Hi, everyone. So in the spirit of making new goals for 2022, I wanted to reflect on some of the goals that I had set for myself for 2021. And one of the main ones was reading more. And so I say reading, but I also include audio books in that because I find that it allows me to get more content that I want to consume and to enjoy and to digest. So not just restricting that to books, but also audio. So I read a lot, a lot of books this year, which I was really pleased about.
  
And when I say read, I don't just mean reading, which I did, but also listening to the audiobooks. So I wanted to share with you a couple of my favorite books from 2021, and perhaps you've read some of them as well.
  
And if you have comment below and share your thoughts on these books, or if you have other books from your own sort of experience this year, reading and listening to audiobooks to then feel free to share that as well.

OK, so my first one of 2021 was Circe, and that's by Madeline Miller, and I'm someone one who really enjoys mythology. And it was really cool actually to hear about, well, it's his it's fiction, right? So there's the mythology that we know in which, you know, C or C, and a lot of people know her through the tale of Odysseus. There is that aspect of her, but we don't really know much in terms of, like, who she could have been as a mythological being. And so Madeline Miller is a really good job of filling in those gaps, so to speak.
  
Of course, this is her interpretation of it, but I think it's really nice to get that story, that narrative or Circe. And she's sort of this unsung hero because a lot of people think of Circe as sort of a little bit of an an an enemy in a way, you know, just in terms of I'm not going to give away the story of Odysseus, but I think it's really cool for people who like mythology, who like these books and stories with strong female characters. This was a really great one, so that was definitely on my top books of 2021 list.
  
So definitely check out  Circe. All right. The next one that I really, really loved was City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. OK, so this is a phenomenal book to also listen to. So I will say I forgot to say that for Circe.
  
I, I did read it, but I also listened to it, and I really loved the narration of Searcy. So if you want to listen to a book, you're looking for a good book to listen to you. Definitely check out Circe.

And then another book that was really, really well narrated and you could tell it was like a Broadway star was the book City of Girls. And that's why Elizabeth Gilbert. It was absolutely excellent. And it's a really cool historical fiction.

Again, a strong female lead. You see a theme here, and this one is really cool because it follows this main character and she's in this theater business and it's the 1920s. So a lot of color, a lot of vibrance, you know, just like the way of life.
  
Very exciting to hear this story being told, and there's a little bit of a mystery that unfolds. So that's a lot of fun to discover. And again, there some good life lessons in there as well. I'm not going to give it away too much, but I definitely think that it's an excellent book to read.
  
If you are someone who likes historical fiction and you want to sort of know what New York City was like in the 1920s, which I think is a really cool time period of the next one that I absolutely loved.
  
Also by Elizabeth Gilbert was big magic. This is all about how to access and protect and nurture our creativity. I thought it was such a wonderful book about it went a little meta, which was really cool, but it's about the importance of creativity and how we can tap into it as well as, you know, really.
  
Allow ourselves to be creative and what we can do in order to, you know, keep that creativity muscle strong and growing. And so as someone who is a content creator and is, you know, creating. For my job every day, you know, I was really interested in reading this, and I was really happy to have read it because it made me feel one really good and two it helped me sort of understand where. Where does creativity come from? Right, and is this living? She she treats it as a living breathing entity. So it's really, really cool.
  
It's really well-written, and I absolutely loved it. So I highly recommend it. So that's big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. And again, this is for people who like the people who are content creators or who create or are creatives or artists.
  
Definitely. This is a must read, I would say. And then for people who are not necessarily doing that for their job, but maybe are interested and have hobbies in a creative space, let's say you love watercolor. And then I think it's also a must read for you, too, because it really helps you sort of understand creativity.
  
And its creativity is like this abstract thing, right? But the way she explains it and talks about it, you start to see it differently in a good way. So I highly recommend that one because. Excellent. All right. The other one that I really liked was by Ann Patchett, and this was called the Dutch House.

I think there were so many life lessons in that book that I think people should definitely. I think they would one enjoy it because it's extremely well written and to the the life lessons like that, just sort of unpacking what's going on in the in the book with the main character.

So like the protagonist as well as the secondary character. It's really, really interesting how just. The bizarre nature of life and you know, how things come full circle and about not holding grudges and sort of letting pieces fall where they may, and if you're someone who like really likes trying to like, control the situation or control have a lot of control over certain things. You know, we know that that's not really possible. It's sort of an illusion. This idea of control, like we can do what we will, but ultimately, like the universe has plans, right?

And so it's not to say I'd like to be passive in life, but like we can, you know, we put as many irons in the fire as possible and then let the chips fall where they may or sort of let let the story unfold as it shall.

So it's interesting. I really I'm just going to say that much because I really do want you to just like, read it yourself and let me know what you think. It's called the Dutch House by end, Paget, and I think that one's a really, really good one.

All right. No, I read like a mother by Angela Guavas. That was really interesting. It's sort of like a interesting perspective on motherhood and sort of the act of being pregnant and what changes. It's not so much about the body itself, but about sort of like societally how society sort of interfaces with someone who is pregnant and sort of like the changes you might go through with regard to society. So that was a good one. I think people who are interested in these kinds of books might like it. And I know that a lot of people have thought of this as a very good book to read.

So it's it's what I think she calls it a feminist perspective on motherhood. So it's interesting. And if this is somebody who you know has a career and is also a mother, so that could be interesting for people who perhaps be a mother one day, who already are mother and also have their careers as well.

So might be a book worth reading if that's something that you are interested in. All right. And then I read to Sally Rooney Books. I thought, those are really good, so normal people and conversations with friends. I found them kind of similar in some ways, but I thought these two books were first of all, the dialog is excellent. Like, super amazing dialog. So if you're someone who likes storytelling or interested in sort of social interaction, which is a big passion of mine, I mean, I have a separate channel on communication, social skills and social interaction.

So that's something that I'm very deeply passionate about. I would definitely say read these two books, so normal people and conversations with friends. So yeah, those are both by Sally Rooney excellence. The other one that I really liked was In the Flow by Alissa Vitti.

And then I also read her earlier book, called Woman Code. I thought these two books, particularly in the flow, was were excellent, and I'll tell you why. Well, I did not know that much about the variations in the cycle.

Right. And so if you are someone who gets a cycle has a what. We all have cycles. But if you are someone who has a typically a eight day, but it could be 36 day, 24 day cycle hormonal cycle, then this book would probably be of interest to you.

So again, that's in the flow. And then you can also read her earlier one, which is woman code, both by Alissa. Really, really interesting. And just about like, how could you? How is it? How can you optimize your life based on where you are in your cycle?

And that includes your training. It includes your productivity, it includes how you eat at those various points in your cycle. So men have a 24 hour hormonal cycle and women are people who get their periods of 24 to 36 day cycles, depending on your average cycle length.

So there are definitely changes, and you can't necessarily approach training the same way that you would if you are someone who has a 24 hormonal cycle. So that was just really eye-opening, and it's definitely enhanced my life. So I would highly recommend that if you are interested in how your cycle really does play a major role in how you go about your everyday life, and it's it's a good thing because that way it really gets you thinking about how you can optimize in a lot of ways. So I shared with you just now. Some of my favorite books, and I will tell you my favorite book of 2021.

All right. And are you ready for my number one? So it is called Breath by James Nestor. This was my favorite book. I read it twice and I am going to read it again. It has transformed the way I breathe and the way I sleep.

And so I think this is a must read for everyone because we all breathe. And guess what? Most of us, myself included, have been or are breathing incorrectly. And so it wasn't until I read this book, and again, I read it twice because there is so much in there to unpack that I really started understanding the different techniques of breathing and not just breath work, but just breathing. Just when you're sitting down like, it's something that we don't really pay much attention to. And if you are a meditator, then you will probably pay attention to it.
  
But if you're not the one who meditates or does yoga, then you probably sort of not maybe that cognizant of your breath. And so this really brought to the forefront the importance of like the way we breathe and there are different types of breathing.

So he touches upon a different type like fire breathing and goes into different cultural traditions where there's breath work and prayer and meditation and the Wim Hof method. He talks about that and how it's all sort of saying the same thing, which is, you know, we have to be more aware of how we breathe, and it's really 
fascinating. So I highly recommend you check that one out. If, if anything, if you don't want to read any of the other books that I shared with you or you're just not interested in the other topics, then please do yourself a favor and read this book because it is so incredible.

All right, so that's it. Those are my favorite books of 2021. The other I have read a lot of other books in regard to health and fitness, and some of them are a blog about blood sugar control and how we can eat to be in control of our blood sugar and keeping that stabilized.

I wouldn't say those are my favorite, so these are the ones that I shared as my favorite. But as you can see, there's a mix of fiction and nonfiction and some health related. But again, my favorite health book of this year was breath.
  
So just I would check it out. All right. So what are your favorite books of 2021? Please share that with me in the comments down below, and I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful book, either a book like this or digital or audio, so audio.

So I hope that you are reading something lovely right now and whatever it is, you share that with me if you think that myself or other people in the next community would enjoy it. All right, I will see you in the next one.  
Bye for now.

Thank you for reading!!