I’m well aware that my 2021 reading adventures can’t begin to rival the adventurous list of many, including friends like Melissa H. or Catherine P. C. from Facebook. Obviously I do a lot of reading for my job, which is as a Professor of English in the Department of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University. But relatively few of the books listed below were read for class. The list includes thirty-six titles, which, if my math is correct, comes to an average of three books per month.
The books are listed alphabetically by last name of the author.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anonymous (translated by J. R. R. Tolkien)
- Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Nicholas A. Basbanes
- Arthur Mervyn by Charles Brockden Brown
- Fallen Land by Taylor Brown
- Jolie Blon’s Bounce by James Lee Burke
- Even as We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (reread)
- Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
- Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster
- Merciful Days by Jesse Graves
- Searching for Jimmy Page by Christy Alexander Hallberg
- F*ckface by Leah Hampton (reread)
- An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
- The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
- Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson
- The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Emily Wilson)
- When These Mountains Burn by David Joy
- Eveningland by Michael Knight
- Ghostbread by Sonja Livingston
- Songbirds & Stray Dogs by Meagan Lucas
- My Father, the Pornographer by Chris Offutt
- The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt
- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
- Rosa; or, American Genius and Education by Isaac Riley
- A Short Time to Stay Here by Terry Roberts
- My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black by Terry Roberts
- Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
- The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
- Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
- Trang Sen by Sarah-Ann Smith
- Shadows on Wood by Lacy Snapp
- This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
- Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
- How Fire Runs by Charles Dodd White
- The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson
I also read my short story collection A Twilight Reel a couple of times in the first quarter of the year, before its publication late in May.
I’m looking forward to the places I’ll go and the people I’ll meet and be in my 2022 readings, some of which are already in progress. Here’s a sneak peek:
- Drowned Town by Jayne Moore Waldrop
- The Devil’s Own Piss and Other Stories by Whiskey Leavins
- Coal Black: Stories by Chris McGinley
- The Line That Held Us by David Joy
- The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
- How Early America Sounded by Richard C. Rath
- The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
Happy reading to all in 2022!