I finally read 32 books in a year! Why am I so excited about this, you ask? It's because I ended 2018 and 2019 at exactly 31 books each, and 2020 was a joke at 19?! But this year I finally made it past my 31-book record. I read and listened to some great books this year, and many made my all-time favorites list.
Find my 2021 highlights (and lowlights) below or track my previous years in books for 2020, 2019, and 2018.
Favorite Book: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Genre: Literary Fiction
Synopsis: After living a life full of regrets and paralyzed by other people’s dreams, Nora finds herself in the Midnight Library hanging between life and death. It is a place where she can try on any one of her infinite lives fueled by the choices she has faced and the regrets she harbors.
Thoughts: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is the wonderful love child of three of my other favorite books: the destiny from The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, the choose-your-own-adventure of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and the butterfly effect of Recursion by Blake Crouch. Needless to say, I adored The Midnight Library. It was short and sweet, thought provoking and just a touch mind-bending. I loved Matt Haig's snappy storytelling and dazzling world-building. I couldn't not put this in my top spot.
A New Favorite Author: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Synopsis: Dannie nails the most important interview of her life with a perfectly curated answer to “Where do you see yourself in five years?” But later that night, after also accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, she has the strangest dream: she’s five years into the future, in a different apartment, next to a very different man. Dannie tries to shake the dream, but four and half years later, the man from her dream materializes, as none other than her best friend’s new boyfriend.
Thoughts: Sounds like the beginning of a rom-com right? Wrong. Very wrong. You shouldn’t go into this thinking it’s a romance, but you should try to go in pretty blind. This book is special. I think this book teaches you a lot about the choices you make, destiny, grief, and true friendship. I can tell I’m going to be thinking about this book for a while, and I think I’m adding all of Rebecca Serle’s future books to my TBR. I love her signature touch of magic and introspective point-of-view on modern love and life, as experienced in the other book of hers that I've read also, The Dinner List.
Biggest Tearjerker: After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Romance
Synopsis: When every conversation with your husband ends in annoyance and you both resent every little thing each other does, what would you do? Resolve to do better? Call it quits? Take a year-long break with no contact? This is the heartbreaking decision Lauren and Ryan have to make in order to figure out if their marriage can be saved, or is even worth fighting for.
Thoughts: I read this a few months prior to getting married, and it made me so uncomfortable, scared for, and so so so heartbroken for Lauren and Ryan. There were multiple points I ugly cried and I think my heart rate was through the roof at certain parts. As soon as I started reading this book, I immediately thought, this is either going to be one star or five stars. It's going to make me feel so much that I'll be in pieces and it will haunt me forever, or it will give me a new perspective about life and love and stick with me. The book is a perfect balance between those uncomfortable real life scenarios, but also some inspirational, quotable life lessons, a combination that really makes you reflect on your own relationships with family and loved ones.
Most Eye-Opening: Sissy by Jacob Tobia
Genre: Coming-of-Gender Memoir
Synopsis: Jacob Tobia lets loose in this coming-of-gender memoir, focusing on the (in their words) complex, messy, dramatic, and beautiful gender nonconforming and nonbinary trans narrative that is their life. And Jacob is a hot mess, but this story is theirs and they own it.
Thoughts: This book focuses on gender-based trauma throughout Jacob's childhood and formative years. Jacob's memoir shows us a new-to-the-mainstream perspective on the trans narrative, which includes those with some of the messiest, ever-changing identities, gender nonconforming and nonbinary people, and people whose gender continually evolves over time.
Fastest Page Turner: No Exit by Taylor Adams
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Synopsis: Darby is forced to take shelter at a remote highway rest stop during a terrible blizzard, when she finds a kidnapped child in the back of the van of one of her stranded companions. What will it cost her to be the hero of this story?
Thoughts: I wanted to stay up all night to finish this - I could not put it down. Darby was a bit of a dunce when it comes to trusting the wrong people, but she gives us a wild ride in this book which takes place in less than 24 hours. Beware of some bloody bits towards the end! Book-to-Movie alert! Coming to the big screen in 2022!
Best Writing: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre: Young Adult
Synopsis: Emoni Santiago wears many hats: high school senior, teen mom to an adorable baby girl, fierce friend, promising young chef. With real life decisions looming after graduation, Emoni must balance responsibility and stability for her family with her dreams to feed her soul as a chef for herself.
Thoughts: I always love a book with short chapters, but what stood out to me was how some chapters read like short essays or anecdotes - purposeful and meaningful. You never spend too much time in one scene, but the amount we learn about Emoni is enough to fill your heart. She is driven and talented, graceful yet tough, and is a character that I think so many people can look up to. I've also read Clap When You Land by the same author and the writing is just as good.
Because Everyone Else Did: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Genre: Literary Fiction (with elements of magical realism and historical fiction(
Synopsis: In France, 1714, Addie makes a deal with the darkness to be immortal and free from her obligations, but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. In New York City, 2014, after several lifetimes of "freedom," Addie meets Henry, a lonely bookseller who finally remembers her.
Thoughts: Addie is 2021's Bookstagram's It Girl. She is super popular, and while I appreciated several things about this book (the premise, the symbolism, the complexity), there were also a few points that kept me from giving it 5 stars (the lack of adventure, the ending). Overall I feel like my rating is generous considering everything I had gripes with, but I still recommend sitting down with Addie and taking her story in.
Best Beach Read: Island Affair Priscilla Oliveras
Genre: Romance
Synopsis: Sara and Luis serendipitously meet in a Key West parking lot after her boyfriend bails on her family vacation. Desperate to please her mother and him with a need to kill time after forced leave, Sara and Luis agree to fake date for the week, but how long before the past catches up with them?
Thoughts: I was very pleasantly surprised with this book - much more than just a steamy beach read (and the steam was good). My favorite part of this story ended up being how Sara and Luis' character arcs were shaped by the relationships with their siblings. It was unexpected, considering their motivations for fake dating didn't have anything to do with their siblings at all. But unexpected doesn't mean misleading, for their siblings really help everyone to come full-circle.
Best Audiobook: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Fictional Interview/Oral History
Synopsis: It's the 1970s and Daisy Jones is rock and roll's newest it-girl, thanks to her singer-songwriter skills, her hauntingly beautiful looks, and her addiction to sex and drugs (that's rock and roll, baby). Billy Dunne, a recovering addict, built The Six from the garage up, turning it into one of the most successful rock groups of the era. But when his producer suggests putting Daisy Jones at the front of The Six, will Daisy turn into Billy's newest addiction?
Thoughts: I loved listening to the full cast on the audiobook. It was entertaining to hear each character's different perspective of the same event - I can't imagine how complex that is for Taylor Jenkins Reid to write. You could tell how much wistfulness and grit they had just from their voices, as they reminisce about their time in the band. This is a must-listen!
Biggest Disappointment: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Genre: Mystery
Synopsis: Two members of The Maidens, a female secret society on Cambridge University’s campus, are found murdered. Mariana, a group therapist, is convinced that beloved Greek tragedy Professor Fosca is behind these sinister crimes, and will stop at nothing to prove his guilt.
Thoughts: This was super readable (short, quick chapters), but ultimately nothing super crazy happened. Not too many thrills, and a lot of one-dimensional characters I didn't care too much for. I felt like The Maidens was a let down after loving his first book, The Silent Patient.
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Don't Waste Your Time: Normal People by Sally Rooney
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Synopsis: In Normal People, we follow the "normal" on-again off-again relationship of Connell and Marianne during their time at university.
Thoughts: Beware, there are no likable characters and there is no plot. I'm not sure why Hulu made this into a tv show, it's not any better. Only read this if you are prepared to read a character study of deeply flawed people.
Most Likely to Make You Hungry: Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
Genre: Romance
Synopsis: Reena dreams of writing her own cookbook and baking bread all day long. When she loses her corporate job, what better time than to follow her foodie dreams and enter the newest Canadian cooking TV contest. The catch? It's a couples cooking contest. Good thing her meddling Indian parents have already arranged her engagement to the hunkiest Muslim bachelor who happens to move in right into next door...
Thoughts: Farah Heron writes the most likable main characters and from the moment they meet, you can't help but root for Reena and Nadim. They were endearing and adorable. There is a huge baking aspect of the book that was very meta since it seems like a lot of us have cultivated a keen fascination with sourdough and bread during quarantine these past two years. Not to mention, you're going to want to keep a list of all of the bread and Gujarati-Indian dishes they make throughout. I even replicated one of their meals after I finished reading, which you can read about here!
Most Atmospheric: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Jules responds to a vague Craigslist ad in search of an apartment sitter for $1,000 a week. The unit at the Bartholomew, one of the most secretive and elite apartment buildings on the edge of Central Park, and the only rule is to abide by the no-visitors rule. How can she resist? At what point is it too good to be true? What secrets are hiding within the Bartholomew’s walls?
Thoughts: The writing is very atmospheric and I felt the haunted hotel presence around me as I read Lock Every Door. This book will fill your thriller, cultish, and spooky quota nicely.
Don't Trust the Five Star Reviews: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Genre: Not-so-Romantic Romance
Synopsis: Poppy: a blogger with insatiable wanderlust who gets paid to travel around the world. Alex: an English literature teacher with a stable lifestyle in the same hometown he grew up in. They have nothing in common, except for taking glorious one-week vacations together every year for the past decade, ever since fatefully meeting freshman year of college. They've been "just friends" for a decade thanks to bad timing and missed chances, but when they're given the chance of a decade, will they ruin it all?
Thoughts: This book just didn't do it for me and I don't understand why so many people liked it, let alone recommend to take it on vacation - it's way more wander-musty than wanderlust. The worst thing about this book though, was how third wheel I felt as the reader. You know how when you're trying to tell someone a funny story about something your friend did, but it's funnier in your head, and you kind of just had to be there? This is how I felt the whole book - like a third wheel on all of Poppy and Alex's jokes. The writing was in first-person present-tense in each timeline, but it felt like Poppy needed to "explain" the jokes rather than just letting them happen in real-time and letting me as the reader experience it the way she and Alex would. I'd skip this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
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