What a year, huh? Never mind Covid — a real buzz kill — but in 2021 we moved house twice, and a couple weeks ago we celebrated the birth of our daughter. Despite all that turbulence, I managed to read 151 books this year (including graphic novels; a real saviour recently, when reading prose has felt far too hard an undertaking). You can check out my favourites here.
According to Goodreads, I read 43,911 pages. Based on their stats, my average book length was 290 pages. My longest was Ken Follett’s Never (816 pages) and my shortest was The Dry Heat by Natalia Ginzberg (86 pages).
That’s 14 fewer than last year, for those keeping score, and I imagine that number is going to be reduced further in the years that follow as my regular reading time is absorbed by parental commitments. But it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality and enjoyment.
Anyway, we’ll talk about 2022 next December. Let’s carry on with my 2021 breakdown.
Simon McDonald 
Happy new year and many enjoyable books!