My Favorite Books of 2021 (And a Few of My Least Favorites)
I read way less in 2021 compared to 2020 (if you want to see my 2020 highs and lows click here) but I also cleared through a lot of books I had been meaning to read for years so I felt super proud about that. I had a lot of misses this year but also a lot of hits and I thought this would be a great place for me to reflect on that. It takes a lot for me to give a book a rating on Goodreads under 4 stars, so when I actively say I do not like a book, it means something.
So here are some of my favorite reads this year...
"After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind."
I think I enjoyed this as much as I did because I saw so many bad reviews before I listened to it as an audiobook, and I have to say it is one of the most visually beautiful books I have ever read. The plot was both familiar and exciting and just overall amazing. I did have to listen to the ending three times to fully understand it, but I am also more of a visual person so it could have just been my inability to comprehend it audibly.
"For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps."
I honestly am not one to usually enjoy extremely hyped up books but like... I loved this. The first half is kind of long and took me a few weeks to read, but the last half was finished in literally one sitting. Another piece that felt both familiar and exciting and I found myself both rooting for and questioning the main character in an engaging and interesting story that started out as something completely different than what it became.
"As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place. Unfurling the history of Melody's family – reaching back to the Tulsa race massacre in 1921 -- to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives--even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be."
I didn't expect that much going into it, I honestly went in completely blind and had never seen anyone talk about it online before but I came out with a beautiful experience about family dynamics and generational curses. The only downside is that I do not particularly like when books and movies try to shoehorn 9/11 into a book randomly, but I have come to expect it whenever a writer choices to set their piece in 2001.
"In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture. Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better, coming from one of our most interesting and important cultural critics."
Ugh this book... I literally felt like I was talking to a friend who understood my soul. I felt like I could be honest with myself and recognize the holes in my outlook on society while also reaffirming my stance on what us important to me. I honestly could not stop talking about this book after reading it.
"Perceptive, funny, and nostalgic, E.B. White's stroll around Manhattan remains the quintessential love letter to the city, written by one of America's foremost literary figures. The New York Times has named Here is New York one of the ten best books ever written about the metropolis, and The New Yorker calls it "the wittiest essay, and one of the most perceptive, ever done on the city."
I used to read a lot of books and essays about living in New York when I first moved here and I have not felt this kind of connection to a piece in a long time. The idea the ever changing entity hits especially hard after two years in a pandemic that has significantly changed the landscape of New York. I have had to grapple with the fact that I fell in love with a city that no longer exists, but that is not a new phenomenon and every one who has ever called themselves a New Yorker has experienced this in some way,
And now on to the duds...
"The book contains two interwoven stories. In the first, it’s 2013: after an on-stage meltdown during a nationally televised quiz contest, 14-year-old Citoyen “City” Coldson becomes an overnight YouTube celebrity. The next day, he’s sent to stay with his grandmother in the small coastal community of Melahatchie, where a young girl named Baize Shephard has recently disappeared. Before leaving, City is given a strange book without an author called “Long Division.” He learns that one of the book’s main characters is also named City Coldson—but “Long Division” is set in 1985. This 1985 City, along with his friend and love-object, Shalaya Crump, discovers a way to travel into the future, and steals a laptop and cellphone from an orphaned teenage rapper called...Baize Shephard. They ultimately take these with them all the way back to 1964, to help another time-traveler they meet protect his family from the Klan. City’s two stories ultimately converge in the mysterious work shed behind his grandmother’s, where he discovers the key to Baize’s disappearance."
This was a book I downloaded on my Nook in like 2015 and never got around to reading it until this year and boy do I know why. I can respect the literary skill Laymon has, but it was just ridiculously hard to read since it was not super easy to distinguish between the time differences. I also am just not super into vulgar and unsettling stories.
"Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life—except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. The owners watch one another’s children grow up. They use the same handyman. They trade gossip and gripes, and they maneuver for the ultimate status symbol: a spot in the block’s small parking lot. Then one morning, Nora returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the enviable dead-end block turns into a potent symbol of a divided city. The fault lines begin to open: on the block, at Nora’s job, and especially in her marriage."
I had such high hopes for this book- it was marketed as like a Big Little Lies love child but oh did it fall so flat. Every time I thought something might happen and things would get real, they just stopped. Spoiler alert, the main couples ends up getting divorced. Not because they fall out of love, but they just had different views on how their lives would end up, but then neither of them ended up doing the things that were so important to them.
So of course, all opinions are my own and if you do not agree with me it is totally valid! Reading is a highly personal experience and I would love to hear all of your opinions!
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