Best Books of 2021

I am, as you all know by now, a voracious reader. Doesn’t really matter the topic: If it’s good, I’ll read it. Which is why you’ll find quite the eclectic mix of genres in here, from real estate to nutrition to fiction to Christianity to sports.

Last year, I limited this list to only five books, but there’s just too many good books to read and for me to recommend to keep it to five. So, below, you’ll find, simply, the best books I read this year, with links straight to Amazon if you’re in need of a good read, or a last minute gift for the bookworm in your family.

The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Mitch Albom

I was on a lengthy layover in the Miami airport when I stumbled across the latest masterpiece from Mitch Albom: The Stranger in the Lifeboat. Now, keep in mind, I was traveling, and already had two books packed for the trip — the Bible, Surprised by joy — and I still couldn’t resist buying this one, even at the insanely marked up price that comes with all things airport.

It was worth every penny.

I could have finished the entire book in a single sitting, on our red-eye to Brazil, but it was just too good to finish so quickly, so I rationed myself to just a few chapters. Even then, with the ration in mind, I finished it in a few days. Couldn’t help it — it’s that good. Another in a long list of Albom masterpieces.

Here’s the Amazon link to: The Stranger in the Lifeboat

The Book on Flipping Houses, J. Scott

During the COVID-19 pandemic — the first strain — I began reading up a ton on personal finance and creative ways to make money essentially doing nothing. Real estate was a recurring theme, especially in one of my personal favorites, Rich Dad Poor Dad. That turned me onto the Bigger Pockets podcast, which turned me onto Bigger Pockets books, which turned me into a real estate investor. And, after picking up a few rental properties in Memphis, one of which has been quite the problem child, I wanted to learn how to flip it. All of this led me to J. Scott’s aptly named book: The Book on Flipping Houses.

It’s a tremendous step by step guide on, you guessed it, how to flip houses. J. Scott’s flipped a ton, and he pulls from his own experiences to teach his readers how to do the same. The best part, though: He doesn’t make it seem easy, like so many how-to experts do on the internet. He just lays it out, line by line, including all of the various problems and hiccups you’ll run into and the potential upside, should you do it right.

And if you’re into real estate like me, I also highly recommend…

The Book on Rental Property Investing, Brandon Turner

This book is a one-stop shop for everything a beginner would know before getting into rental property investing. Turner is the co-founder and host of the Bigger Pockets podcast, and he’s been investing in real estate for a long time. He’s an expert on the matter, and it shows in what is a tremendously comprehensive book on rental properties and the best practices to implement when becoming a real estate investor. I highly recommend it.

Amazon link to: The Book on Rental Property Investing

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi

I read this book in a single sitting, on July 4. Honestly, I intended to do something fun on July 4, but once I parked on the beach and opened up this book, I didn’t leave until it was finished, some eight hours later. It’s that good. Also, just a warning, it’ll probably make you cry. (I didn’t warn my buddy Jordan Cheng that it would make him cry, so here’s your warning). It’s devastatingly sad but the message in the book is indelible, and the writing is beautiful.

Amazon link to: When Breath Becomes Air

The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss

One of my favorite parts of being a reader is that it connects you to people of all walks of life who also happen to be readers. Doesn’t matter if they’re white, black, blue, orange, are athletes, doctors, dentists, cashiers, live in California, Florida, Maryland, or North Carolina: Readers get other readers. It’s awesome. Such was the case when I was in Myrtle Beach, and I met a girl named Meredith Cox. Naturally, as many of my discussions do, our conversation turned to books. I had a lengthy overseas trip coming up, and I was in need of a good one, preferably fiction. Meredith asked if I had ever read The Name of the Wind.

I hadn’t.

So I bought it, and brought it on my trip to Bulgaria.

For nearly 12 straight hours, I read The Name of the Wind. Couldn’t put it down. It didn’t matter if it was a red-eye, and I was short on sleep — I didn’t want to stop reading! It had the same effect that Harry Potter once had on me: Just. One. More. Page. And then another. And another. And all of a sudden we were touching down in Turkey and I still didn’t want to put it down.

It’s that good. And the best part? It’s a trilogy! I scarfed down the second book, The Wise Man’s Fear, in a similar manner. Just couldn’t stop. Now, like all of Rothfuss’ other readers, I can hardly wait for the third book in the trilogy.

Is this Anything, Jerry Seinfeld

I’ll give you the head’s up that I didn’t get when I bought this book: It isn’t a book. When I bought Is This Anything, I thought it would be a memoir on Jerry Seinfeld’s comedy career. I was wrong. It is, simply, a written list of Seinfeld’s best skits and jokes throughout his career. It took me a minute to get into it, but once I knew what I was getting into when I opened the book, I absolutely loved it.

This is the only book that’s ever made me laugh so hard I was crying — and it made me do this pretty much every time I opened it. I’d laugh out loud every single time I read this book. If you’re looking for a good story, this isn’t it; if you’re looking for a good laugh, and a peek into the mind of one of the greatest comics who’s ever lived, this is the one for you.

Amazon link to: Is this Anything

Winning, Tim Grover

To be totally honest, I’m not a huge Tim Grover fan. I thought his wildly popular book, Relentless, was also wildly overrated and, overall, impractical. Alas, the rave reviews it has gotten leaves me in the minority, but I stand by it. Winning, too, has a similar modality of Relentless, in that Grover espouses the old school mindset of “work harder than everyone” as the secret to success. But something about it struck me. It was more practical, and there was more empathy for the losing side of sport. In fact, much of the focus of Winning is, ironically, on losing, and how invaluable the experience of losing and failing is.

Perhaps it came at the right time for me, as I read it in the midst of an epic losing streak. It helped me get back on my feet in the middle of a tough stretch of my season, helped me stay the course, helped me get back to my winning ways. So, while I’m still not going to recommend all things Tim Grover to everyone, if you’re an athlete, or have a child who is an athlete, I must say that I recommend Winning.

Amazon link to: Winning

Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is an absolute magician. I’ve now read 10 books by Lewis, and nine of them I’d consider to be must-reads. Mere Christianity, in my mind, is his seminal work. He takes the most complex subject on the planet — religion — and puts it into the most digestible little book. One of my favorite aspects of Mere Christianity is that it’s not just for Christians. Atheists, or any other religions, honestly, could get a lot out of this book, as Lewis even pokes fun at Christians and all their strange dogma throughout. Lewis, too, was an atheist once, so he is able to approach Christianity with a 360-degree empathy. Aside from The Bible itself, this is the best religious text I’ve read.

Amazon link to: Mere Christianity

The Pegan Diet, Mark Hyman; Fast This Way, David Asprey

At the beginning of the year, I went down a nutrition rabbit hole, devouring half a dozen books in a few weeks on the healthiest ways to eat. The Pegan Diet was by far the most useful, and the one that made the most sense. The Pegan Diet is a whimsical name for a diet that is a combination of vegan and paleo, which, in effect, means: Eat plants and animals. But Hyman also explains why this is not only the healthiest diet for you, but the healthiest diet for us to eat in regards to keeping the environment healthy as well.

I loved it, and it reshaped how I thought about food, diet, and eating on the road. This year was the best my body and mind have felt in as long as I can remember, and much of that comes thanks to the principles that I adopted in The Pegan Diet, as well as Dave Asprey’s tremendous book, Fast This Way. When combining the two — a diet of mostly plants and animals and regular intermittent fasting and 24-hour fasts — I felt freakin’ supercharged. There’s a ton of science in both of these books, too, so if you’re a nerd like me, you’ll enjoy that aspect of it.

The Cost of These Dreams, Wright Thompson

The best writer on planet Earth, Wright Thompson, compiled the best stories he’s written and tossed it into one book: The Cost of These Dreams. Can you guess the book I read, front to cover, three times this year? Yep: The Cost of These Dreams. What C.S. Lewis is to Christianity and faith writing, Thompson is to sportswriting and storytelling. Aside from Gary Smith, Thompson is the best feature writer who has ever written, in my mind, and if you’re looking for some phenomenally-told stories on some of the greats in sport, The Cost of These Dreams is a book you need on your bookshelf.