The Great Book Review of 2021

The Great Book Review of 2021

The Great Book Review of 2021

January 17, 2022 at 11:39AM

Sharing the books I read in 2021 and whether I’d recommend adding them to your collection.

(SO ready for pool season to come back!!)

Last year, I set a pretty lofty goal for myself: read three books each month. I know for some of you it may not seem like a lot, but I was at a point where I didn’t make time to read. I was watching TV or working until I crawled into bed each night, and I remembered how much I genuinely enjoy reading and vowed to make it a priority.

I told myself I’d aim for one fiction, one non-fiction, and one personal development or health-related book each month, and I did it. 🙂 I think having the blog for accountability made a huge difference and I looked forward to writing my book reviews each month.

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Kate Spade Autumn/Winter Sale

I found some new authors I loved, I learned SO much, and I truly fell in love with reading again. While I’m not setting such a specific reading goal for this year – I have a lot of behind-the-scenes work stuff so I don’t want to add anything to the list right now – I’m still focused on making it a priority. 

Here’s a list of almost all of the books I read last year:

The Great Book Review of 2021

The Dutch House

I read this entire book in two sittings, which is RARE for me these days. I found myself so intrigued in this story and especially loved the author’s vivid character descriptions and the dialogue between the characters.

Danny and Maeve had such a unique bond as brother and sister. While nothing crazy intense happened, I was so drawn to the characters that it was suspenseful to feel the story and events unfold. I think that the book dragged a tiny bit towards the end. For that reason, I’d give it an 8/10.

Atomic Habits

I listened to this one via Audible, and as someone who has a hard time finding audiobooks that capture my attention for very long, this was a gold star. I’d probably recommend this over reading the physical book, except there are a few documents that he references (you can access them via his website if you’re listening to the audio version).

This book is based on the compound effects of habits and how small habits and choices build the person we eventually become. I thrive on routine and have a fixed set of daily habits, so I wasn’t quite sure how much I’d get out of this book.

Spoiler: it was a LOT.

It was fascinating to learn why and how certain habits lead to success and others lead to defeat. It was also helpful to leave how to hack your habits to encourage the good habits and discourage the habits that cause us harm.

Some of the things I learned from this book:

The key steps to making a good habit stick

How to break bad habits

Why you should focus on small habits first and build from there (<— don’t be “fair-weather” in anything you decide to do. Do it wholeheartedly)

A couple of quotes I kept in my phone:

“Good habits have long-term rewards while bad habits have instant rewards. What is immediately rewarded is repeated.” This is why you have to make an active choice to perform good habits, because there’s a delay in the reward. You have to stick with it even when you don’t feel motivated and it feels boring.

“Small habits don’t add up; they compound.”

Would I recommend it? YES. Download it, buy the physical version, or listen to the audiobook. 10/10 would recommend.

The Primal Gourmet Cookbook

I met Ronny at a NOW Foods event a couple of years ago and have been following him on IG ever since. (Funny story: we were in the same group to make a recipe for our Iron Chef-style challenge and I was making the sauce and struggling with the ginger, since we didn’t have a grater. I asked if anyone was good at chopping ginger – I could do it but my mincing skills aren’t fabulous – and he literally turned it into ginger paste in 30 seconds. I was like, “Ok, wow. So turns out you’re a real chef.”) I love how quick and AMAZING all of his recipes look on IG, so I was excited to get his cookbook. All recipes are gluten-free and dairy-free.

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