In 2021, I met my goal to read 100 books! By the skin of my teeth, through up and down reading periods, but we got here. I count audiobooks, graphic novels, and physical books in my tally. Here’s how it broke down last year:
- 71 Fiction
- 29 Non-fiction
- Of the fiction, 19 were graphic novels (primarily My Hero Academia manga, one Miles Morales Spider-Man volume)
- 31 of my reads were auidobook (vs 69 hard copy)
- 24 books were rereads
Notables:
Early last year I read all the Rick Riordan books, starting with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I now have a Percy Jackson tattoo (an anchor behind my left ear). That accounted for 21 books. I had read a couple of the series before, but not all of them. The Magnus Chase and the Asgardians books were particularly excellent and eye-opening. I love Alex Fierro.
May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor. Here’s what I wrote in my GoodReads review: “I expected some fluff and good trans representation, but I got so much more – and I am so grateful for it! I was literally sending a picture of a passage to my friends a few chapters in and the wonder of it stayed with me throughout. I can’t find a more eloquent way to put it right now other than *this book gave me a lot of feelings*. One of the best books I’ve read all year; I’m sure it will stay with me for a long time.”
TJ Klune! Thank God I was introduced to TJ Klune. From his adult books The House in the Ceurelan Sea and Under the Whispering Door to the YA trilogy-in-progress The Extraordinaries, I am enchanted. Great writing with joyful queer representation. This is the future.
This was also the year Any Way The Wind Blows was released, the final book to the Carry On trilogy by Rainbow Rowell that exceeded expectations. Really. There is so much more kissing than you’d think. It’s magic.
Casey McQuiston’s new adult sapphic romcom, One Last Stop, came out as well!
I started reading manga for the first time to feed my obsession for the anime My Hero Academia.
Everything Maggie Stiefvater writes is so satisfying to me. I took her online writing seminar this year and it’s made me want to dive into more of her books beyond The Raven Cycle. The Scorpio Races, as a standalone novel, was a knockout in my opinion.
I was also particularly fond of the adult scooby-door tribute in Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids.
I feel like I could go on and on. I really did read a lot of good books this year. The Song of Achilles, In Deeper Waters, Not Here to Be Liked, Lost in the Never Woods, Cinderella is Dead. Some great nonfiction too: Laziness Does Not Exist, Minor Feelings, Hood Feminism, and The Art of Gathering to name a few.
Here’s the link to my Goodreads for the full title list. It was a good year of reading! It’s impossible to keep up with the number of amazing books out there, but here’s to another year of memorable stories.
With Love,
Natalie