Best Books I Read in 2021: A Reading Recap

The app I use to track my reading tells me that I read over 120 books in 2021, which was a big accomplishment for me. After losing my Dad at the end of 2020, I had a hard time feeling interested in anything that used to bring me joy, but I decided to set a reading goal for myself for the year (100 books) and try to get back into reading. It was something I really loved when I was younger and had just not been making as much time for as I would have liked in recent years. I am so glad I stuck with it because I read a lot of really great books this past year. I am sharing some of my favorite 2021 reads that I ended up rating 5 of 5 stars here in this recap.

Note: The links to the books I mention here are Amazon Affiliate links. If you purchase a book through my affiliate link, I will earn a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you. I purchased all but one of these books myself (the exception was a gift from the author).

Category: Baking

The first book I would like to share is the one pictured above, Poilâne, by Apollonia Poilâne. After I lost my Dad, I felt like I was living in a different world. My body and mind were no longer keeping pace with the way I used to live my life or with the pace of the world around me. As I struggled with this, I found it therapeutic to intentionally do things the slow way - to stitch a seam by hand, write a letter with a pen and paper, or to knead bread dough with my hands instead using of a mixer.

I came to really love baking bread. I had enjoyed it before, but I developed a new appreciation for the process it requires. It takes time, but it is also incredibly rewarding…and it makes your whole house smell delicious! I came across Apollonia through an online class she teaches on baking bread at home in the style of her French bakery. I loved her name (I have since discovered Apollonia is an old family name in my family tree!), enjoyed her class, and subsequently purchased her book, which is filled with beautiful and tasty recipes for various styles of bread and things you can make with bread.

My favorite bread recipe to date is probably her Poilane-style sourdough, which is the first recipe in this beautiful book. You can see a recent loaf I made with the recipe below. (I recently purchased a bread lame, which will help me with scoring breads more delicately. I am looking forward to experimenting with it once it arrives! The knife I usually use can leave my scoring looking quite rustic.)

Category: Plants and Gardening

I did not do a lot of work-related reading this year, but there were two books that really stuck out to me in this category. The first was The Business of Botanicals by Ann Armbrecht.

I learned so much from Ann’s work on this book. Sustainability and awareness of our supply chain in the herbal world is top-of-mind for me as someone who works with herbs every day and grows many of them myself, so I really enjoyed getting to see Ann’s behind-the-scenes look at where our herbs come from, how they change hands on their way to us, and the unseen issues we may not be aware of as consumers. It is a fantastic and eye-opening book. I will likely write a separate review for it here on the blog at some point because I think it is so relevant for anyone who works with plants. For now, know that I highly recommend reading it. Don’t hesitate to pick up a copy if you have not yet done so.

The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables by Jessica Sowards is a beautiful gardening book for those of you who are just beginning to learn how to grow food in your own garden space. I have followed Jessica’s journey on Youtube for a few years now and have long considered her a kindred spirit. She shares educational content about her Eden-like gardens on her channel (alongside sweet videos of her lovely family and their adventures on their farm) and I often recommend her videos to students in our certification program here at Floranella.

When Jessica published her first book this year, I was so happy to pick up a copy and be able to support her work. I enjoyed reading it. The book is a fabulous resource for people who want to grow their own food, dream of cultivating a happy, healthy, fruitful garden, and who might not know how to get started or how to choose the right plants for their area, take care of pests and disease in their gardens without using harsh chemicals, etc. I definitely recommend The First-Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables if you need some garden guidance or inspiration.

Category: History and Social Justice

I have read several books in this category in the past year, but two that have really stuck with me are Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson and The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby.

Caste is a book that made me weep again and again as I read it. It is well-researched, poignant, thought-provoking, gut-wrenching and eye-opening. I commend Ms. Wilkerson for completing the monumental task of writing it. I learned so much from this book and truly believe that every American should read it.

The Color of Compromise also examines the history of racism in this country, but from the perspective of the American church and its complicity in racism. It is a tough but valuable read, one that I consider necessary reading for every person who considers themselves a believer.

Category: Memoirs

I have been really enjoying memoirs of late. I particularly like to listen to their audio versions if the person who wrote the memoir has also narrated the audio book.

This was the case for Becoming by Michelle Obama. I originally purchased the hard copy, but ended up listening to most of the book on Audible and I loved it. Hearing her story from her own perspective and in her own voice was thoroughly enjoyable.

Julia Child’s memoir about the time she spent in France (My Life in France) was another that I really enjoyed reading this past year. I felt as if I could hear Julia’s voice speaking as I read her words. She was such a vibrant and colorful person, and that really comes through in her writing. I felt as if I was there in France with Julia and Paul as I read and when I finished, I wanted to read more of her books.

Category: Creativity

I love creative hobbies: crochet, leather work, photography, painting, drawing, sewing…

In 2021, I decided to try (again) to learn how to knit. I ended up following along with a knitting boot camp hosted by Marly Bird on Youtube that really helped it click for me and I finally made a breakthrough in areas in which I had really struggled when I had unsuccessfully attempted to learn in the past.

There were a few knitting books that I also found helpful as I began learning and Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book was one of them. The illustrations and clear instructions combined with the videos I was watching online were just what I needed. I ended up rating this book 5 / 5 stars and I am now slowly working on my first knitted sweater - the Weekender sweater by Andrea Mowry.

The other book that stuck out to me from this category was Embody: A Capsule Collection to Knit and Sew. I really loved that this little book had so many different possibilities and options in it. It contains a mix of knitting patterns and sewing patterns that can all be customized (instructions are provided) so you can turn them into the exact garments you want to have in your own cohesive, handmade wardrobe. I am planning to make several pieces from this beautiful collection in 2022, both knitted and sewn.

Category: Poetry

Poetry has become a new love for me this past year. I enjoyed reading classic poetry when I was younger, but lost interest in it in later years. After my Dad passed, I found myself drawn to it again. We can say things with poetry that are really difficult to communicate otherwise, which is something I have come to appreciate again.

My favorite poet is Mary Oliver. I have read several of her collections now, including the two pictured here (which I loved), and am hoping to read her entire works in the future. The two volumes here are Devotions and Why I Wake Early, both of which I recommend. Mary writes about nature and life in such a beautiful, enthralling way. She perfectly captures the wonder we feel when we slow enough to observe the world and life around us and I love her for it.

I was introduced to the work of Billy Collins this year as well and have also come to love his work. Where Mary Oliver leads me to reflect with wonder, Billy Collins makes me smile and laugh and remember the childlike joy of living. The Trouble with Poetry is my favorite of his collections this far. Read it. I know you’ll love it.

The last poetic work I want to share with you is The Pilgrim’s Progress: a Poetic Retelling by Rousseaux Brasseur. This book is so stunningly done that I immediately wanted to buy gift copies for family and friends when I finished reading it. It is a retelling of the classic The Pilgrim’s Progress story by John Bunyan, but it is written in verse. Beautifully written and illustrated, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Additionally, the author is just a genuinely delightful human. You can find him on Youtube. Jon and I met him by chance (or not chance) and he gifted us a copy of this book, for which we are so grateful. There is also a movie version here.

Category: Classics

My reading app tells me that only about 25% of my reading this year was comprised of fictional works. I ended up diving back into the classics and have found myself really enjoying them. I did not always appreciate them when I read them in school, and there are quite a few that I did not read when I was younger that I want to read now. In fact, most of my fiction-reading plans for 2022 involve reading classic works.

Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book of all time. I have read it multiple times and it just seems to get better and more hilarious with every read. I loved rereading it in 2021. For Christmas, I bought my Mom, Grammie, and sister each their own pretty copy so they could all read it too. My own Christmas gift ended up being a stunning edition that I would never have felt comfortable buying for myself but that Jon knew I would love - and I do!

I also reread Anne of Green Gables in 2021. The characters in this series have a way of working their way into your heart and sticking with you for the rest of your life. I couldn’t help but feel like I was home again whilst reading this one, and I cannot help but love Anne, her imagination, her unique way of getting into trouble, and her wordiness.

When I was younger, I dreamed of visiting Prince Edward Island (where the story is set). I have still never been, but Jon and I talk once in awhile about the idea of retiring there or purchasing a farm there one day. If nothing more, I do still wish to visit at some point. I am hoping to read the rest of the series in 2022. Have you ever read them?

Another nostalgic read for me in 2021 was this collection of Beatrix Potter’s The Complete Tales. My Dad used to read Beatrix Potter’s stories to me when I was young and I would pore over them on my own, in awe of the illustrations and the way they seemed to bring Beatrix’s characters to life. I decided to read the books again this past year and was taken right back to my childhood. This collection has all of the stories in one volume with the original illustrations included. I was amazed at how much funnier the tales were to me now as an adult!

A new-to-me classic author is Wilkie Collins. I read two of his works in 2021 and The Woman in White ended up being one of my favorite novels…not as high on my list as Pride and Prejudice, but pretty close. I thoroughly loved it and I really enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen around every turn - a rare treat for me when I read fiction. I usually guess what is going to happen very early on in the story. Fun fact: Wilkie was a contemporary of Dickens (whose work I have also been appreciating lately)!

Category: Grief

When Dad passed, I purchased a stack of books on grief. I felt completely lost and had no idea how to navigate the suffocating darkness of the season I was in. I ended up reading the first chapter of each of the books I bought to see which would resonate most and found that Grief Walk was the one that I related to in that moment. I devoured it and felt like the words in it were often exactly what I was feeling in my own journey through traumatic and significant loss. It is now the book that I will likely gift to loved ones who experience loss.

I also really appreciated Grieving is Loving, a small but potent book with some beautiful and comforting words for people who are grieving.

Later, I read The Transformation by Dr. James Gordon, who founded The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and I found it to be a very helpful read. It is not specifically geared toward people who have experienced loss and are grieving, but it is written for people who have been through trauma, including loss. I found this book valuable enough to have already gifted a copy of this book to someone else.

Notes on Grief is another small book in which the author tells the story of her own journey through the loss of her father during the pandemic. I related to a lot of the elements in her story and found it therapeutic to know that I was not alone in some parts of my experience.

Category: Faith

There were several faith-based books that I found helpful this past year as well.

The Broken Way and The Way of Abundance by Ann Voskamp were particularly heart-touching reads. I love the way Ann writes. She is so poetic and I often find myself thinking of her as a kindred spirit. We seem to see the world similarly, have both learned to appreciate the beauty in brokenness, and I just love reading what she writes. These are books I have loved enough to gift to others in the past year.

Hinds Feet on High Places is a Christian classic book that I had not read prior to this year, but can definitely see myself picking up again in the near future. It is an allegorical story about a young girl who experiences a powerful personal transformation as she follows her Shepherd on a journey of faith. I really identified with the main character and loved the book so much that I immediately purchased a copy for each of my family members when I finished reading it. Amazon actually banned me from buying additional copies because they thought I had purchased too many! (Ha!)

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry resonated with me as I learned to appreciate a slower pace this past year. I read it on recommendation of a loved one and found that I really enjoyed it.

It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way is a book that I was actually not ready for when I first started reading it. My Dad was in hospital at the time and I just could not get into the book. I picked it up again in 2021 and read the whole thing, finding it much more helpful and seasonal for me the second time around.

Until Unity by Francis Chan is one of the best faith-based books I have read in a while. I am not overly familiar with the author’s ministry, but many of the things he says in this little book are things that Jon and I had been discussing in our own conversations over the past 10 years. It was so refreshing to see that we were not the only people who had voiced some of the beliefs we share on this topic, and the book is very well written. I recommend it to all believers.

What about you?

Did you read any books in 2021 that have really stuck with you? I would love to hear about them, or any book recommendations you have for me!

Much love,
Erin