Billy's Books 2021

1. Pandemonium
by Christopher Chilton

2. F*ckface

by Leah Hampton

3. Tentacle

by Rita Indiana

4. I Might Regret This

by Abbi Jacobson

5. The Ardent Swarm 

by Yamen Manai

6. Out East

by John Glynn

7. We Have Always Been Here

by Samra Habib

8. The Fixed Stars 

by Molly Wizenberg

9. Other Voices, Other Rooms

by Truman Capote

10. Broken People

by Sam Lansky

11. Funeral Diva 

by Pamela Sneed

12. The Princess Affair

by Nell Stark

13. Redefining Realness

by Janet Mock

14. The Mercies

by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

15. Tomboyland

by Melissa Faliveno

16. Detransition, Baby

by Torrey Peters

17. The Great Believers

by Rebecca Makkai

18. Role Models

by John Waters

19. Salt Fish Girl

by Larissa Lai

20. Last Night at the Telegraph Club

by Malinda Lo

21. Balls

by Chris Edwards

22. The Last Duel

by Eric Jager

23. The One You Want to Marry

by Sophie Santos

24. The City and the Pillar

by Gore Vidal

25. Hola Papi

by John Paul Brammer

26. Perfect on Paper

by Sophie Gonzales

27. Tell Me What You Want

by Justin Lehmiller

28. Southern Discomfort

by Rita Mae Brown

29. One Last Stop

by Casey McQuiston

30. The Wreckage of My Presence

by Casey Wilson

Brittany's Books 2021

Caitlin's Books 2021

 1. Salvage the Bones 

by Jesmyn Ward

2. Empire of Wild 

by Cherie Dimaline

3. Trust Exercise

by Susan Choi

4. The City We Became

by N. K. Jemisen

5. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

6. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 

7. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

8. Kindred by Octavia Butler

9. Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar

(At this point, June 22nd 2021 to be exact, I had a baby. Her name is Phoebe.  I did read some books immediately before and for the rest of the year but I didn't get around to posting them here... I'll try to remember what I read and reconstruct below! I'm probably forgetting some, but I'm guessing those books were.... not so memorable)

10. Birthing From Within by Pam England (this book gets an honorable mention as MVB of 2021 for getting me through unmedicated childbirth.  If that's on your list of things to do, I highly recommend)

11. Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne

12. Karla and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguru

13.  Crying in H mart by Michelle Zomer

14. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

15. Somebody's Daughter by Ashley Ford

16. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

17. The Best Most Awful Job Edited by Katherine May

18. How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X. Kendi

My favorite 5 books this year, in no particular order are:

1. The Book of Form and Emptiness

2. Somebody's Daughter

3. Crying in H Mart

4. The Vanishing Half

5. Salvage the Bones

Brent's Books 2021

Brent Top 11 for 2021

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1. The Circling Song
Nawal El Saadawi

2. Taking Care
Joy Williams

3. Jeeves: The Uncollected Stories
P. G. Wodehouse

4. The Matisse Stories
A. S. Byatt

5. Sister Outsider
Audre Lorde

6. The Life and Words of St. Francis of Assisi
Ira Peck

7. The Word Made Flesh
Ian MacFarland

8. Dreamer
Charles Johnson

9. Barabbas
Par Lagerkvist

10. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
Toni Morrison

11. My Man Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

12. Pandemonium

Christopher Chilton

13. Idol of Nations: Capitalism and Theology

Roland Boer and Christina Petterson

14. Crooked House

Agatha Christie

15. Queer Theology

Linn Tonstad

16. The Memory Police

Yoko Ogawa

17. The Strength of the Weak: Toward a Christian Feminist Identity

Dorothee Söelle

18. The Weight of Things

Marianne Fritz

19. Lancelot

Walker Percy

20. The Sun and Her Flowers

Rupi Kaur

21. Forever

Mildred Cram

22. Death in Her Hands

Ottessah Mosfegh

23. Eugene Onegin

Alexander Pushkin

24. Rudolf Bultmann: A Companion to His Theology

David Congdon

25. Celtic Fairy Tales

Kate Forrester

26. Theology for Skeptics

Dorothee Soëlle

27. Melville

Jean Giono

 

28. Treasure Island!!!

Sara Levine

 

29. The Radiance of the King

Camara Laye

30. Right Ho, Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

31. Mystical Hope

Cynthia Bourgeault

32. Balthasar: A (Very) Critical Introduction

Karen Kilby

33. Americanah

Chimamandah Ngozi Adiche

34. Dodge Rose

Jack Cox

35. Nobody Move!

Denis Johnson

36. Dead to Rites

Sylvia Angus

37. The Prank: The Best of Young Chekov

Anton Chekov, trans. Maria Bloshteyn

38. A Strong Wind in Jamaica

Richard Hughes

39. The White Album

Joan Didion

40. Cluny Brown

Margery Sharp

41. Human Voices

Penelope Fitzgerald

42. On Social Justice

St. Basil the Great

43. Some Do Not

Ford Madox Ford

44. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys

Andrew Louth

45. On Wealth and Poverty

St John Chrysostom

46. The Inimitable Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

 

47. Margaret the First

Danielle Dutton

 

48. The Well

Elizabeth Jolley

 

49. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic

 

50. The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code

Margalit Fox

51. The Passport

Herta Müller

52. God and Difference

Lin  Tonstad

53. The Comforters

Muriel Spark

54. How to Have an Enemy

Melissa Florer-Bixler

55. Queering Wesley, Queering the Church

Keegan Osinzki

56. The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

57. Weather

Jenny Ofill

 

58. Right Ho, Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

 

59. Kapo

Alexsander Tišma

 

60. Distant View of a Minaret 

Alifa Rifaat

61. In the Time of the Blue Ball

Manuela Drager

62. So Long a Letter

Mariama Ba

63. Quartet

Jean Rhys

64. Derrida for Beginners

Jim Powell

65. You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, & Other Mixed Messages

Carina Chocano

66. Generations: A Memoir

Lucille Clifton

67. The Story of my Teeth

Valeria Luiselli

68. The New Prophets of Capital

Nicole Aschoff

69. The Vegetarian

Han Kang

70. The Historical Figure of Jesus

E. P. Sanders

71. Memoirs of a Porcupine

Alain Mabanckou

 

72. Age of Innocence

Edith Wharton

John's Books 2021

Randy's Books 2021

(1) Master of the Senate
by Robert Caro

(2) Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien

(3) The Two Towers
by J.R.R. Tolkien

(4) Presidential Leadership in Political Time
by Stephen Skowronek

(5) Return of the King
by J.R.R. Tolkien

(6) The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien

(7) Franny  and Zooey
by J.D. Salinger

(8) Piranesi
by Susanna Clark

(9) On the Courthouse Lawn
by Sherrilyn Ifill

(10) The Shining
by Stephen King

(11) Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy
by Adam Jentleson

(12) The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis
by Martha Nussbaum

(13) America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s
by Elizabeth Hinton

(14) The Paris Review, No. 235, Winter 2020

(15) Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro

(16) Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
by Daniel James Brown

(17) Lincoln in the Bardot
by George Saunders

(18) Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
by Elizabeth Miki Brina

(19) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke

(20) Map & Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook
by Bjorn Kjellstrom

(21) The Paris Review, No. 236, Spring 2021

(22) Supreme Disorder
by Ilya Shapiro

(23) Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas
by Jane Meyer & Jill Abramson

(24) Up in Arms
by John Temple

(25) The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America
by Carol Anderson

(26) The Battle to Stay in America: Immigration's Hidden Front Line
by Michael Kagan

(27) Policing Immigrants: Local Law Enforcement on the Front Lines
by Doris Marie Provine, Monica W. Varsanyi, Paul G. Lewis, & Scott Decker

(28) The Feminist War on Crime: The Unexpected Role of Women's Liberation in Mass Incarceration
by Aya Gruber

Christopher's Books 2021

101. An African in Greenland
by Tete-Michel Kpomassie
100. Second Place
by Rachel Cusk
99. Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
98. The Wife
by Sigrid Undset
97. Lightning Bug
by Donald Harington
96. Agatha of Little Neon
by Claire Luchette
95. The Netanyahus
by Joshua Cohen
94. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived
by Karen Lindsey
93. This Gun for Hire
by Graham Greene
92. Fever Dream
by Samantha Schweblin
91. Season of Migration to the North
by Tayeb Salih
90. The Silence of the Girls
by Pat Barker
89. The Book of Embraces
by Eduardo Galeano
88. Beautiful World, Where Are You
by Sally Rooney
87. A Grain of Wheat
by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
86. How Beautiful We Were
by Imbolo Mbue
85. The Rebel Angels
by Robertson Davies
84. The Old Man and Me
by Elaine Dundy
83. The Game-Players of Titan
by Philip K. Dick
82. Harrow
by Joy Williams
81. A Question of Upbringing
by Anthony Powell
80. Vesper Flights
by Helen Macdonald
79. Concluding
by Henry Green
78. Heat and Dust
by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
77. The Bridge on the Drina
by Ivo Andric
76. Pillars of Salt
by Fadia Faqir
75. Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
74. American Meteor
by Norman Lock
73. Homesick for Another World
by Otessa Moshfegh
72. The Last Brother
by Nathacha Appanah
71. Blindness
by Jose Saramago
70. Detransition, Baby
by Torrey Peters
69. The Dying Grass
by William T. Vollmann
68. Paris Stories
by Mavis Gallant
67. A Personal Matter
by Kenzaburo Oe
66. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?
by Lorrie Moore
65. Fences
by August Wilson
64. Severance
by Ling Ma
63. Tarka the Otter
by Henry Williamson
62. How Much of These Hills is Gold
by C. Pam Zhang
61. A Lost Lady
by Willa Cather
60. Dalva
by Jim Harrison
59. Mariette in Ecstasy
by Ron Hansen
58. A Children's Bible
by Lydia Millet
57. The Book of Eels
by Patrik Svensson
56. Parakeet
by Marie-Helene Bertino
55. Crime and Punishment
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
54. The Story of My Teeth
by Valeria Luiselli
53. Angelica's Grotto
by Russell Hoban
52. Migrations
by Charlotte McConaghy
51. Where Angels Fear to Tread
by E. M. Forster
50. The Hearing Trumpet
by Leonora Carrington
49. Other Voices, Other Rooms
by Truman Capote
48. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
by Jenn Shapland
47. The Dwarf
by Par Lagerkvist
46. The House Gun
by Nadine Gordimer
45. Obabakoak
by Bernardo Atxaga
44. No One Is Talking About This
by Patricia Lockwood
43. Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
42. The Corner That Held Them
by Sylvia Townsend Warner
41. Kingfisher
by Ildiko Szabo
40. Treasure Island!!!
by Sara Levine
39. Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov
38. The Walking Tour
by Kathryn Davis
37. Margery Kempe
by Robert Gluck
36. I'm Dying Laughing
by Christina Stead
35. Dodge Rose
by Jack Cox
34. The Acolyte
by Thea Astley
33. Stream System
by Gerald Murnane
32. The Well
by Elizabeth Jolley
31. Happy Valley
by Patrick White
30. Reality and Dreams
by Muriel Spark
29. The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
by Breece D'J Pancake
28. Caleb's Crossing
by Geraldine Brooks
27. Pew
by Catherine Lacey
26. Paterson
by William Carlos Williams
25. The Moons of Jupiter
by Alice Munro
24. His Master's Voice
by Stanislaw Lem
23. Zuleikha
by Guzel Yakhina
22. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
21. A Coin in Nine Hands
by Marguerite Yourcenar
20. The Sword of the Lictor
by Gene Wolfe
19. Bear
by Marian Engel
18. The Rings of Saturn
by W. G. Sebald
17. The Story of the Lost Child
by Elena Ferrante
16. High Magick
by Damien Echols
15. Disappearing Earth
by Julia Phillips
14. A Farewell to Arms
by Ernest Hemingway
13. Girls Against God
by Jenny Hval
12. The Laughing Monsters
by Denis Johnson
11. Empire of Wild
by Cherie Dimaline
10. Miko Kings
by LeAnne Howe
9. White Magic
by Elissa Washuta
8. The Way to Rainy Mountain
by N. Scott Momaday
7. The Night Watchman
by Louise Erdrich
6. Black Elk Speaks
by John G. Neihardt
5. Crooked Hallelujah
by Kelli Jo Ford
4. Indian Horse
by Richard Wagamese
3. Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God
by Kaitlin B. Curtice
2. Winter in the Blood
by James Welch
1. Antarctic Navigation
by Elizabeth Arthur