2021 Reading List

(Year End Book Awards)

1. Sign of the Unicorn (The Chronicles of Amber #3) by Roger Zelazny, March 13, 2021

2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes , March 31, 2021
3. The Hand of Oberon by Roger Zelazny, April 27, 2021

4. Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction by V.J. Cook and Mark Newson [Second Edition], May 7, 2021

5. The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber Book 5) May 26, 2021

5.5 The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny (Fantasy Masterworks #6) May 26, 2021

6. The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, June 3, 2021
7. The Linguistics Wars by Randy Allen Harris, June 14, 2021
8. The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle, June 30, 2021

9. The Moral Animal by Robert Wright, July 17, 2021

10. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White , August 5, 2021 (re-read)

11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, August 10, 2021 (re-read)

12. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, August 16, 2021 (re-read)

13. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, August 30, 2021 (re-read)

14. The BFG by Roald Dahl, September 9, 2021 (re-read)

15. The Witches by Roald Dahl, September 12, 2021 (re-read)

16. The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, September 18, 2021

17. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum October 10, 2021 (re-read)

18. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll October 15, 2021(re-read)

19. Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll October 21, 2021

20. The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum October 24, 2021 (re-read)

21. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, November 7, 2021 (re-read)

22. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum, November 7, 2021 (re-read)

23. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum, November 22, 2021 (re-read)

24. The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum, December 6, 2021 (re-read)

25. The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien, December 20, 2021 (re-read.  Kind of.  I had done this as an audio book previously)

26. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum, December 20, 2021

26 books this year.  Which is one of my better years actually.  

Although I should note that I've changed my accounting system this year.   In the past, I didn't count re-reads.  And 14 of these books are re-reads.  

Also in the past, I usually counted compilation volumes as one book.  So the three books on this list from The Chronicles of Amber  volume and the six books from The Complete Stories of Oz volume would have gotten counted as just one book each in the past.

Also, this year I read a lot of children's books. So take that into account.  Although I like to think that some of the really heavy reading I also did this year (Don Quixote, Chomsky's Universal Grammar, The Linguistics Wars) balances that out a little bit.

But besides all that, I'm really happy with this year because I was able to clear out a lot of books that have been lingering on my bookshelf for years.

Don Quixote , Chomsky's Universal Grammar, The Moral Animal and The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales were all books I had started years ago, and just never got around to finishing, and was wondering if I would ever find it in me to finish them.  And then this year, I got up a bit of self-determination, and finally finished those books.  (The other book that had been lingering on my shelf was The Complete Stories of Oz, which I haven't finished yet, but at least I'm now on track to finish it.)

One last note: although I'm relatively happy with my book list this past year, it could have been better.  There were far too many evenings that I spent on Youtube, when I should have been reading.  I shall try to do better next year.

Anyway, let's get into some of the awards 

Best Fiction (Not Counting re-reads)

I don't want to count re-reads here, because that skews the playing field.  (Most books I re-read are books I like.  Plus the nostalgia factor of re-reading makes everything difficult to evaluate).  But getting rid of re-reads actually leaves me very little to work with now.  

I guess I'm going to have to go with Don Quixote.  (I know, I know, I spent most of my review complaining about how hard it was to get through.  But, for all that, there were enough moments of genius in the book to make me remember it fondly.  It's perhaps one of those books that you think about more fondly when you look back on it then when you're actually reading it.) 

The Chronicles of Amber was also really good, so that's a close runner-up.

No worst in this category

Best Re-read

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  I had completely forgotten how funny and wonderful this book was.  I'm glad I re-read it.

No worst for this category.  As I said above, books I re-read are almost always books I like.  Although I should say that while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was much better than I remembered it, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and The BFG  were not nearly as good as I remembered them.

Best Non-Fiction

Not counting books that I read for professional development (I'll deal with those separately), it looks like I only read one non-fiction book this year-- The Moral Animal.  So I guess this wins by default.  Although it was a really fascinating read, so I'd recommend it regardless.

Best Book I Read for Professional Development

What I generally try to do in my "Professional Development" reading is balance out books on practical classroom practices with books on more abstract linguistic concepts.  But this year, it ended up being all abstract linguistic concepts.  Chomsky's Universal Grammar was about abstract linguistic theory, and then I decided that The Linguistics Wars was a good book to follow that up with.  And then after that, unfortunately, my professional development reading sputtered out.  (I've been steadily chipping away at The Grammar Book, but haven't finished it yet.)

Both Chomsky's Universal Grammar and The Linguistics Wars were difficult reads for me.  Both had large sections that I didn't understand.  But The Linguistics Wars had a fascinating narrative, so it wins the best book for professional development this year.

P.S.--Thanks to author Randy Allen Harris, for being a good sport about my ramblings on his book.  

P.S.S.--Rest in Peace Vivian Cook, author of Chomsky's Universal Grammar, who unfortunately passed away last month.

Video version of this post: 

Books Read in 2021

Playlist for 2021 Books HERE: 

Abandoned Books 2021

* Aesop's Fables

See also my Weekly Reading Vlogs for this year: 

March 28, 2021 Don Quixote p.226-276, The Hand of Oberon p.512-536 (74 pages)
April 4, 2021 The Hand of Oberon p.536-540, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood p.0-106 (110 pages)
April 11, 2021 The Hand of Oberon p.540-580, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood p.106-144, Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction 0-78 pages  (156 pages)
April 18, 2021 The Hand of Oberon  p.580-614, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.144-160, Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction  p.78-90 (62 pages)
April 25, 2021 The Hand of Oberon  p.614-640 (finished) started second reading p.494-496, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.160-182, Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction  (second reading) p.90-116 (76 Pages)
May 2, 2021 The Hand of Oberon  p.496-514, The Courts of Chaos p.645-672, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.182-210, Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction p.116-118 (75 pages)
May 9, 2021 The Courts of Chaos  p.672-680, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.210-276, The Linguistics Wars p.0-16 (90 pages)
May 16, 2021 The Courts of Chaos  p.680-752, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.276-296, The Linguistics Wars p.16-84 (160 pages)
May 23, 2021 The Courts of Chaos  p.752-772 (finished) 2nd reading p.645-648, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood  p.296-327, (finished) The Linguistics Wars p.84-168 (138 pages)
May 30, 2021 The Courts of Chaos p.648-654, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood p.0-10, The Linguistics Wars p.168-250 (98 pages)
June 6, 2021 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood p.10-18, The Linguistics Wars p.250-260, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights p.0-54 (72 pages)
June 13, 2021 The Linguistics Wars p.1-14, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights p.54-118 (78 pages)
June 20, 2021 The Story of King Arthur and His Knights p.118-178, The Grammar Book p.1-6 (66 pages)
June 27, 2021 The Story of King Arthur and His Knights p.178-301 (finished) 2nd reading p.1-6, The Grammar Book p.6-40 (163 pages)

July 4, 2021 The Grammar Book p.40-82, The Moral Animal p.1-161 (203 pages)

July 11, 2021 The Grammar Book p.82-106, The Moral Animal p.161-321 (184 pages)

July 18, 2021 The Grammar Book p.106-122 The Moral Animal p.321-364  (Finished) 2nd Reading p.1-3, The Brothers Grimm p.1-42 (104 pages)

July 25, 2021 The Grammar Book p.122-138, The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales p.42-336 (310 pages)

August 1, 2021 The Grammar Book p.138-144, The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales p.336-532 (202 pages)

August 8, 2021 The Grammar Book p.144-154, The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales p.532-570, Charlotte's Web  p.1-184, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory p.1-180 (412 pages)

August 15, 2021 The Grammar Book p.154-160, The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales p.570-640, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator p.1-182 (258 pages)

August 22, 2021 The Grammar Book p.160-176, The Brothers Grimm p.640-694, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone p.0-210 (280 pages)

August 29, 2021 The Grammar Book p.176-192, The Brothers Grimm p.694-802, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone p.210-332 (246 pages)

September 5, 2021 The Grammar Book p.192-202, The Brothers Grimm p.802-845,  The BFG p.1-120 (173 pages)

September 12, 2021 The BFG p.120-208, The Witches p.1-325 (393 pages)

September 19, 2021 Herodotus Introduction i-xxxviii, main text 1-72 (110 pages) 

September 26, 2021 Herodotus p.72-120 (48 pages)

October 3, 2021 Herodotus p.120-152, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz p.1-54 (86 pages)

October 10, 2021 Herodotus p.152-226, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz p.54-96 (116 pages)

October 17, 2021 Herodotus p.226-244, The Marvelous Land of Oz p.98-134, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland p.1-104, Through the Looking-Glass p.106-122, The Grammar Book p.202-208 (180 pages)

October 24, 20201 Herodotus p.244-278, The Marvelous Land of Oz p.134-196, Through the Looking-Glass p.122-231, The Grammar Book p.208-214, The Hobbit p.1-54 (265 Pages)

October 31, 2021 Herodotus p.278-286, The Grammar Book p.214-218, The Hobbit p.54-254, Ozma of Oz p.195-216 (233 pages) 

November 7, 2021 Herodotus p.286-314, The Grammar Book p.218-222, The Hobbit p.254-351, Ozma of Oz p.216-287, The Fellowship of the Ring i-xii (212 pages)

November 14, 2021 Herodotus p.314-318, The Grammar Book p.222-226, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz p.290-326, The Fellowship of the Ring xii-xxvii, p.1-90 (149 pages)

November 21, 2021 Herodotus p.318-324, The Grammar Book p.226-230, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz p.326-386, The Fellowship of the Ring p.90-176 (156 pages)

November 28, 2021 Herodotus p.324-328, The Grammar Book p.230-234, The Road to Oz p.388-432 The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien p.176-250 (126 pages)

December 5, 2021 Herodotus p.328-344, The Grammar Book p.234-238, The Road to Oz p.432-482, The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien p.250-336 (156 pages)

December 12, 2021 Herodotus p.344-366, The Grammar Book p.238-242, The Emerald City of Oz p.484-550, The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien p.336-444 (200 pages)

December 19, 2021 Herodotus p.366-376, The Grammar Book p.242-252, The Emerald City of Oz p.550-609, The Fellowship of the Ring p.444-531 (166 pages)

December 26, 2021 Herodotus p.376-380, The Grammar Book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz p.621-664, The Two Towers p.537-652 (175 pages)

Weekly Average: 164 pages