{"id":4674,"date":"2022-01-14T06:09:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T12:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=4674"},"modified":"2022-01-14T06:09:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T12:09:49","slug":"a-bevy-of-books-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/a-bevy-of-books-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bevy of Books in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>

It is time to review what books I read in 2021. This is the third year I have used Goodreads, a social media app, to keep track of spines I cracked during the year. Before, I would diligently write down the titles and authors in a notebook. My daughter Mere suggested Goodreads, which is free and easy to use. Users can become \u201cfriends\u201d with others, see what they\u2019re reading, join discussion groups and write reviews.<\/p>\n

I do none of that, confining my use to keeping track of what I read. So here we go.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Goodreads announced at year end, I had completed 62 books for a total of 20,671 pages. The previous year, I read 56 books and about the same number of pages. I guess I read some longer books in 2020. The longest book I read last year, weighing in at 768 pages, was A Promised Land<\/em>, by former President Barack Obama, the first installment of his memoirs. Obama is an exceptional writer, self-deprecating and funny, able to cast a reflective eye on his presidency. Very few politicians can do that, or even try.<\/p>\n

The shortest was On Juneteenth<\/em>, by historian Annette Gordon-Reed, at 152 pages. Reed is a Harvard professor and historian, who grew up in Livingston, Texas, in what is known as Deep East Texas. She won a Pulitzer in 2009 for her work on the Hemings family of Monticello. Sally Hemings, an enslaved Black woman, bore six of Thomas Jefferson\u2019s children. On Juneteenth <\/em>examines Reed\u2019s personal experiences with racial justice as well as that of her native state.<\/p>\n

Other memorable books from 2021:<\/p>\n