My Top 10 Favorite Books of 2021
My goal for 2021 was to read 160 books. On December 31, I still didn't know if I would meet that goal. It was lofty; the year prior I'd read 150, finishing the 150th on New Year's Eve. This year, my life had a little bit of extra chaos.
Ben and I got married two days after school got out in May. Along with planning our wedding, I was in my good friend Cassie's wedding the week after our's, so my spring time was beautifully busy with all things weddings. Then, on July 4, my dad died suddenly. Having lost my mom three and a half years prior, I already knew that tragedy like that really throws a wrench in my reading life. At the end of September, we found out we were pregnant, and while for the most part I felt okay, the nausea and migraines that came with the first trimester meant I wasn't doing much reading. Then my sister got married mid-October, and after that, I got back on track with my normal reading.
All that aside, I was lucky enough to read some incredible books this year. I track my reading on Goodreads, in a notebook, and with a nerdy Google Form. I love seeing the data, like how I read 73 middle grade books and 60 adult books, and how I read 41 2021 releases. Without further ado, here's my top ten reads of 2021:
What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling
Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
Alone by Megan E. Freeman
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine
Towards the end of the year, I fell in love with thrillers like Local Woman Missing, probably because I liked that one so much. Normally, I'm a chicken, especially since reading before bed is such a part of my routine, but I guess when I devour the whole book in one day, I don't have any nightmares..? I'm eager to find more books with unexpected twists.
I also read a lot of incredible middle grade books, despite feeling like I wasn't really reading anything profound for much of the year. Loneliness was a constant theme in a lot of my favorite books this year, an interesting realization that I'm trying not to read too far into ☺️.
There are many (150 to be precise) books that didn't make this list. Many of the nonfiction books I read this year were ones that I'm still marinating with; ones that kickstarted more learning. All of the books on my top ten list are DIFFERENT from anything else I've read and/or had a huge impact on my life. I'm so excited for all that will be read in 2022.
-J
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