When I first thought about this post, I drew a blank. Was it possible that I'd gone a whole year without reading anything that I really loved? Impossible! So I went over my reading tracker, and just realized that it's this pandemic time confusion. The books that I read last January feel like something from ten years ago.
My idea of best of 2021 is what I enjoyed reading most that year, not what I liked best out of what was published in the year. With the reading challenges that I set last year, I didn't read very many new books, and as it happens, none of them are on this list. I am setting fewer challenges for this year and hope to read more galleys and new books. I'm reading a very interesting galley right now.
When I went over everything I read last year, these titles stood out...
Danforth, Emily: Plain Bad Heroines
This was on my Goodreads list, and I read it for my 2021 reading challenge. I love a book with an interesting setting, and this had two storylines in a boarding school in the woods. Lots of creepy things happen, and the three main characters were really interesting.
Brundage, Elizabeth: All Things Cease to Appear
I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I missed it when it came out and only heard of it when the Netflix movie came out. The book is much better than the movie, of course. I kept pulling quotes from it for my Tumblr.
Greeley, Molly: The Clergyman's Wife
I always felt bad for Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice, and I really like her. So, I was excited to see someone take up her story. I liked it so much that I've relaxed about reading other Austen adaptations. I read a few others, but this so far is the best.
Worley, Jeff (ed)- What Comes Down to Us
This is another one from my reading challenges, which really took over my reading this year. The first poem was by Wendell Berry and had me choked up right away. This is another one that I kept quoting.
Mascarenhas, Kate: The Psychology of Time Travel
I love time travel and alternate timeline stories, and I loved the angle on this one. What would time travel do to the individuals who were moving around in time? In this version, they can see other versions of themselves and interact with people. It's also a murder mystery and a family story. I listened to the audio version.
Last year, my best-of list naturally came out to ten titles, and I was a little surprised that this year only came out to five, but there were plenty of other books that I liked; but when I think of "best", I think of books that stayed with me. I found myself thinking about these books for days or weeks after I put them down.
Please leave a comment if you read any of these books and loved or hated them.
The links are affiliate links to bookshop.org. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should; they support indie bookstores.
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