Remember when blogging was a thing? I haven't written for entertainment purposes
in a veeeery long time and, given that it's been nearly a decade (or more than a
decade if you count 2020 for what it felt like it lasted), this could very well
disappear when I hit "Publish." In 2021, I periodically posted on a different
platform the updated list of books I had read. I thought it would be easier to
write about the final 2021 list this way, then share the link on that other
platform. We'll see. This could be a one-and-done, or it could be the start of
something beautiful. In all, my Excel sheet says I read 42 books in 2021. The
way the last couple of years have blended together, I may have forgotten one or
two. For instance, I can't remember when I read
Terror in the City of Champions by Tom Stanton: 2020? 2021? Who knows. I
didn't start tracking library check-outs until March-ish. That's important
because 95 percent of the list below came from the library. (Bookseller friends,
don't hate me: I buy and give copies of the books I like to friends I think will
like them.)
Anyway, my list -- complete or not -- is below. It is primarily
fiction (88%), and quite diverse. Non-fiction is denoted with an *. There is a
clear best & worst: Fight Night by Miriam Toewes, and
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.
I chose a lot of books based on other peoples lists (i.e. Best of 2020; Best
Thrillers for a Cold Winter; you get the idea). I read some that were
recommended by others. Thank you Sarah Kelbaugh, Kevin Redman, Nancy Brosnahan,
Susan from the Dog Park, Ted Lasso. Please note, Kevin recommended
The Bookman's Tale, not the book on the list by Kevin Redman. I don't
recommend reading several books in a row by the same author, especially if you
want to keep the thrill in the thrillers (coughRuthWarecough). There were a few
that lived up to the hype (
The Vanishing Half!
The Boy in the Field!
The Nickel Boys!) and a few that were
disappointing (
The Four Winds,
The Guest List,
The Pull of the Stars). There were also some really satisfying finds (
The Shadow Land,
Great Circle,
Hamnet,
Such a Fun Age). And a few authors
I hadn't read before, that I want to read more of, namely Colson Whitehead,
Miriam Toewes and Charlie Lovett. Here's to 2022 -- I'm already three books in.
Books Read in 2021
A Wrinkle In Time - L'Engle
Anxious People -- Backman
Bear Town - Backman
Becoming Duchess Goldblatt-Goldblatt*
Beheld-Nesbit
Earthlings -- Murata
Eight
Perfect Murders-Swanson
Fight Night - Toewes
Fresh Water for Flowers - Perrin
Great Circle - Shipstead
Hamnet - O’Farrell
In a Dark, Dark Wood-Ware
Memorial-Washington
Night Came with Many Stars- Van Booy
Nine Perfect
Strangers-Moriarty
One by One-Ware
Sisters - Johnson
Such a Fun Age-Reid
The
Bookman's Tale - Lovett
The Boy in the Field - Livesy
The Dead are
Arising-Payne*
The Four Winds -- Hannah
The Girls-Cline
The Good Lord Bird -
McBride
The Guest List-Foley
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
The
Huntress-Quinn
The Last thing he told me -Dave
The Mercies-Hargrave
The Nickel
Boys-Whitehead
The Other Side of Someday - Redman*
The Other Wes Moore -- Moore*
The Plot -- Korelitz
The Pull of the Stars - Donoghue
The Shadow Land-Kostova
The Third Rainbow Girl-Eisenberg*
The Turn of the Key-Ware
The Underground
Railroad - Whitehead
The Vanishing Half-Bennett
Trigger Warning - Gaiman
When No
One is Watching -- Cole
Where’d You Go Bernadette- Semple
