My 20 Favorite Books of 2021

Merry Christmas everyone if you celebrate that sort of thing. In my boredom, I decided to create a list, because I love lists I’ve read 72 books this year, which is fucking crazy. These are my 20 favorite ones. (The list is in chronological order of year written or published).

• Moby Dick, Herman Melville, 1851 — I avoided this forever because I assumed it was going to be another dull American classic. I was wrong! I call this a kitchen-sink book. Melville throws everything at you from bizarre descriptions of whales’ anatomies to suddenly turning into a Shakespeare play for no reason. One of the few classics that I will revisit again and again.
• Notes From the Underground, Fydor Dostoevsky, 1864 — Not sure how I missed this one! Another existential, first-person novel, and maybe the best version of that type of novel. The biggest difference is that stuff actually happens in this novel. I know that’s trite but it makes it a bit of an easier read.
• The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy, 1886 — A short read but a devastating read. About a man who lived for vanity and then discovers he is dying. His reflections are heartbreaking.
• The Hounds of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1901 — Possibly my favorite detective novel ever written. It is fucking riveting. Equal parts eerie, weird, funny, and smart. No film or TV adaptation of this has come even close to the novel.
• The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, Ranier Marie Rilke, 1910 — Another first-person journal-type…