Art of Learning, this book serves as one-half autobiography, one half deconstruction of his craft. But instead of learning to learn, Stephen gives his best advice on his writing process. It is a beautiful book, I see his praise and critiques in every book I’ve read since. I even catch myself rewriting blogs based on some of his key advice (I’m not especially good at his rule to “never use adverbs”. If you retrace this blog you’ll discover that I use adverbs frequently… oh wait… oops).

Letters to a Young Athlete- Ray Allen

I am a teacher to my core, and I’ve discovered some of the most inspired lessons for my students in the books of great basketball coaches. So color me both unsurprised and equally shocked to discover this absolute pinnacle of writing from legendary basketball star Ray Allen. 

Ray played as the third man in LeBron James’ Big 3 with the Miami Heat. Not a coach, but rather an actual superstar. But Ray smashes my preconceived notions of athletes in Letters. Ray’s writing style is masterful, the themes of each chapter simultaneously deep and approachable.

In Letters to a Young Athlete (based off the comparably titled Rilke masterpiece), Ray outlines his best advice to those who aspire to be their very best. From conditioning to mental fortitude, in each chapter he shares his best advice and lifts up his peers through real life examples of what he preaches. If you work with young students in any capacity, there really may not be a better book for you to read. This is far and away my favorite book of the year. Bravo, Ray.

What’s Next?

This year, I am hungry for more reading than ever. And many of my favorite books of 2021 inspired me to other similar titles I’m excited to try. Since we don’t foresee another 2 month long stint moving across the country, I plan to really get ambitious this year. I have set my Goodreads goal to 100 books for the first time!

Do I think I’ll hit my goal? Probably not. But if the goal pushes me to read more than ever, I will consider that a massive win. 100 books is… well, a lot of books. So if you have any recommendations, drop them in our comments so I can find even more golden nuggets for the future!