Before You Tackle 2022, Put 2021 in Perspective

by Susan Griggs / Tuesday, 11 January 2022 / Published in Personal Development

Excitement, motivation, and anticipation are my feelings going into my business in 2022. Some of my key objectives are to stay focused on the task in front of me, prioritize clients and work on one item at a time to avoid ping-ponging work without substantially getting anything completed.

But before tackling these 2021 goals, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the books I read in 2021. This exercise is always worth the pause in work since I spent a good portion of my 2020 reading. And, it is good to spend time reflecting on what I learned from these books and why they came into my life when they did.

My first step in looking at my 2021 reading year is to list out what I’ve read. Thankfully, I recorded most of the read books on my Goodreads account, and near the end of the year, they sent me a summary of what books I read, how many pages I read and some other interesting facts about my 2021 reading year. I’ve included the books I read in 2021 at the end of this blog post.

The next step is to pick out my top three books. I read 64 books in 2021, and 12 of these received a top 5-star rating. My favorite books of 2021 that received 5-star ratings are:

Against the Wind: A Memoir by Kirk Vanhee
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks
An Editor’s Guide to Working with Authors by Barbara Sjoholm
Bombs to Trails: Interweaving Heritage, Life, and PTSD on the Pacific Crest Trail by Jessica Pekari
Digital Marketing Made Easy: A-Z Growth Strategies and Key Concepts of Digital Marketing by Kevin Urrutia
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Here for It; or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays By R. Eric Thomas
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack R. Hart
The Push: A Climber’s Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits by Tommy Caldwell
The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg

Here are my top three:

The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

2021 Reading Goals

Finally, I take what I learned from my reading year to form reading goals for the next year. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, my goal for that 2020 year was to read the books that people have gifted me throughout the years. This was a rewarding goal because some of my all-time favorite books naturally came from other people’s favorite books that they gifted me. Here are my reading goals for 2021.

Read a few business books that can help me grow or see my business more productively or innovatively.
Escape more into fiction.
Finish reading the books gifted to me since I cleaned out my bookshelf during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Leave at least two reviews for first-time authors, not just a star rating but at least a paragraph on why I recommend the book.
Read one of the books my daughter recommends.

I would love to hear about your reading goals, favorite books from last year, if any of my books are on your book lists, what you’ve learned from the books you read in 2021 and what you are looking forward to reading 2022.

Let’s continue the conversation by commenting on this blog post, or find this post and comment on it through LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-griggs-rivet/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RivetService.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your reading journey. Remember, if you are a first-time or self-published author, please consider my services for a beta read, copyediting, or proofreading. Head over to my author page to find out more.

Happy Reading!

Books Read in 2021

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
A Young People’s History of the United States: Columbus to The War on Terror by Howard Zinn
Against the Wind: A Memoir by Kirk Vanhee
American Daughter: A Memoir by Stephanie Thornton Plymale
Among the Wicked by Linda Castillo
An Editor’s Guide to Working with Authors by Barbara Sjoholm
Ascension: The Rise of Tyre by Michael Gordon
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell
Bombs to Trails: Interweaving Heritage, Life, and PTSD on the Pacific Crest Trail by Jessica Pekari
Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile
Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana by Abe Streep
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Johan Berger
Content DNA: Using consistency and congruence to be the same shape everywhere by John Espirian
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Denali: A Man, a Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime by Ben Moon
Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak by Andy Hall
Digital Marketing Made Easy: A-Z Growth Strategies and Key Concepts of Digital Marketing by Kevin Urrutia
End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood by Jan Redford
Ever Rest by Roz Morris
Fantastic Female Adventurers: Truly amazing tales of women exploring the world by Lily Dyu
Fred Myers Chronicles: Life Adventures and Real Cases Told by a Diligent Detective by Fred Myers
Girl in the Woods: A Memoir by Aspen Matis
Good Words Fast: The Unique Thesaurus for Business Writers, Journalists, Copywriters and More by Oliver Dirs
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Here for It; or, How to Save Your Soul in America: Essays By R. Eric Thomas
How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
I Hear You: The Surprising Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes DuMez
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
Lyrics for Rock Stars: Stories by Heather Mateus Sappenfield
Memory Road Trip: A Retrospective Travel Journey by Krista Marson
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
My Life: An Illustrated Biography by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing by Ted Conover
Pirate Quest: A Coming of Age Adventure Book One by D.A. Wells
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack R. Hart
The Adventurer’s Son by Roman Dial
The Ark: The Story of Clara Hamilton by Chad E. Hollins
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Girl With Seven Names: A North Korea’s Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
The Last Flight by Julie Clark
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession by Susan Orlean
The Push: A Climber’s Journey of Endurance, Risk, and Going Beyond Limits by Tommy Caldwell
The Sharp End of Life: A Mother’s Story by Diedre Wolonick
The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg
The Sun Is a Compass: A4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert
The Twenty-Ninth Day by Alex Messenger
The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age by Sridhar Pappu
Tracking the Wild Coomba: The Life of Legendary Skier Doug Coombs by Robert Cocuzzo
Tunnel 29: The True Story of Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall by Helena Merriman
Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing by Jay Stringer
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
Win Paid Advertising: The Unconventional Marketer by Jason A. Burlin
Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir by Aspen Matis