Selected list of books read in 2021

I had the pleasure to use the experiences of many intelligent writers by reading their excellent books both in fiction and non-fiction categories in 2021.

Here is a selected list of my favorite books in the fiction genre:

Personally, I was moved the most by the brilliant work of Matt Haig in “The Midnight Library“. It affected my point of view toward everyday, routine tasks that very often we perceive as mundane. This book raised my attention to the importance of living more intentionally and enjoying the moments of our lives – the only life that we get to live at this moment. As a result, I am more present in my own life, and it has done wonders for me. Thus, it is not a surprise that I chose this book as my favorite fictional title with the best content of 2021.

As a pure literature piece, I enjoyed “Prince Ebtehaj“-the outstanding work of famous Iranian writer Houshang Golshiri– the most. In this surrealist novel, he demonstrates the transition of the norms of the society in the midst of hallucinations of the main character about his ancestors as well as his own past. For moving my horizons of imagination, I have to pick this book as my favorite fictional title with the highest literature worth of 2021.

I also enjoyed familiarizing myself with Nigerian historical civil war as well as society and culture through the remarkable work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in “Half of a Yellow Sun“. In the same way, “Memoirs of a Geisha” from Arthur Golden opened a window for me to the traditional culture of Japan that I absolutely was not aware of. For that, I am most grateful to these authors. Similarly, each of the other books listed above contributed to my lifted spirit and expanded imagination.

Unfortunately enough, I also read a few very bad books, which are obviously not mentioned in the above list. One might be surprised to know that I am also grateful for reading those, as reading bad books makes me appreciate the good ones more. Also, how would we know if a book is good if we never read a bad one?

And here is the list of non-fictional titles that enhanced my knowledge this year:

Although each of these books taught me very valuable lessons, the “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain had the most significant influence on my personal and professional life. It elevated both my self-awareness and my perception of social conduct. It made me at ease with aspects of my personality that for a long time I felt distressed about. The pressure was mostly caused by the overemphasis of most societies and especially western media to depict extrovert behavior as an acceptable norm. Thanks to this insightful work, I got to know and accept myself much better.