2021 reading summary
75 books read (including 3 DNFs)
Average length: 336 pages
Average rating: 3.8

Desert Island Books
The House in the Cerulean Sea
An allegorical fantasy that is basically just a big warm hug of feel-good escapism

Other 5 Star Reads
Razorblade Tears
Intense and uber-violent, but I think this takes best new release of 2021 for me.
Crying in H Mart
Oooof. I ugly cried through a solid third of this memoir.
People We Meet on Vacation
When Harry Met Sally for millennial travel bloggers.
The Witch's Heart
Circe walked so this retelling of Norse mythology could run.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Don't buy the Daisy Jones comp title hype. This has some similarities as a fictional oral history rooted in the '70s music industry, but there is so much more going on as the titular Afropunk duo grapple with race across the decades.
The Echo Wife
Part domestic thriller, part sci-fi as a brilliant scientist's work is turned against her when her husband has an affair with her clone.
And Then There Were None
My annual Agatha Christie did not disappoint. She is the master of detective fiction and this book is why.
Solutions and Other Problems
I found Allie Brosh's sophomore graphic novel much more successful than Hyperbole and a Half.
Dorie Greenspan's Baking
Normally I wouldn't include cookbooks in my round-up or at most I'd give them an honorable mention at the end. But I finally read a Dorie Greenspan book and she has such a great voice.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Totally get the hype
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah's latest following a mother and daughter across the Dust Bowl
The Drowning Kind
Most of my Halloween reads this year were disappointing, so I'm glad I broke my usual "horror is for October" rules to dig into this chilling psychological piece.
The Brown Sisters trilogy
I caught up with this series just in time for book three and am a full-fledged Talia Hibbert convert. Throwing in an honorable mention to The Kiss Quotient series - my other romance catch-up. Most of that series is not quite my cup of tea but The Heart Principle (this year's addition) was fantastic.

Other Good Mystery Thriller & Horror
When the Stars Go Dark
A bitterly realistic procedural drama about kidnapped teens.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Not quite mystery of the year for me, but well worth a read especially if domestic suspense is your preferred subgenre. Solid slow burn with an original premise.
A Flicker in the Dark
Early release on shelves next month. The daughter of a convicted serial killer is wrapped up in a series of copycat murders 20 years later.
Do No Harm
A solid crime thriller about the opioid epidemic that somehow flew under the radar.
Survive the Night
Riley Sager is now an auto-buy author for me for reliably entertaining, fast-paced thrillers.
Room
ngl I totally just read this so I could feel virtuous watching the film adaptation, but the book does a much better job capturing 5-year-old Jack's perspective while in the movie, it's impossible to miss how bleak their captivity is.
The Haunting of Hill House
My first dip into Shirley Jackson's oeuvre and so very worth it.

Other Good Historical Fiction
The Huntress & The Rose Code
Packaging these two together because Kate Quinn is my new fave for historical fiction. Her books are long but easy to read quickly and deeply, meticulously researched. Her author's notes are the best, explaining in rich detail how much of the story is from historical record and what few parts are creative liberties. She has a way of unearthing remarkable stories of women in WWII and I'm pumped for her next one in March.
Malibu Rising
'80s California glam from the compulsively readable Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Outlawed
The queer feminist Western I didn't know I needed.
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
Not nearly as good as The Henna Artist, but this sequel is still pretty intriguing.

Other Good Romances
The Ex Talk
A really clever twist on the fake dating trope set in the world of public radio.
Honey Girl
Yes, it's the married in Vegas trope for lesbians, but the real beauty here is the late coming of age story for our academic protagonist.

Also Notable
Black Buck
A wild workplace satire and my pick for best debut novel of the year.
Project Hail Mary
I am not a hard sci-fi reader but this (from the author of The Martian) is very well executed.
Lady Susan
I finally read Jane Austen's oft-overlooked seventh novel and MAN it is so different from her other works.

Book Riot Read Harder Challenges completed: 6
#11 : a food memoir by an author of color (Crying in H Mart)
#13 : a book with a cover you don't like (The Haunting of Hill House -- curse the TV-tie-in cover)
#16 : an ownvoices book about disability (The Heart Principle)
#19 : a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist (The Secret Keeper of Jaipur; The Final Revival of Opal & Nev)
#22 : a book set in the Midwest (In the Garden of Spite)
#24 : a book featuring a beloved pet where the pet doesn't die (The House in the Cerulean Sea)