Books I Read in 2021

What follows is a list of all the books I read in 2021.

(What follows that is a series of statistics regarding this list, and some other things.)

1. *Quartet (1928) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 1–3)
2. *After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1931) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 4–6)
3. *Voyage in the Dark (1934) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 7–9)
4. *Good Morning, Midnight (1938) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 11–12)
5. Tigers Are Better-Looking (1968) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 13–16)
6. Sleep It Off, Lady (1976) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 16–18)
7. *Smile Please (1979) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 19–21)
8. The Letters of Jean Rhys (1984) by Jean Rhys (Jan. 22–27)
9. In Constant Flight (1983) by Elizabeth Tallent (Jan. 28–29)
10. Museum Pieces (1985) by Elizabeth Tallent (Jan. 30–Feb. 2)
11. Time with Children (1987) by Elizabeth Tallent (Feb. 3–4)
12. *Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009) by Tao Lin (Feb. 5)
13. *Eat When You Feel Sad (2009) by Zachary German (Feb. 6)
14. *Richard Yates (2010) by Tao Lin (Feb. 6–8)
15. *Taipei (2013) by Tao Lin (Feb. 9–10)
16. Leave Society (2021) by Tao Lin (Feb. 11–14)
17. I Contain Multitudes (2016) by Ed Yong (Feb. 15–18)
18. Entangled Life (2020) by Merlin Sheldrake (Feb. 18–21)
19. The Black Jacobins (1938) by C. L. R. James (Feb. 21–28)
20. Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright (Mar. 1–5)
21. Lawd Today! (1963) by Richard Wright (Mar. 7–9)
22. Uncle Tom’s Children (1938) by Richard Wright (Mar. 9–11)
23. F.B. Eyes (2015) by William J. Maxwell (Mar. 12–16)
24. Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (1961) by Amiri Baraka (Mar. 15)
25. The Dead Lecturer (1964) by Amiri Baraka (Mar. 17)
26. Black Magic (1969) by Amiri Baraka (Mar. 18)
27. Hard Facts (1975) by Amiri Baraka (Mar. 19)
28. Conjure (1972) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 19–20)
29. A Secretary to the Spirits (1978) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 20)
30. The Terrible Twos (1982) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 21–24)
31. Reckless Eyeballing (1986) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 25–26)
32. Writin’ Is Fightin’ (1988) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 28–30)
33. New and Collected Poems (1988) by Ishmael Reed (Mar. 31)
34. The Terrible Threes (1989) by Ishmael Reed (Apr. 1–3)
35. Ethel (2020) by Chelsea Hogue (Apr. 4)
36. Prasicky (2020) by Demyan Hryciw and Zan de Perry (Apr. 4)
37. 12 Million Black Voices (1941) by Richard Wright (Apr. 5–6)
38. The Man Who Lived Underground (2021) by Richard Wright (Apr. 7–8)
39. Black Boy (1945) by Richard Wright (Apr. 9–12)
40. American Hunger (1977) by Richard Wright (Apr. 13–14)
41. Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1952) by Chester Himes (Apr. 15–19)
42. Barred (1932) by Edward de Nève (Apr. 20–21)
43. If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945) by Chester Himes (Apr. 22–23)
44. Lonely Crusade (1947) by Chester Himes (Apr. 24–30)
45. The Third Generation (1954) by Chester Himes (May 3–6)
46. The End of a Primitive (1955) by Chester Himes (May 6–8)
47. 1996 (2005) by Gloria Naylor (May 11–12)
48. Let Me Tell You What I Mean (2021) by Joan Didion (May 13–15)
49. *The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) by Joan Didion (May 17–19)
50. *Blue Nights (2011) by Joan Didion (May 20–23)
51. Honey (1993) by Elizabeth Tallent (May 24–25)
52. Mendocino Fires (2015) by Elizabeth Tallent (May 26–28)
53. Scratched (2020) by Elizabeth Tallent (May 28–30)
54. The Worldkillers (2014) by Lucy Ives (May 31)
55. Human Events (2016) by Lucy Ives (June 1)
56. Cosmogony (2021) by Lucy Ives (June 3–7)
57. Terminal Boredom (2021) by Izumi Suzuki (June 8–10)
58. Death and So Forth (2021) by Gordon Lish (June 11–14)
59. Body High (2021) by Jon Lindsey (June 16–17)
60. Junky (1953) by William S. Burroughs (June 18–20)
61. Queer (1985) by William S. Burroughs (June 21)
62. *Naked Lunch (1959) by William S. Burroughs (June 22–24)
63. The Man Who Cried I Am (1967) by John A. Williams (June 25–30)
64. Somebody in Boots (1935) by Nelson Algren (July 1–4)
65. *Libra (1988) by Don DeLillo (July 5–12)
66. 11/22/63 (2011) by Stephen King (July 13–19)
67. Family of Secrets (2009) by Russ Baker (July 20–25)
68. The Jakarta Method (2020) by Vincent Bevins (July 26–28)
69. Human Smoke (2008) by Nicholson Baker (July 29–Aug. 1)
70. The Everlasting Story of Nory (1998) by Nicholson Baker (Aug. 2–3)
71. The Noonday Demon (2001) by Andrew Solomon (Aug. 5–11)
72. 69 (1987) by Ryū Murakami (Aug. 13–14)
73. Piercing (1994) by Ryū Murakami (Aug. 16–17)
74. In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami (Aug. 17–18)
75. From the Terrace (1958) by John O’Hara (Aug. 19–Aug. 31)
76. *Preparation for the Next Life (2014) by Atticus Lish (Sept. 1–7)
77. The War for Gloria (2021) by Atticus Lish (Sept. 10–16)
78. *The Quick and the Dead (2000) by Joy Williams (Sept. 17–19)
79. Harrow (2021) by Joy Williams (Sept. 21–22)
80. Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934) by Zora Neale Hurston (Sept. 29–30)
81. Mules and Men (1935) by Zora Neale Hurston (Oct. 1–3)
82. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston (Oct. 3–5)
83. Tell My Horse (1938) by Zora Neale Hurston (Oct. 5–8)
84. *Closer (1989) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 8–9)
85. *Frisk (1991) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 10–12)
86. Try (1994) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 13–15)
87. Guide (1997) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 17–19)
88. Period (2000) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 19–20)
89. I Wished (2021) by Dennis Cooper (Oct. 21–22)
90. Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison (Oct. 23–31)
91. *The Stranger (1942) by Albert Camus (Nov. 1–3)
92. The Plague (1947) by Albert Camus (Nov. 4–7)
93. Fudge (????) by Andrew Weatherhead (Nov. 8)
94. The Outsider (1953) by Richard Wright (Nov. 9–14)
95. Savage Holiday (1954) by Richard Wright (Nov. 15–17)
96. The Fall (1956) by Albert Camus (Nov. 18–19)
97. The Long Dream (1958) by Richard Wright (Nov. 21–26)
98. A Rage in Harlem (1957) by Chester Himes (Nov. 27–28)
99. The Real Cool Killers (1959) by Chester Himes (Nov. 29–30)
100. The Crazy Kill (1959) by Chester Himes (Dec. 1–3)
101. The Loop (2021) by Josh Barber (Dec. 4)
102. How High? — That High (2021) by Diane Williams (Dec. 5)
103. This Is Your Mind on Plants (2021) by Michael Pollan (Dec. 6–9)
104. Owl Babies (1992) by Martin Waddell (Dec. 7)
105. Run Man Run (1959) by Chester Himes (Dec. 10–12)
106. The Big Gold Dream (1960) by Chester Himes (Dec. 13–14)
107. All Shot Up (1960) by Chester Himes (Dec. 15–18)
108. The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda (2020) by Ishmael Reed (Dec. 19)
109. The Terrible Fours (2021) by Ishmael Reed (Dec. 20–22)
110. *The Dead (1914) by James Joyce (Dec. 24)
111. The Body Scout (2021) by Lincoln Michel (Dec. 24–28)
112. Poems on Several Occasions (2021) by Stephen Sturgeon (Dec. 28)
113. Inter Ice Age 4 (1959) by Kōbō Abe (Dec. 29–31)
114. Mistletoe (2020) by Brandon Brown and J. Gordon Faylor (Dec. 29)
115. A Christmas Sublime (2021) by Brandon Brown and J. Gordon Faylor (Dec. 30)

*Previously read

# books read: 115
# books read for the first time: 96
# books reread: 19
# books read on average per month: 9.583
# books written by men: 85
# books written by women: 30
# books written by more than one person: 3
# distinct authors: 50
# male authors: 40
# female authors: 10
# non-gendered authors: 0
# novels: 63
# novellas: 2
# short story collections: 11
# memoirs: 6
# letters collections: 1
# essay collections: 2
# books of nonfiction: 12
# books of poetry: 9
# plays: 1
# chapbooks: 7
# children’s books: 1
# books translated from another language to english: 9
# books published in 2021: 17
# books published in 21st century: 44
# books published in 20th century: 70
# books published before 20th century: 0
# books not (yet) published: 1

Standouts:
Sleep It Off, Lady (1976) by Jean Rhys
Time with Children (1987) by Elizabeth Tallent
Leave Society (2021) by Tao Lin
Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright
Uncle Tom’s Children (1938) by Richard Wright
F.B. Eyes (2016) by William J. Maxwell
Hard Facts (1975) by Amiri Baraka
Writin’ Is Fightin’ (1988) by Ishmael Reed
The End of a Primitive (1955) by Chester Himes
1996 (2005) by Gloria Naylor
Cosmogony (2021) by Lucy Ives
Body High (2021) by Jon Lindsey
Queer (1985) by William S. Burroughs
The Man Who Cried I Am (1967) by John A. Williams
Libra (1988) by Don DeLillo
Family of Secrets (2009) by Russ Baker
The Noonday Demon (2001) by Andrew Solomon
In the Miso Soup (1997) by Ryū Murakami
From the Terrace (1958) by John O’Hara
Harrow (2021) by Joy Williams
Mules and Men (1935) by Zora Neale Hurston
I Wished (2021) by Dennis Cooper
Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison
The Outsider (1953) by Richard Wright
The Long Dream (1958) by Richard Wright
This Is Your Mind on Plants (2021) by Michael Pollan
Run Man Run (1959) by Chester Himes
The Terrible Fours (2021) by Ishmael Reed
Inter Ice Age 4 (1959) by Kōbō Abe

Takeaway:
Thank you Richard Wright for introducing me to a new world of thought. Your work revealed the highest degree and most successful combination of ideology, philosophy, nuance, generosity, sacrifice, and downright thrilling storytelling that I've ever had the incredible fortune of experiencing. I look forward to continuing to make my way through your oeuvre in 2022. Thank you Chester Himes and Ishmael Reed for raising my consciousness, for reorienting my understanding of history, for making me laugh, for igniting my soul, my practice, and my entire approach to style, humor, genre, execution, and narrative, and for indelibly changing my life. Thank you Tao Lin, Joy Williams, and Dennis Cooper for publishing new novels after hiatuses, and also thank you for your vulnerability, sincerity, candidness, and courage over the years; you inspire me. Thank you Russ Baker, Gloria Naylor, Don DeLillo, and William J. Maxwell for writing about difficult subject matters and for putting your careers, hearts, consciousnesses, and consciences on the line for the benefit of your fellow humans and planet. Thank you Joan Didion, for living, for feeling, for writing, and for finally dying; I hope there is peace for you, because I know you've brought me a great deal again and again. Thank you Jon Lindsey for writing such a sensitive, layered, and flawlessly paced novel, the most surprising and delightful book by someone I barely knew existed, and for paying for our lunch at Dimes—how could you have known how tenuous my money situation had become? Thank you Kōbō Abe for reminding me the future has always been cruel, for contextualizing its cruelty, and for providing me with a framework for continuing to face its terrors and hindrances. Thank you Michael Pollan for mindfully presenting reference points to think about caffeine and for invigorating my interest in mescaline, peyote, and flower cultivation. Thank you Lucy Ives for writing a funny, complex collection of stories, my favorite stuff you've published to date. Thank you Amiri Baraka, Zora Neale Hurston, John A. Williams, and Ralph Ellison for expanding my awareness of tradition, immigration, politics, education, exploitation, and movement of all kinds. Thank you Andrew Solomon for helping me grapple with my mental illness and that of others, and for engendering empathy, science, and patience when it comes to psychological pain. Thank you John O'Hara for writing a long novel about capitalism and men at a time when no one cared to address or even apprehend that unfettered power and influence. Thank you Jean Rhys for once again feeding a hunger for life and sorrow that gnaws at me daily. I live under the leaky roof with you. Thank you William S. Burroughs for being yourself, for being your trauma, for giving Steely Dan a name, and for writing what mattered when nobody else knew how, for supporting young authors, for living aimlessly and with purpose, and for seeing through to the core of incoherence that drives our communication, interactions, and societal machinations. Thank you Ryū Murakami for writing a hilarious, philosophical novel about serial killing, and for your sophisticated analyses of violence in general. Thank you Elizabeth Tallent for writing story collections in which the characters reappear and develop in subtle and satisfying ways; I love that decision and the keenness with which you applied it. Thank you Tom O'Neill for the tireless, daring footwork, research, and effort to get your essential reexamination of the Manson murders and their related psyops, ruthlessnesses, and authoritative disinformation, misinformation, and lies published as the journalistic masterpiece Chaos, which I listened to as an audiobook while driving around Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York all summer. And a huge, huge thank you to Bret Easton Ellis for producing the one of the most gripping and singular artistic experiences of my life, reading and broadcasting The Shards over your podcast in biweekly installments; I will forever treasure the anticipation, perplexity, and plain, powerful fun you brought into my and Lily's lives last year; we're looking forward to reading it in book form. Thank you everyone who wrote and everyone who published the books I read this year, except for Elizabeth Koch at Soft Skull. Elizabeth Koch: fuck you. Thank you Lily for your immeasurable, boundless love, and for giving me the space, time, and consideration to sit down and read almost every single day. Thank you George and Nori for the same, though on a less intentional level. Thank you for always forgiving me, my animals, when I keep on reading even though it's past your dinner times and I've lost track of where I am. Thank you for the ability to parse language. Thank you for the ability to put language to use and escape the corporeal world in favor of the world of emotions, ideas, and imagination. Thank you for the world and all the people in it. Evil exists. Thank you for everyone struggling and raging and fighting against it. And thank you for all the good, which seems to pale under the weight of the adversity, inequality, and suffering. Thank you everyone writing. Thank you everyone reading. Thank you everyone sick, well, and in between. Continue on the yam level and life would be sweet.