Your Favorite Books Read in 2021

[Catlady]

The bulk of my nonfiction reading this year fits into a few themes.

Best end-of-Trump book: Jonathan Karl's Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.

Best Alexander Hamilton book: Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton (2004).

Best autocracy/authoritarianism/democracy-is-in-trouble book: Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017).

Best social history: Julia Cooke's Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am.

[spacepope]

For books that hit me hard: A Canticle for Leibowitz (reread), A Severe Mercy, Something other than God by Jennifer Futwiler (this book got me through a hard time and I'm extremely thankful), On Writing by Stephen King. There are a few others, it's hard to list them all.

As for favorite fun books: Mistborn #4 and #5 by Brandon Sanderson for making me laugh constantly. Same with Masque by W.R. Gingell. I expect to read more of both authors in 2022.

[LDB]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

The Cuckoo's Egg - Clifford Stoll. My only 5-star rating of 2021, and one I owe to Mobileread forums, since I learned of it here. MR for the win!

This is always one of my top recommendations. I re-read it every few years and always enjoy it.

[Quake1028]

Best Books Overall
1.The Sky Thieves (Spider Heist Thrillers #2) 2020 - Jason Kasper
2.The Dreaming Tree (Delta Devlin #1) 2019 - Matthew Mather
3.The Night Agent 2019 - Matthew Quirk
4.The Manhattan Job (Spider Heist Thrillers #3) 2021 - Jason Kasper
5.Firewall (The Firewall Spies #1) 2021 - Andrew Watts

Best Books From 2021
1.The Manhattan Job (Spider Heist Thrillers #3) 2021 - Jason Kasper
2.Firewall (The Firewall Spies #1) 2021 - Andrew Watts
3.Remove the Shroud (The King's Ranger #3) 2021 - A.C. Cobble
4.Power Move (Alexander Wright #4) 2021 - Bradley Wright
5.The Scarlet Knight (The Kingshield #5) 2021 - Robert Ryan

Most Anticipated 2022
1.In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals #1) June 21, 2022 - Brian McClellan
1.The Bladed Faith (The Vagrant Gods #1) April 5, 2022 - David Dalglish
3.The Fifth Bandit (Spider Heist Thrillers #4) April 5, 2022 - Jason Kasper
4.Air Race (Max Fend Series #3) September 27, 2022 - Andrew Watts
5.Agent of Influence (The Firewall Spies #2) February 15, 2022 - Andrew Watts

My two favorite current authors (McClellan and Dalglish) are releasing books in new series in 2022. They have to be tied for #1.

[gmw]

My favourites from this year's reading:

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages.
The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Honourable mentions go to:

The Many Selves of Katherine North by Emma Geen.
Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.

I think the common thread through these was that each seemed something out of the ordinary ... and now that I come to list the books together here I notice all the authors are women. I did read some good books by male authors, they just didn't stand out from the crowd like the books above.


I only read two books published in 2021, neither really stood out enough to want to mention here.

ebooks have given me such an abundance that these days I am mostly happy to wait, so I'm not really looking for anything in particular in 2022.

[issybird]

Typically, I jiggered my ten-best list a bit to divide it into half fiction/half nonfiction. It’s fair enough since as always there are some easy calls but achieving an exact ten requires judgments at the margin.

Nonfiction:

• Ten Restaurants that Changed America by Paul Freedman
• Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne (© 2021)
• Doomed Romance: Broken Hearts, Lost Souls, and Sexual Tumult in Nineteenth-Century America by Christine Leigh Heyrman (© 2021)
• Pilgrim by David Whyte (poetry)
• Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon: The Camaldoli Correspondence by Donald Grayston

Fiction

• The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester
• Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
• Uncle Fred in the Springtime by P.G. Wodehouse
• A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O’Nan
• Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andreï Makine

Honorable Mention:

• The Claverings by Anthony Trollope
• Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene
• The Coronation by Boris Akunin
• An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent by Owen Matthews
• The Letters of Shirley Jackson by Shirley Jackson (© 2021)

I was surprised to see that three books published this past year made my lists; 20% of both the top ten and honorable mentions. That seems high for me.

Common themes include Russia, religion and food. Religion recurs with me, Russia and food not so much. Of some interest to me is that it’s overwhelmingly post-1900. Only one and a fraction of the books in the top ten and two of the honorable mentions are set before 1900, and those are all nineteenth century.

@Dazrin: I always enjoy this thread as it forces me to take stock. Thanks!

[issybird]

In case people are interested, either in their own or in others’ favorites from earlier years, here are links to the threads:

2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

[Dazrin]

Thank you! That's a lot of the reason I do this thread.

For links, I have the equivalent threads from 2013 and 2012 at the end of the first post too. I wasn't able to find a 2011 version and the 2010 version didn't have enough traction to bother with.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Thank you! That's a lot of the reason I do this thread.

For links, I have the equivalent threads from 2013 and 2012 at the end of the first post too. I wasn't able to find a 2011 version and the 2010 version didn't have enough traction to bother with.

LOL! How very embarrassing. And here I thought I was being so helpful….

[Dazrin]

No worries. I get wordy and I'm sure more than a few people only saw the big red questions.

[Paperbackstash]

First, what were the best books you read this year?

For first time reads that rated 4.5 or 5 stars -

M/M PNR Deven and the Dragon, Perry Mason - The Case of the Substitute Face, The Case of the Borrowed Brunette, The Case of the Amorous Aunt, Slouch Witch (Urban Fantasy PNR Humor), Stranger on the Shore (M/M Romance Mystery), Affairs of Steak (Cozy Mystery), The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles (MM Romance Historical), Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology (Memoir Non-fiction), Demons in the Details (MM PNR Romance Fairy Tale Retelling), Joyland by Stephen King (Hard Case Crime), Death Perception by Victoria Laurie (Cozy Mystery), A Glimpse of Evil by Victoria Laurie (Cozy Mystery),

Is there a book that you have been thinking about since March?

No, it's been a hectic and odd year!

A book you couldn't put down or have re-read three times just this year?

No 3 times re-reads this year.

What books have you added to your "I'm going to re-read this" list?

Stranger on the Shore (M/M Romance Mystery), Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology (Memoir Non-fiction), Demons in the Details (MM PNR Romance Fairy Tale Retelling)

What books did you tell your friends "you have to read this"?

I recommended Troublemaker to a friend who likes celebrity memoirs

Did you have a favorite book club selection?

No


Did any of these guys get something right? Goodreads, NY Times, Chicago Tribune

Goodreads was especially atrocious this year with awards decisions. I believe it may have been NY Times or similar that refuses to have a romance category. So, no.

Are there any contenders for your favorite literary/genre/other award?

I didn't read many in this area this year

What debut author is now on your must buy list?

Not sure if I read a debut author this year :/

Third, what books are on your "I cant wait!" lists for 2022?

Not sure. I haven't been tracking as much as usual

Are any of your favorite authors publishing something new next year that we should look for?

I look forward to the next in the series Starfig Investigations by Megan Maslow, a favorite new MM Romance author this year. Hopefully Josh Lanyon originally releases the ones I was waiting for this year for the Art of Murder series and Holmes and Moriarity series - they were supposed to be released this year.

Which authors have you followed in 2021 that spent their lockdown time writing 3 more novels than you were expecting?

Sadly, none. A lot of my favorites have kind of slowed down

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by issybird

My average GR rating is way down this year, also.

Honestly, same. I know I had a rambling post but I had less loves this year and my reading was more inconsistent with reading breaks. I'm hoping it picks up next year.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Best novel of the year so far is Naomi Krupitsky's The Family, about two girls who grow up in Mafia families. Though the author occasionally got a little too carried away with her prose, this was a beautifully written debut, and I will definitely be on the lookout for her next book.

This sounds pretty interesting. I'll add to my wishlist.