The best books I read in 2021
My year in books was really great. I discovered new authors and uniquely to past years, Spanish ones mostly related to mystery and historical fiction.
So happy to be writing this post again. 2021 went so fast for me and family. Travelling is resuming and we're spending a fair amount down in Chile.
My year in books was really great. I discovered new authors and uniquely to past years, Spanish ones mostly related to mystery and historical fiction. Names like Julia Navarro, Jorge Volip and Carmen Mola. Science fiction was a recurring theme too from 2021.
I did try also this year to pair more books with their audio counterpart. Project Hail Mary, Mastery and Dispara, yo ya estoy muerto for example.
You can find my whole list of books read in Goodreads.
Here's my top list for the year!
The Lewis Trilogy
How is is possible I've never heard of Peter May before. It's kind of my type of author. I was able to read all 3 books from this trilogy and it was amazing.
The Lewis Trilogy is a series that takes place in a very remote island, the Hebrides (north of Scotland) and more specifically the Lewis Island. Fin Mcleod is a police man living in Edinburgh and he has to fly back to his home to solve a murder.
Fin experiences a terrible tragedy in the beginning of the first book. When he arrives to the island, he'll have to deal with some of the ghosts from the past and with decisions made 20 years ago.
The description of the islands is something you can smell and picture in every passage and chapter. I didn't know about the Guga hunting tradition and that people still hold to Sabbath on Sundays.
In many parts of these books there's also lists of folk traditions that merges Celtic and Catholic.
Peter May is my perfect mix of a dark novel, mystery, thriller and an unique location to make it stand out from others authors of the same kind.
The Ride Of A Lifetime
Great amount of advice, stories and anecdotes from this one. Robert Igner was the CEO for Disney from 2025 until 2020.
The amount of effort, milestones and achievements are ridiculous. From becoming the CEO of ABC, to then move to Disney, and finally adquired Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm in the last decade.
For me, the highlight of the book is the amount of humbleness this guy transmits over his stories. I truly believe he has always stayed "in the ground", and has promoted a culture of openness, permission to fail and achievement of greatness.
My favourite quote was:
That may be the hardest but also the most necessary lesson to keep in mind, that wherever you are along the path, you're the same person you've always been.
If you're thinkling of expanding your leadership skills, this book is for you.
The Brutal Telling
I don't know about you, but for a mystery this title is shocking. This is my 5th Louise Penny book and I couldn't be happier reading this one.
There's an astounding balance with Penny's books. Sometimes you read the events surrounding the mystery itself, and other times you might be enjoying poetry or learning from psychology and history. This book doesn't stand behind.
Inspector Gamache and friends are the protagonists here, and Three Pines is put in the spot again. Even though that's Quebec (east Canada), there's a trip to BC and some of its islands.
This particular book in the series is a different kind. It involves someone very near to the community and it might hurt reading about the consequences of one character's actions. I cannot recommend it more. Please give it a try.
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
If you want to be a content creator or want to start building an audience, this is the book you need. I think it won't really tell the HOW, although will fire up your motivation into the WHY you need to have a tribe.
I follow Seth Godin for some time now. He's popular from other books, like "Purple Cow" and "Permission Marketing". In "Tribes", he defines an "heretic" as someone who has a strong belief in something and acts to create change.
Most of us probably believe in something, but as he states, we fear criticism and blame. That is enough reason to paralyze us. The thing to realize here is: "compare that bad feeling from blame, with the benefits you’ll get from actually doing something worth doing".
One other good quote was (specially if you're afraid of criticism):
You can worry about most people all day , but I promise you that they’re not worried about you.
Hope you get some motivation out from this one!
Dispara, yo ya estoy muerto
Julia Navarro is one of the highlights of this year. She has engaged me more into historical fiction and in this book, the liveliness of the story is amazing.
It's 2021 and with all the tensions happenning coutries, it's so to fall into to bias and wrongful thinking on how some things originated. Coming from a South American country, conflicts like the israeli/palestinian one are remote to say the least, with little knowledge on the reasons why it started.
This book tells the story from two families that are bonded by their friendship, and all the events from mid 19th century to the present that magnified the clash between two cultures and religions. Personally, it's hard to understand the violence and sometimes the narrowed thinking people had to deal with this conflict.
Julia Navarro will surprise you with the mysterious bonds life generates, that don't match religion or traditions. Human emotions or love, they just sometimes forget the inventions and traditions man create. This book is simply beautiful and insightful.
That's it. Thanks so much for reading. Hope you had a great 2021!