Reviewing my Good Reads account for the year 2021, I’d categorize my reading as storied, constant, and explorative. Storied, because approximately 80% of my reading was fiction. Constant, because by some stroke of God-given luck, I never hit a slump. Not once! And explorative, because I felt like I read out of my comfort zone for much of the year. I can down a historical fiction novel in hours, especially when set in WWII. Most of it is like candy to me—satisfying in the moment, easy going down, but usually leaving me wanting a bit more substance. I can usually get down with a contemporary mystery too. This year though, I found myself reading for quieter, more literary reads. They didn’t dominate my list of books read, but they seemed to crop up more often than usual. I’m glad this was so because had I not gotten my literary reps in earlier in the year, I might never have reached for my #1 read of the year. Now, having read it, I can’t even imagine a life without this story in my head.
Another note as I review my Top 5 list—I’ve always thought I was stingy with star ratings. By the look of my Top 5 though, I’m not. I swear there were a number of 3’s and lots of 4’s, but enough 5’s to fill the list. That signifies a stellar reading year for me.
Want to see the entire list of 50 books I read in 2021? Click here.
In order from #5 to the coveted #1 spot, the five best books I read in 2021:
#5 The Rose Code
Author: Kate Quin
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII
Format: Audio
Narration by: Saskia Maarleveld
Referral Source: Scribd
My Rating: 5/5
My Experience With This Book:
I found this one to be exceptionally smart. Yes, it is WWII Historical Fiction—something usually easy for me to breeze through. But this was different. The three main characters were distinct and gripping in their own ways, and I found the plot to be so expertly woven together I was left aghast at the end, wondering How on earth did she just do that?? Brilliant, Kate Quinn.
Recommended To: Lovers of WWII historical fiction + a whole cast of strong female leads + super intelligent women.
#4 Leave Me
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: eBook
Referral Source: Scribd
My Rating: 5/5
My Experience With This Book:
Scrolling through available titles on Scribd, this one jumped out at me. The short blurb about the book spoke of how the main character suffers a heart attack and then leaves her life, including her husband and two young kids, to get a much-needed break. I was intrigued, wondering, “Could someone just do that? Just up and leave?” This story took me on a journey into the heart of this character’s life and inner world to understand how such an act could be so reasonable and necessary. While it is a work of fiction, it felt as if the author was telling a woman’s true story and I found it relatable and oddly comforting. It shed a light on the reality of how much is often piled onto a mother’s plate, unbeknownst to everyone around her, and served a bit as a cautionary tale.
Recommended To: Every mom who’s feeling the immense weight of the “invisible load” we all carry.
#3 On Writing
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Format: Paperback
Referral Source: Unsure.
My Rating: 5/5
My Experience With This Book:
I’ve somehow always known this book existed, but hadn’t picked it up til this year. I was edging closer, I thought, to beginning to draft my first novel, and while it wasn’t time to start just yet, I picked On Writing up to whet the whistle. That, it did. In spades. I especially enjoyed the first half of the book wherein King takes the reader through how he came to write. It was such a real, human-to-human story; gripping, heartbreaking, and laugh-out-loud (literally) funny. The second half of the book wasn’t as compelling, but was more helpful as I began my novel drafting. Summed up, it helped me to just f*cking start.
Recommended To: Writers of any kind.
#2 The Last Thing He Told Me
Author: Laura Dave
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Format: Audio
Narration by: Rebecca Lowman
Referral Source: Reese’s Book Club
My Rating: 5/5
My Experience With This Book:
This was the “buzziest” book I read all year, it having landed a coveted spot on Reese’s Book Club list. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve gotten some of my best reads over the past few years from that list and this one fell right in line. The mystery element of this book pulled me through, but so did the characters. Actually, as I type that out, I realize it wasn’t the characters as much as it was the relationship between them. The depth and exploration of the relationship between the two main characters was fascinating to me and that, along with the mystery, kept me chugging this one down.
Recommended To: Lovers of mystery and thrillers, sans violence and gore.
#1 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Author: Betty Smith
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Audio
Narration by: Kate Burton
Referral Source: Google search for books set in NYC, in the early 1900’s
My Rating: 5/5
My Experience With This Book:
I suppose my love affair with this book began with an innocent Google search. I was looking for books set in New York City in the early 1900s as research for my own writing. Of course A Tree Grows in Brooklyn popped up on most lists I found and since it was a classic, I thought, Hey, why not? I don’t aspire to read classics. I can’t remember the last one I read before this. But, alas, the audio was available on Scribd so I began listening. It’s a 16+ hour audio that I had zero intention to actually finish. I figured I could listen to a couple hours, get a sense of the time period, and get out.
Francie Nolan had completely different plans for me.
For those who’ve read it, I have to imagine you know what I’m talking about. This long, sweeping family story about a young girl, growing up and coming of age in the tenement district of Brooklyn in the early 1900s (1900-1920ish) caught me, hook, line and sinker.
There’s not a ton happening in this novel, and yet, so much happens—entire lives, entire trajectories, transform into something brand new.
At the heart of it, Francie Nolan grows up. While I’m not typically a literary fiction, nor a coming-of-age story, lover, Francie consumed me. Her author, Betty Smith, is now at the very top of my Authors I Admire list. Every little detail in this book, from first page to very last line, I found it all to be exquisite.
Recommended To: Readers looking for an ACCESSIBLE classic work of literary fiction to sink into who aren’t scared of lending their heart to a little girl named Francie for a while.
Curious to see the entire list of books I read in 2021? Click here.
