I have had an absurdly good reading year. I don’t know how that happened – I went into 2021 not having read a single book in a couple of months. Every time I have a slump like that I have no idea when (or, indeed, if) I’m going to get back into reading. But I did – I jumped back in head first and seem to have been swept up in a powerful current.
I think the biggest contributing factors have been twofold: I fully embraced audiobooks. The majority of the books I read this year were in this format, as I never have time to sit and read a physical book anymore. I’ve gotten better at listening to audiobooks than I used to be, and I find I can follow them better, miss less and feel more immersed. It’s taken some practice. But I’m so glad to be here. And next was that I’ve been really lucky in the books I’ve picked up. I’ve had more five and 4+ star reads this year than I think I’ve ever had in a single year before. I’ve read more diversely, I’ve found a lot of books that have opened up new experiences and areas of learning for me (particularly about racism and the experiences of being BIPOC in western cultures) and it’s been addictive. I want to keep learning more, I want to keep finding voices that can tell me what I’ve been unable to see for so much of my life so I can do a better job of understanding these experiences, and raise a kid who has a good head start on being racially sensitive and informed.
It’s going to be hard to pick my favourites for the year, so I’m going to divide them into categories to break it down a bit.
Books I enjoyed the experience of reading the most and couldn’t put down:
Books that I went into without expectations, but that surprised me and gave me a lot to think about:
Best books on race I read this year:
Books that made me feel less alone and less nuts:
So that’s it for another year! Which books did you enjoy reading most this year? Are any of my picks on your list? Here’s to 2022 – let’s hope it’s, you know, not 2021. Or 2020, come to that.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
This looks like a great list! I haven’t read any of these but appreciate your recs!
I’m happy to share! Raving about favourite books is basically the whole point of this blog, after all!
I’m reading Born The Crime at the moment and loving it!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-tuesday-348/
Oh, yay! I’m so excited to hear that!
It ended up being my fave read of the year 🙂
Oooh yay! I’m so glad to hear that. I got a lot out of it.
Me too 🙂
Broken really is a great book. I love all of Jenny Lawson’s memoirs!
So do I. She’s helped me through some tough spots!
I need to find more audiobooks. Thanks for the recommends!
My post: https://pagesandpaws.com/2021/12/28/ttt-top-20-heroes-heroines-from-2021/
I didn’t used to like audiobooks that much, but this past year I’ve really embraced them. They take some effort, but gave me a lot more reading hours than I would have had if I needed to be able to stop everything and sit down to read! I hope you find some you love in 2022.
Klune’s book made my list, too! What a great read!
That was the well deserved hit of the past year, it seems. Mostly I loved the cover, but was really glad to discover that it lived up to it.
So many of these are on my TBR, too. Thanks for sharing!
Yay! I hope you really enjoy them when you get to them!
I tried but couldn’t get into House in the Cerulean Sea. I am glad to see others love it though.
It took a little while to get into. I think it has to speak to you. I loved the sense of humour – I had to check Google a couple of times because I just couldn’t believe the author wasn’t British! It had that tongue-in-cheek dry humour and wordplay that instantly grabs me. But the plot and characters took a while to really get into, and though it was worth the effort to me, I can see why it isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea! If you feel like you missed something, maybe try again another time in case it was just not the right book when you picked it up last time, but if it’s just not your jam, I hope you find some that are this year!
I keep telling myself to read House in the Cerulean Sea, which I think you’d recommended before. 2021 wasn’t such a great reading year for me, at least that second half. Maybe 2022 will fare better and here’s hoping I’ll finally read this one!
I think it has to be the right time. It’s an enjoyable read, but you have to be in the mood for it I think! I hope if you do get to it, that you enjoy it as much as I did, though! And I hope 2022 is a better reading year for you, regardless of what you read!
Hail Mary was on my list, too!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2021/
Yay! Especially since you’re one of the people who got me to read it in the first place (thanks again for that, btw)!
I’ve been intending to read Born a Crime for a long time. Maybe in 2022?
Haha! Maybe!
A great list!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/the-10-best-books-i-read-in-2021/
Thank you!
I loved Cerulean Sea – it was my first experience of Klune and his Under the Whispering Door is on my list this week!
Hope you had a great CHrsitmas and looking forward to a wonderful new year; this is my look back at the best and most fun books I have read in 2021.
Ooh, did you enjoy Whispering Door? I am a little scared to read it in case it doesn’t live up to it!