My Favorite Reads of 2021

As 2022 is about to dawn, it’s hard to know what it will hold for our world, given the unpredictable nature of the ongoing pandemic. Or is it now shifting to an endemic, as we attempt to try and live with COVID-19? That’s more than I can say, but as I look back over 2021 one thing I can say without question is that reading has helped me make it through. Not only were the books themselves an antidote to all the craziness and stress, but the reading challenges I attempted were a welcome distraction and food for my troubled soul.

Here are a few notable reading events from this year (statistics from Goodreads):

This year’s list of my favorite reads is filled with some old friends and a few new ones:

  1. Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge
  2. Preparation for Total Consecration by Fr. Hugh Gillespie
  3. Life and Holiness by Thomas Merton
  4. At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
  5. The Living Wood by Louis de Wohl
  6. Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz
  7. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
  8. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
  9. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  10. The Aubrey/Maturin Series, books 1-4: Master and Commander, Post Captain, HMS Surprise, and The Mauritius Command

As I look toward my reading plans for the new year, my hope is to refocus on my summary of great books lists. and reread some of the most significant works of world literature.

Happy New Reading Year! Many blessings to you and your family.

Deacon Nick

Nick Senger is a husband, a father of four, a Roman Catholic deacon and a Catholic school principal. He taught junior high literature and writing for over 25 years, and has been a Catholic school educator since 1990. In 2001 he was named a Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the National Catholic Education Association.

3 Responses

  1. Brenda G says:

    All the best from Canada to you, and fellow readers. Books have certainly helped get me through a difficult year. I continue to enjoy re-reading the adventures of Aubrey-Maturin in slow-mo, among others, and thank you for your insightful comments. Here’s hoping a better year is ahead of us.

  2. MaryR says:

    Congratulations on meeting your goal and finishing your challenges! I hope your 2022 reading year is just as enjoyable for you.

  3. Great list! The Divine Comedy is fabulous, I read it a few years ago.
    Nice to see Merton here, rather unusual. I have read many books by him, but maybe not this one.
    Here are my favorites : https://wordsandpeace.com/2022/01/03/year-of-reading-2021-part-1-my-top-18/

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