What a freaking year. I may have started off my Best of 2020 post the same way, but like… who thought we would be here right now? Not. Me. The good news is that the libraries were open all year long this year, and books were my salvation through the year that just kept throwing things at my head.
You’ll see below my stats for the year, but before get to the sexy data, I just have to say that I managed to read 108 books this year, which is the most I’ve ever read, 49 books ahead of my original Goodreads goal and 4 books ahead of my adjusted Goodreads goal. It was my most diverse year yet, and geez was it hard to pick books for each of these categories.
So here are the best of 2021. It was tough to make this list… there were so many good books to choose from! If you’re wondering how I managed to keep track of all of my reading, it’s in part thanks to Goodreads and in part thanks to my super awesome spreadsheet.
Previous Years’ Best Of lists: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
The Stats
Number Of Books I Read: 108 (!!!)
Average Books Read Per Month: 9
Number of Re-Reads: 5
Number of Books I Quit: 5
Average Year of Publication: 2016
Total Pages Read: 22,907
Total Audiobook Hours: 489.25 (Over 20 full days worth)
Average Number of Pages Per Book: 371
Average Rating Given: 3.91
Visual Stats
Diversity Goals
I read at least one nonfiction, one book written by a person of color, and one book featuring an LGBTQIA+ character every month this year.
- Total Nonfiction: 17 Books (+1 from last year)
- Total Written by a Person of Color: 42 Books (+6 from last year)
- Total Featuring an LGBTQIA+ Character: 25 Books (+6 from last year)
That’s an increase from last year in every category again this year! I feel really successful here, and proud of everything I’m learning from these books.
And now, on to the books…
I tried not to let any one book win in more than one category, but… that was difficult. So I included some honorable mentions in there as well!
Best Adult Fiction Read
Adult fiction book I read in 2021 that topped all the others
There’s not much I can say about The House in the Cerulean Sea that hasn’t been said already. This book topped so many “best of 2020” lists, and I knew I had to pick it up. Reading it felt like reading Harry Potter with a twist of Miss Peregrine and A Man Called Ove, and I loved each and every character so deeply and thoroughly that, even though I read this book in January, it is still the one that lives in my head 12 months later. If you’ve asked me for a book recommendation in 2021, I’ve probably recommended this book to you, regardless of what you usually read.
Honorable Mentions: Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi, The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Best YA Fiction Read
YA fiction book I read in 2021 that topped all the others
I grabbed Firekeeper’s Daughter on a whim from Book of the Month Club. It was an add on one month, and I usually love their YA selections (when they have them) so I gave this one a shot… and holy moly. It certainly ticked the boxes for me — unique cultural standpoint, intriguing twists and turns, a flawed and dynamic protagonist, a minor love story and solid family plot line. This is definitely a YA novel that crosses boundaries, and I think anyone (even people who don’t love YA) will love this one.
Honorable Mentions: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune
Best Nonfiction Read
Nonfiction book I read in 2020 that topped all the others
For most of the year, I went without reading a mind-blowing nonfiction novel, which was surprising, since I loved so many of my audiobooks last year. But from the moment I started Cultish, I knew I had found a winner. I’m not a true crime junkie, but I loved this look at cults and the language they use. The author touched on Jonestown, but also Scientology, MLMs, Peloton, and Instagram influencers. It hooked me from the first second and made weeding and mulching my flowerbeds actually enjoyable.
Honorable Mentions: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, More Myself by Alicia Keys
Best Audio
Best book to listen to with a narrator
I would not describe myself as an Alicia Keys fan, but the audiobook of More Myself was BEAUTIFUL. Alicia narrated it herself, with the help of some friends… friends like Michelle Obama, Bono, and Jay-Z. She also sang her songs on audio while she was talking about them, and it was just such a gorgeous, soothing way to spend time in my car while listening.
Honorable Mentions: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, The Survivors by Jane Harper
Best Series
Book series that had me coming back for more
I picked up the City of Brass trilogy specifically because the books fit three of the most difficult prompts on the reading challenge I tackle every year. However, I found myself completely immersed in this world from the first book. I loved the cultural aspects that the book showcased, and I appreciated the shape of the story from beginning to middle to end. It never felt slow or rushed, or like the characters were forced… the whole series was beautiful from start to finish.
Honorable Mentions: The Extraordinaries series by T.J. Klune (although it’s not finished yet)
Breakout Read
Book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations
This was an easy category for me to choose a book, because I hate westerns, but Outlawed completely sucked me in. To be fair, the subject lines of infertility and feeling like you just want to run away from it all… totally get. But it also had adventure and shoot outs and queer representation, and damn if this isn’t a book I kept thinking about long after I finished it. I never thought I would enjoy a western, but here we are. The Knockout Queen, on the other hand, was a slow burn, taking its time to reveal the secrets and diving deep into the characters of the story. It felt very literary but also very silly and very shocking all at the same time. While it is definitely not for everyone, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Honorable Mentions: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Most Recommended
Book I would recommend to anyone and everyone
I read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone at exactly the right time in my life. I loved seeing Gottlieb’s experience both as a therapist and as a person in therapy, and I was so entranced by the stories in the book that it helped me realize it was time for me to turn to therapy as well. One Two Three was a surprising book (although I shouldn’t be surprised because Frankel is fantastic), and it so broadened my perspective of the world and differently-abled people. The wide variety of characters that we meet opened my eyes, and I want everyone to read this book through these various perspectives. This book made me angry and made me cry and made me cheer, and what more can you ask for in a novel?
Honorable Mentions: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Biggest Push
Book that got me most out of my comfort zone
Girl, Woman, Other was my book club pick for February, and while it was not everyone’s favorite, it inspired excellent discussion and thinking. The book is told through so many different lenses and gives such a broad view of the world, and the perk was that if you didn’t particularly like a character or their story, their chapter was over pretty quickly. It was unlike anything else I’ve ever read. That being said, Convenience Store Woman was even weirder. I picked it up because it was nominated for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and at just over 3 hours of audio, it was my shortest read of the year. But man did it pack a punch. The main character is neurodiverse and spends her life loving here job working at the convenience store, but the people around her think that she should want more out of life. This book challenged the idea of “normal” and pushed boundaries in ways I never expected.
Honorable Mentions: Outlawed by Anna North, Girl A by Abigail Dean
Best LGBTQIA+
Best book featuring LGBTQIA+ characters and/or written by an LGBTQIA+ author
I appreciate that books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters are becoming more common and getting more mainstream. The Chosen and the Beautiful is the first Gatsby retelling I’ve picked up, and it featured Jordan Baker’s perspective as bisexual. I loved everything about this book — it was fantastical and whimsical and put an interesting spin on a story I know well… plus I love Jordan just a whole lot. The Extraordinaries, on the other hand, is a superhero novel, full stop. This is like if Marvel chose a gay teenage boy who can’t pick up hints and squeaks at everything to star in their next film. I really loved the twists and turns, and even though Nick was hella annoying sometimes, I developed a fondness for him… like he was a puppy I couldn’t help but watch.
Honorable Mentions: Love Lives Here by Amanda Jette Knox, The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe, The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Taught a Lesson
Book that taught me something about myself
Is “Taught a Lesson” code for “really heavy and emotionally impactful”? Probably. These two books punched me in the gut while I was reading them. It’s no secret that I love Yaa Gyasi, and Transcendent Kingdom was so completely different from Homegoing, yet still featured Gyasi’s intense look at the human condition. It tackles the opioid crisis in a way that I wasn’t expecting, and it truly rocked my world a bit. Love Lives Here is nonfiction about a woman who has a child and her spouse both come out as transgender. She takes the reader through her story bit by bit, and the love and dedication in revealing her story shows the love and dedication she has for her family. Both of these books make me think and gave me big feelings.
Honorable Mentions: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Best Book Club Pick
Book that sparked discussion and encourage debate
Our book club read some amazing books this year, and I’ll be creating a post later on that talks about what we read in 2021 and how they stacked up, but for now, just know that my book club is an amazing group of women, and we apparently like books that push us way out of our comfort zone (9 out of 10 reviews start with “I wouldn’t have read this, except book club…”). Piranesi (winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction this year) was our January pick and was rated the most highly among all of the books we read in 2021. I didn’t see that coming. I really enjoyed the book, yes, but I didn’t even have it written down as a contender for this ranking! It’s apparently one of those books that both inspired great discussion and sat with us long after book club was over. Sparks Like Stars was our last minute November pick after we subbed it out with the original pick. It was clearly one of my favorites of the entire year. The story inspired a lot of discussion of immigration, refugees, and what “home” means. Both of these books made us think and inspired great discussion.
Honorable Mention: Dear Child by Romy Hausmann, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Most Timely
Book that spoke to our current culture
This category goes to two books that surprised me and shined a spotlight on minority groups in America — Native Americans and immigrants. Firekeeper’s Daughter looked at Native American culture as it exists today, weaving ancient traditions with popular technology and music. The dichotomy of this story is what set it apart for me… well, that, and a crazy mystery that, while a bit implausible, was totally captivating. The author did a phenomenal job of weaving social commentary into the larger picture, and I devoured every word. Infinite Country, on the other hand, was a short book (less than 200 pages) that focused on a single family who had various degrees of immigrant status and the impact those statuses had on their family. It was a story I’ve never read before, and I was really glad to see so timely a novel and written by an author who has experienced these events firsthand.
Honorable Mentions: Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho, One Two Three by Laurie Frankel, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Best Time Machine
Historical fiction book that set the scene
Ugh I love a good historical fiction that opens my eyes to the background characters of the time, and these two really, really hit the spot. A Thousand Ships was one of my top audiobooks of the year, in large part because it featured such a wide cast of characters set during the fall of Troy. We see Odysseus’s wife, Athena and Aphrodite, Helena, Penelope, Cassandra… so many women of the time that were living at the whims of the men in charge. I loved traveling back to ancient Greece to see the aftermath of the Trojan horse. Fast forward a few hundred years and we get The Rose Code. I trust Kate Quinn to tell a good, well-researched story, and the women in this novel were so, so good. I loved the fact that there were real people sprinkled in with the fictional characters throughout the whole novel, and I may have spent an hour or two down a Google rabbit hole after I finished this one. I will read any novel Kate Quinn writes!
Honorable Mentions: Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi, The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Best Characters
Book whose characters stuck with me long after I finished the book
I’ve already talked about why I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so much, but I think it’s worth mentioning these characters individually. Each and every character in this novel is unique and adorable, and I just wanted to live in that house with those children forever. When I picked up this book, I didn’t realize I would be getting a lovable curmudgeon, six magical children, and a heartwarming story. Sure, one of the characters was the literal devil but like… in a cute way, right? The Switch features one of my favorite elderly characters, and that’s saying something because I have a lot of favorite elderly characters from novels. This novel was about a girl and her grandmother who switch apartments for the summer, and whew, when I tell you I laughed and I cried and I cheered. Eileen was so fiesty and heartwarming… I just loved living with her through this book.
Honorable Mentions: The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
Best Dressed
Book with the most attractive cover (that shows the greatness within)
Enough said. I loved both of these novels, and quickly bought them because LOOK AT THOSE COVERS.
Best Place
Book that was set in an interesting environment
Oh man I read some AMAZING fantasy novels this year but these two… their world-building was just *chef’s kiss*. Strange the Dreamer was a a fantasy novel like I’ve never read before. It mixed mythology with high fantasy with dreamlike euphoria, and I flew through this (rather large) book. I loved the characters, but the descriptive language was something truly special. Piranesi was another one that I felt like I wanted to live in and explore for much longer than this short novel allowed. The labyrinth was full of mythology and symbolism, and I spent so much of the book trying to solve the mystery of Piranesi that I flew through it quickly. It wasn’t until I sat with this book for a while that it really sunk in just how magical the setting was.
Honorable Mentions: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, One Two Three by Laurie Frankel, The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Most Thought-Provoking
Book that made me think the most
I will first say that these books won’t be for everyone. I read Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk after a frenzy of reading, where I blew through some fast-paced novels quickly. This book slowed me down, but in the best way. I mean… at this point, “old people walking” should be a preferred genre of mine, and this book was so good at it. It was a delightful stroll through NYC on New Year’s Eve, and Lillian’s reflections on her past (particularly in the 1930s and 40s) kept me hooked throughout. Convenience Store Woman was also a bit slow and contemplative, but more because the character was so unique and it took most of the book for me to wrap my head around her. Over and over again, this novel challenged the idea of normality and what it means to be a normal human. I cheered for Keiko and truly questioned everything I thought about life paths during this short little novel.
Honorable Mentions: Outlawed by Anna North, Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Best Shock
Book that made my jaw drop in surprise
Talk about jaw-dropping. Neither of these are traditional mystery/thriller novels, but what they do have in common is my audible gasp when I figured out what was going on.How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House was a surprise for me from the very beginning… I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this novel (and all of its hardships) so much. I really wasn’t expecting the twists and turns the plot took, and I connected to the characters so deeply. Disappearing Earth is a mystery, in a sense, but the way the story unfolds is so untraditional that I kind of forgot there was a mystery while I was reading it… until the end. Then OH OKAY I didn’t see that coming. Both of these novels were unexpected and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed them (and their twists and turns).
Honorable Mentions: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, Dear Child by Romy Hausmann, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Most Humorous
Book that kept me laughing
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel had hilarious family drama written all over it. Although the family is going through some not-so-funny things (opioid addiction, homophobia, financial issues), the characters kept hit light and hilarious the whole way through. I don’t always love rich people drama, but this one felt so genuine and I really wanted to be friends with all of the characters. Furiously Happy was a different type of funny, but whew… listening to this audiobook felt like listening to a very ADD friend ramble about her life. But in a good way? I audibly giggled in public with my headphones in listening to this book, and I immediately added all of Jenny Lawson’s books to my TBR.
Honorable Mentions: The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune
Most Feelings
Book that made me really emotional
As I say basically every year, I’m not someone who cries frequently when reading. I’ll get teary-eyed sometimes, but it takes a lot to make me cry… and these books both touched me. Sparks Like Stars was our November book club pick, and I read it mostly on a bus with 25 juniors while we were doing college tours, so take this with a grain of (overly exhausted) salt. But man.. from the first chapter, this book hooked me and hurt me (in a good way?). Seeing a 10 year old watch her family get murdered in front of her, then walking with her as she escapes Afghanistan and all that she endures.. it was heartbreaking and raw and honest and necessary. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird was… not. It would definitely be in the fluff category if not for the fact that I read it at the perfect time in my life where I needed to see this grief and “what if” and the letting go of one timeline to better serve the other one. I cried in my car listening to this one because it hit me at just the right moment and spoke words to my emotions.
Honorable Mentions: How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones, One Two Three by Laurie Frankel, Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Best Fluff
Book that broke my routine of misery and heartbreak in books
2021 was the year of fluff reads for me. I had a lot of big things going on, and I frequently turned to lighthearted novels to get me through. Malibu Rising was not necessarily the typical “fluff” read… it certainly had its fair share of family drama and tough topics. But, at the end of the day, I know TJR will write books that make me cry and think and love the characters while also not stressing me out too much. This book was a contender for Book of the Year for me, just because it found that sweet spot of fluffy without being pointless. People We Meet on Vacation was one that I did on audio, and I’m glad I did. I felt like I was transported through every vacation the characters took, and I loved their witty banter and “will-they-or-won’t-they” romance. Plus, the chapter written about New Orleans was SPOT ON PERFECTION.
Honorable Mentions: Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland, Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Worth the Weight
Book that was long but worth it
Am I a sucker for a well-researched lengthy historical fiction? Yes. Give them all to me right now. These two authors have become two of my favorite historical fiction authors because they meticulously research their subjects and still manage to shine a light on women that history has often overlooked. Both novels feature strong, independent, caring women who have friendships and work hard to overcome their circumstances. They were each 600+ pages, and I’d read both of them again.
Honorable Mentions: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
What do you think of this list? Anything you think I got wrong? Any recommendations for 2022? Let me know!
