This poor neglected blog will be taking a break for the foreseeable future. :-) xo
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Saturday, January 1, 2022
2021 in Books ~ A very long list of my best reads in 2021
My goal for the year, as always, was 52 books. I read 401 books this year. Maybe 30 or so of those I didn't finish because they were SO bad or just not at all me. :-) My list of read books is here on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/25575479?shelf=read
Once again the vast majority of these were 'read' as audio books- oh how I love the ability to read while driving, eating, crafting, and so much more. I got through quite a few on my travels in Western Australia and the long haul trip up and down Queensland.
Looking back through the list it was a lean year for five star reads... I do wish it was easier to tell what I might love. There are a goodly enough 4 star reads and I know a bunch of my 3's were closer to 3.5 - darn you good reads give me some flexibility!
The books that have really stuck in my head this year are Ali Smith's Seasonal Quartet and Artful- they probably have an unfair advantage as I read them in the last quarter of the year- but there is some powerful stuff in there and the mental stimulation.
I also loved: Tony Birch's 'The White Girl', and Trent Dalton's 'All Our Shimmering Skies'. Just loved.
General Fiction:
5 Star reads:
The White Girl by Tony Birch Not a particularly happy story- bad old white Australia's crappy history with indigenous Australians. But oh the characters and the writing!
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton This is a book I am super glad I listened to rather than read- it was beautiful and haunting and sad and so many things. LOVED IT!
Artful by Ali Smith This doesn't really fit into general fiction... in fact it doesn't really fit anywhere- it's an odd combo of fiction and non-fiction and discussion of art and writing and all sorts of things and it made me think and I do LOVE a book that makes me think.
Honeybee by Craig Silvey. Wow, I do love the sad books. Sad, beautiful books with amazing characters and stories and sad happy endings. This one is about Sam a teenager with Gender dysphoria and Vic who he meets accidentally. Loved it.
4 star reads:
Ali Smith: Seasonal Quartet: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer.
If I had your Face by Francis Cha
Kokomo by Victoria Hannan
As You Were by Elaine Feeney
The Last Four Days of Paddy Buckley by Jeremy Massey
The Shut Ins by Katherine Brabon
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
Dark as last night by Tony Birch (Short Stories)Historical Fiction:
A new category this year- and not a hugely popular one with me- but when there's a bit of local flavour I can be convinced to indulge in the pages...
5 Star reads:
The Lily and The Rose (Miss Lily's Lovely Ladies #2) by Jackie French. I love Jackie French and almost everything she writes- but it took me a long time to be ready to read these books- not sure why maybe because it was quite far off my usual reading material of late. The first one was a 4 star read and I am looking forward to the other three that complete the series. I have also read and enjoyed the two Christmas Novellas that are part of the series. I like they way the books move through time, the details and factual information about real happenings over WW1 and soon WW2. The characters are lovely.4 star reads:
Clancy of the Overflow by Jackie French
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
Fantasy
Jay Kristoff was my big discovery at the end of 2019 and I read everything of his and his co-writer Amie Kaufman that I could get my hands on. I continued to read their stuff and was sad to come to the end of the Aurora Cycle series... I haven't yet tackled the Vampire Saga... something for 2022.
5 Star reads:
Stormdancer (Lotus Wars #1) by Jay Kristoff I do love that Jay writes books in a series... it's so good to have something else to read next... until I don't and then I cry, sometimes.
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold I read this in March- I don't recall any of the things the good reads reviewers talk about- which is a lot of things that might need trigger warnings. But I gave it five stars and so I am adding it here.
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper This is the second book in a 5 part series... it's for middle school children and I read it back then too- and enjoyed it. I didn't love it as much this time around but the nostalgia in the read gave it that extra push to make it a five star. Merlin, magic, children doing dangerous things... perfect fantasy lovers fodder.
4 star reads:
Temeraire by Naomi Novak
Kinslayer and Endsinger (Lotus Wars #2 & 3) by Jay Kristoff
Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children #6) by Seanan McGuire
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Science Fiction:
5 Star reads:
Obsidio and Momento by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman A trilogy that ended this year. :-( I love these two authors together. This is another YA series. Yay for strong girls and heroic teens and space and explosions!!
Aurora's End by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman Another trilogy that ended this year... does it feel like I am repeating myself? I cried at the end of this... I'm a sucker for Space soldiers, awesome girls, love stories and happy endings. This is also a YA series. I love these two authors together- I hope we will see more from them.
Crime/Mystery/Thriller:
I am a big crime fan. Police procedurals being my favourite sub-genre. I added a few highlight authors to the list of faves this year.
5 Star reads:
Perfect Prey by Helen Fields. A 2020 discovery I have now completed all the books published in this series... it's great to listen to them on audio book just to hear the pronunciation of Callanach.
Resistance by Val McDermid I added Val to Crime writing harem this year- LOVE her writing. Almost everything I have read of hers is at least four stars.
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty also new to the harem in 2021 and loved! Interesting too because Ireland and Belfast etc etc. And yay- series! He also has four books in my four star reads as well- consistently great!
Hidden Killers by Lynda La Plante. Not sure why I hadn't read her before. I especially loved the Trial and Retribution series books. She's excellent, especially if you give the widows books a miss.
Calling Out For You by Karin Fossum Karin doesn't get as rave reviews and Val, Adrian and Lynda... but she got a bunch of four star reads as well.
The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad #6) by Tana French. I had a mixed year with Tana... abandoned The Witch Elm, didn't really love The Searcher... but this was fab!
The Wife and The Widow and The Nowhere Child by Christian White when you read 400 books in a year it's inevitable that some get forgotten... but I wouldn't expect that for five star reads... especially as I read them at the very end of August... but there you go I have no idea why I loved these books.
4 star reads:
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Michael Robotham: The Other Wife, Life of Death, Close Your Eyes, The Secrets She Keeps, Watching You, Say Your Sorry.
Garry Disher: Port Vila Blues, The Fallout, The Heat, Wyatt, Kill Shot, Under The Cold Bright Lights, Chain of Evidence, Snapshot, Blood Moon, Whispering Death, Signal Loss, Kickback
Val McDermid:
Broken Ground, Fever of The Bone, Beneath The Bleeding, The Tormet of
Others, The Mermaids Singing, The Last Temptation, The Wire in the
Blood, Cross and Burn, Still Life, The Retribution, Splinter The Silence, The Distant Echo, Out of Bounds, A Darker Domain, The Skeleton Road, 1979
Adrian McKinty: In the Morning I'll be Gone, Rain Dogs, Gun Street Girl, Falling Glass, Hidden River, The Bloomsday Dead
Torquil MacLeod: Missing In Malmo, Menace in Malmo
Lynda La Plante: Trial and Retribution #1, 2, 4, Buried, Blood Line, A Face in the Crowd, The Govenor 1 & 2, Good Friday, Muder Mile, The Dirty Dozen, Blunt Force, Prime Suspect, Judas Horse,
Joy Ellis: DI Nikki Galena Series # 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. 10, 11 & 12
Nicci French: House of Correction, The Safe House, Land of the Living, The Secret Smile, The Lying Room, Beneath The Skin,
The Secret Place by Tana French
Trust and Treasure and Dirt by Chris Hammer
Perfect Death and The Shadow Man by Helen Sarah Fields
The Dark Lake, Into the Night and The Housemate by Sarah Bailey
The Bluffs and The Deep by Kyle Perry
Michelle Davies: False Witness, Wrong Place, Dead Guilty.
The Coffin Maker’s Garden (Ash Henderson #3) by Stuart MacBride
Ressurection Bay by Emma Viskic
Cold is The Grave and Aftermath by Peter Robinson.
Peter Grainger: An Accidental Death, But For The Grace, Persons of Interest, Luck and Judgement, Time and Tide, The Rags of Time, In This Bright Future, A Private Investigation, Songbird,
Snatched by Karin Slaughter
Deadly Crimes (DCI Sophie Allen #2) by Michael HamblingKarin Fossum: The Water's Edge, He Who Fears the Wolf, Broken,
Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
Action:
Not a genre I thought I would add to my stable... but there you go.
4 star reads:
Lee Child: I read 35 of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books this year. Yes there are 26 in the series- but there are also some shorts in between the main books. 22 of these books were four star reads. The rest were likely 3.5's. It's silly, it's fun... he's kind of hot. Lee Child is a great writer and I also enjoyed listening to an interview of him speaking about writing this year as well.
Funny Stuff:
5 Star reads:
Adulthood is a Myth and Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen. I love Sarah's Scribbles she just gets me.4 star reads:
Big Mushy Happy Lump (Sarah's Scribbles #2) by Sarah Andersen
Non-fiction (including Art books):
5 Star reads:
Tragedy at the Pike River Mine by Rebecca MacFie Ugh- what a complete and utter clusterfuck this was- great book- bloody shit situation- I felt kinda dirty and ripped off in the end.
Why We Sleep: the new Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker. I admit it took a bit to get hooked into this- but once I did I felt like it was really worthwhile and interesting. The science is user friendly. When I did adopt some of the recommended habits I definitely felt better for it... must get back into that!
4 star reads:
The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes
Untold Resilience by Future Women
Self-development/care:
5 Star reads:
The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures By various from Flow Magazine. Okay... maybe I need to add a 'fluff' category- because this is kind of pushing the bounds of self care. But it was nice and sweet and had some okay ideas. And pretty pictures.
How to be Perfectly Unhappy by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal fame. I think this book is really important because a lot of people think they need to be happy preferably all the time- and it's just not the case. Some of the things that are really fulfilling are bloody hard work and often not happy times. Take for example- writing a book... hard and frustrating. Children... OMFG! Seek out things in life that make you feel accomplished, satisfied, grateful, strong, f'n proud of yourself... happy is really only okay... hard work and achievement in the face of adversity that stuff is fab... and it comes and goes... and sometimes it's just hard... but we can handle it.
4 star reads:
The Energy Guide: A Step-by-Step Plan to Finding the Energy You Need to Flourish by Libby Weaver
The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet: Lose Weight Fast and Reprogramme your Body by Michael Mosley
Un-cook Yourself: A Ratbag's Rules for Life by Nat's What I Reckon (Audio book is read by Nat- it's awesome, like Nat!!)
Memoir
Note to self- should read more memoir, still.
5 Star reads:
Skint Estate: A memoir of poverty, motherhood and survival by Cash Carraway I think this is another book a bunch of people should read... the ones who are down on single mothers, welfare earners and the poor in general oh and politicians... not that I expect it would change policy because the policy is there for a reason... not a good one. People just don't understand what the Poverty Trap really means and this book is a fantastic real life illustration. Holy cow it was frustrating... sign of a good book... makes you feel something... not always a good something.4 star reads:
One Minute Crying Time by Barbara Ewing
Permanent Record by Edward Snowdon
Broken (In the Best Possible Way) by Jenny LawsonFor the Kiddos including YA:
5 Star reads:
The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. I honestly can't remember too much about this book. I do know it was well written and a not overblown view of the situation facing a lot of African Americans with regards to the justice system/police and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K Arnold Another early in the year read. What I do recall is some very straight forward descriptions of things relating to the female body- periods, orgasms and such... and it was good- not out of place, honest, well written.
4 star reads:
Into the River by Ted Dawe
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh
Thunder Road by Ted Dawe
Greenwitch (Dark is Rising #3) by Susan Cooper
Poetry:
5 Star reads:
I started but did not finish a bunch of Poetry books this year- it's something I dip into over and over... nothing stand out reached the finish line in 2021.
4 star reads:
The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace Often times I think the enjoyment of poetry depends on the mood/phase of life you are in. It was the right time for this one... but I can see that it wouldn't often be.
Love & Misadventure by Lang LeavPhew!!!!
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