Favorite Books of 2021
I was convinced for most of the year that it would never happen, but I did manage to actually meet my reading goal for 2021 and read exactly 150 books (thank you audiobooks)! Of those 150 these 5 were my favorites.
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee - This is the third book in the series that begins with Jade City. It’s an urban fantasy following two rival clans who are primarily in control of jade which brings the wearer powers of strength, speed, and incredible perceptive abilities. This book in the series is a particular favorite of mine because the story that started in the city of Janloon has expanded significantly and we’re able to see global and long term affects of choices that characters made in the beginning of the series. This whole trilogy is honestly a work of pure genius. It’s a series I recommend to absolutely anyone that loves dark, urban fantasy, or crime family drama, or stories that really pay out over decades and generations rather than a span of a few months. I’ll read anything Fonda Lee publishes in the future.
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo - This is book 2 in the King of Scars duology. Leigh Bardugo is one of my favorite authors of all time and I will buy, read, and probably love any book she publishes. Her Six of Crows duology is my favorite of her books in the Grishaverse, but this duology is a close second I think. King of Scars and Rule of Wolves take place following the events of the Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows duology and focuses primarily on three characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Zoya Nazyalensky, and Nina Zenik.
I’d primarily recommend this series for those already familiar with the other Grishaverse books. You can have read either prior series (although I would personally recommend both) but you miss out on a lot of backstory if you’ve read neither of them.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green - I’ve read all of John Green’s books and I was really looking forward to this one because I am a regular listener of his podcast of the same name. In The Anthropocene Reviewed Green takes oftentimes mundane facets of our world and rates them on a five star scale in a series of essays. This includes everything from Diet Dr. Pepper, to the Canada goose, to The Hall of Presidents at Disney World. The essays are funny and lighthearted, but also very informative. They will really make you contemplate a lot of things you may regularly see or experience in a new way. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one. It’s read by John Green himself and it’s a great listen.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - I have a whole review for this book you can read here if you want to know more about the plot or my thoughts in depth, but this story has remained one of my favorites of 2021 since I read it earlier this year. I love the London setting and the dual timelines (1791 and modern day) and reading the stories of these women who take their lives back into their own hands from the men who try to manipulate and endanger them.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - This is a multiverse, science fiction, thriller book. In this story there are hundreds of different versions of Earth and there are people called traversers who are able to travel the multiverse and collect intel to bring back to Earth Zero. One tricky aspect of multiverse travel is that you can only travel to the worlds on which you have already died. Luckily (or not so luckily) for Cara she has died on all but 8 of those worlds making her a valuable employee. Cara is dropped into a conundrum when one of her last remaining doppelgängers dies of mysterious circumstances. She is forced to involve herself in the politics and secrets of multiple worlds in order to save her own and all the others.
This book is thrilling and fast-paced with compelling characters and a fascinating setting. The author really looks at what the smallest circumstances and actions can do to alter someone’s entire life trajectory and how that can then affect the world as a whole which I really appreciated as a reader.
What were your favorite books of 2021? Any I should add to my TBR for next year? Let me know!
