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year in books 2021
happy new year! here’s my end of year book meme; doing this has become kinda therapeutic and just a nice way of reviewing the things i read. this year i also did a huge spreadsheet with my reads, and i made some charts that i’ll just stick in at the bottom. it’s fun to see it represented like that!
first, goodreads’ year in review.
and now, the questions.
Number Of Books You Read: 325. i mean, keep in mind that like 130 of them are novellas/novelettes, but also... i don’t do jack shit BUT work and read lol.
Number of Re-Reads: 10
Genre You Read The Most From: contemporary romance, with 104 books.
>Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2021?
i’ve known the answer to this since june, even before i finished the book, i think? or maybe the moment i finished it. i really didn’t expect that anything would beat it, and it was right; nothing did. the luminous dead. pretty surprising to me, because it’s horror, and i don’t even really DO horror. this year (and last year to a lesser extent) has been about me really figuring out my tastes in horror, really nailing what i like and don’t like. this is a queer scifi horror that takes places on an alien world where a lot of people make their living by joining minind expeditions into the many caverns that have been discovered. our main character is a miner on her fist delve, and i don’t want to say more than that. this book made me lose my MIND with terror (please keep in mind that i’m a baby and get scared super easy) while also giving me complicated and fascinating character interaction that i just ate the fuck up. listening to this audiobook almost made me cry with anxiety but i just could not stop. i can’t describe how this book made me feel, but everything it did... so much respect. fuck. my other faves, in descending order: one last stop, the stars and the blackness between them, the wicker king, project hail mary.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
magic for liars. i’ve been meaning to try sarah gailey for a long time now, and i decided to start with this one. i think this is one of their earlier books too? and while i didn’t dislike it, i didn’t like it anywhere near as much as i wanted or expected to. the main character’s motivations... it’s not that i didn’t understand them, but she did fixate on a lot of things that i felt like... man, it’s a murder investigation! i feel bad talking about her fixation on her jealousy of her sister, because even if they’re adults, that’s still something that would affect that way she thinks and acts but i just found it so tedious and petty. there was also some stuff about the world building and magic system that didn’t work for me and i wasn’t able to get immersed fully... i still liked this but i expected to LOVE it and i didn’t. thankfully, their other books that i read this year worked way better for me. also at her feet, which i’ve had my eye on for years. and i mean, it’s a horny f/f romance, i wasn’t expecting much besides fun kinky stuff. and i got that, and it wasn’t bad, but the love interest reacts to something in a certain way that just made my enjoyment of this plummet so very swiftly.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
a consecrated heart. it’s not that i wasn’t expecting a lot out of this m/m paranormal romance, but didn’t think it would grip me to tight and bowl me over so thoroughly? this was my first work form this author, so i truly had no expectations, but this romance just... ooooof, i loved it so much. it’s a bit darker than what i’d usually go for, but the taboo nature of it was actually super appealing? it’s about a demon tasked with corrupting souls, and his newest project: the new priest at the church he hangs around. i love opposites attract romances, and this is obviously an extreme version of that, with a super amoral but not actually evil demon, and a priest who is such a sweet and fundamentally GOOD person. i loved him so much. this could have easily gone in some directions that i would have hated, and i’m so glad the author avoided that. it’s such a short book but it completed captivated me. for surprising in a bad way, there’s sunset springs. i’ve adored everything i read previously from kacen callendar, their writing is always so freaking transcendent... not this tho. bland as hell, felt like i was reading from a pamphlet.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
i know i’ve pitched the luminous dead to a lot of people, but only pretty recently, and no one’s had the chance to read it yet. i did vote very excitedly for the seep for the sapphic stories book club, and we did end up reading it? though that probably doesn’t count, haha. but i did really enjoy that one; i think it’s the first scifi book i’ve read that looks at the idea of alien invasion via utopia, and it had the advantage of being queer.
5. Best series you started in 2021? Best Sequel of 2021? Best Series Ender of 2021?
best starter: no gods, no monsters. an urban-ish fantasy series that i went into without any expectations, and the writing and the sheer creativity of the world really blew me away. my first from this author and it was super exciting to discover a caribbean fantasy writer that i really liked. this was probably my favourite arc of the year? although maybe it’s tied with the next book. best sequel: the soldier and the spy. m/m historical romance, second in a series with different couples but an interconnected plot. i liked the first book; i LOVED this one. it took some tropes that i don’t always love and made me feral. i am not exaggerating when i say i’ve reread the last chapter of this book 10 times. one of THE best love confession scenes ever written. best ender: a desolation called peace. not much of a competition since i think this might be a only series ender that i even read this year, but it was still so freaking good. i liked it a teensy bit less than the first, but it continued to have soooo much of what i want out of scifi, and what’s more: GIRLS KISSING.
6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2021?
for this question i usually stick to authors that i read from more than once. my most read from genre is contemporary romance, and i have one big standout there. lily seabrooke writes mostly light-hearted, but also really thoughtful f/f romances, with a lot of emphasis on finding yourself, identity and the like. i had one huge complaint with the first book i read from her, the simple answer, but i think it’s still significant that i ended up giving it a pretty high rating, because everything else about it was so solid. it also gave me one of my new fave characters. she writes characters so believably, and they inhabit their dialogue so well, and i just have such a good TIME with her books. i don’t know a lot of other trans women authors who write f/f romance, so i was glad to have found her! i can’t wait to start her new series. rien gray was also a great find, especially for their romantic suspense duet.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
technically the luminous dead fits perfectly, because i really don’t read much horror, but i don’t want to use that for every answer. i’ve never been one for non-fiction though, and i’ve read a lot of memoirs this year that i loved. why be happy when you could be normal? is probably my favourite out of all of them! it’s about winterson’s childhood, growing up adopted in northern england, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her relationships and mental health struggles later in life. the writing... fuck. i literally feel like she reached into my mind and plucked feelings from it; some of those passages brought me to my knees.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
razorblade tears. one of the few thrillers that i really liked, and i seriously hurtled through it. part of it is due to the fact that i listened to the audiobook that was read by one of my favourite narrators, but also, this book (internationally) read kind of like a movie and it was action -packed and violent and really gut-wrenching. not perfect, but i devoured it. run was slightly less successful in terms of my own enjoyment, but it was the very definition of ‘unputdownable’.
9. Book You Read In 2021 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
the luminous dead, for sure. i’m pretty much waiting for my physical copy to get here (though i’ll be listening to the audio again, since i loved it). definitely will reread the locked tomb books as well, in preparation for nona.
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2021?
i can never just pick one! i tend to love simple covers that have really arresting art. my favourite is the stars and the blackness between them. the art is so freaking lovely, and it makes me feel so sad and hopeful, and fits the book perfectly. seeing black girls with natural hair on covers is a new enough phenomenon that it still makes me a bit teary eyed. some runners up: silver in the wood; the murders of molly southbourne; quicksand; sing; a breathless place. that last one always gives me warm fuzzies; it’s a lesbian romance, and the author’s wife does all her covers. :)
11. Most memorable character of 2021?
aster from an unkindness of ghosts. because the author did such a good job of balancing the traumatic things that she went through, but never making it feel like trauma porn, something that was put on display for us... aster is just seared into my memory. i love her so so dearly. i also really love jael from the short story of the same name in the secret lives of church ladies. i fucking love unhinged feral queer black girls.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2021?
these violent delights. even if the plot wasn’t 100% my speed, the writing here made me want to climb out of my skin. it was SO fucking good. this was one of those books that i listened to on audio but didn’t have an ebook to follow along with, so i was just constantly pausing to write down lines and passages in my notes app. these was some truly lovely writing, and i want to read everything nemerever ever writes. this reminded me of how much i LOVE books about obsession, and if this had been like, an unhealthy romance novel, i’d have loved it. speaking about books about obsession and co-dependency that are beautifully written, i can't not mention the wicker king. the writing doesn’t quite achieve the perfection that nemerever got, but it's gorgeous as hell, and i felt for these characters so wholly, and i was overall more satisfied with it. one of my few 5 stars!
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2021?
in the dream house. it’s a memoir about abuse within wlw relationships. it was so well-researched, and i loved the style and the structure that she used, and how frank she was in talking her own experiences and same-sex abuse in general, and all the cases she cited. even though i wouldn’t say it was life-changing for me, it’s something that’s not talked about enough. it’s good in general to smash the stereotype about the supposed purity of f/f relationships, and talk about the ways that abuse can and does exist in them. and in general it was really well-written.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2021 to finally read?
i genuinely might have been the last person on the planet to read gone girl. unfortunately i did know a lot about the story and plot, which couldn’t be helped; it’s so famous and i hadn’t really been thinking about avoiding spoilers for it. it’s such a huge part of pop culture at this point in time, and i can see how it’s influenced a lot of thrillers that have come after it. but i wasn’t spoiled for as much as i thought, and i still enjoyed myself. i’ve also owned the song of achilles for a long time and i’ve been hearing about it for even longer. this one i enjoyed more; it was as lovely as advertised.
15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2021?
from why be happy when you could be normal? another book that i took a bunch of quotes from. every other line, i felt like something was speaking to me personally, especially when she talked about suicide ideation. but these are the lines that stick with me the most: ‘ All my life I have worked from the wound. To heal it would mean an end to one identity — the defining identity. But the healed wound is not the disappeared wound; there will always be a scar. I will always be recognisable by my scar.’ the idea of working from the wound... ahhhhh
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2021?
shortest: before her, at 17 pages. a little short story from one of my favourite childhood writers, talking about life before and after she met her wife. longest: into the fire, at 716 pages. technically a collection of nine novellas, historical m/m romance following one couple (and it ties into an arthurian retelling). i read it as a single book though. the next longest would be the blood we spill, at 637 pages. a long and twisty f/f scifi romance that had a lot of promise but sadly didn’t deliver.
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
tender is the flesh, aka That One Cannibalism Book. it’s not that i was blindsided by what happens, because the author did SUCH a good job with these characters, and the way she parcelled out information to us. i completely understand how/why things went the way they did. it just... ooof. reading it was still shocking.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
every year i answer gideon/harrow from the locked tomb but that’s because it’s true. i’m obsessed with them haha it’s fine i don’t want to talk about it. honourable mentions: jane/august from one last stop, benjamin/august from the soldier and the spy, cinder/george from uncharted.
19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
one of the friendships from project hail mary. and that’s all i’m saying because i went into this completely blind and i want every friend who reads it to have that experience too. yes yes yes! if you know, you know!!!
20. Favourite Book You Read in 2021 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
black water sister by zen cho! you cannot pay me to shut up about spirits abroad, my fave from last year, and i was so excited to read her 2022 release! i liked this one a little less, but still enjoyed it a lot, especially coming down to the end. give me a lesbian and ghosts and post colonialism and i’m a happy camper. also i have to mention last night at the telegraph club. malinda lo’s writing isn’t my favourite, and i had sorta given up on trying her again? i’m REALLY glad i gave her another try. maybe she got a better editor, but whatever it was, this queer historical YA just charmed me to hell, and made me feel things.
21. Best Book You Read In 2021 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
i know couple friends have read and loved the winged histories, but i got a direct recommendation from ingrid for this. i’ve talked about this book enough in other places so i won’t do it here, but the short of it is: this was almost a flop, took me so long to read, i legit had to put it down and come back to it, but i stuck with it and fucking LOVED it. any time i think about DNFing a book i need to think of my experience with this. imagine if i’d abandoned this! i loved it so much! i’ll never not have beef with it but i loved it!
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2021?
an almost even split between vanessa schreier from the simple answer and jane su from one last stop. they’re both so freaking strong and kind and take care of the people in their lives in amazing ways. i’m in love. i’m obsessed. i have feelings for them. me, dropping hints that i want them to come fuck this: y’all come fuck this!!!
23. Best 2021 debut you read?
summer sons. apparently the author is a big raven cycle fan? so... thank you to maggie s. for helping put this in the world, it was so freaking good! (better than the raven cycle tbh, don’t @ me.) queer, light horror, southern gothic, super atmospheric, great writing, really gut-wrenching exploration of internalised homophobia.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
definitely have to give it to the space between worlds. the concept of the multiverse and the way it's discovered and talked about and navigated it super interesting on its own, but also there's the way the author makes it intersect with race and class that just cemented my love for this. the writing and descriptions of the setting were also really up there! also, the unspoken name has a lot of really interesting world-building and lore. it took a while for me to wrap me head around it, but i really liked the concept of the worlds and the gates, and there are certain aspects of the history that i can’t WAIT to find out more about.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
the kate kane series. ‘fun’ probably isn’t the best way to describe this series; it can get serious and parts of it were an utter downer for me. but it’s also the absolutely perfect mix of noir and camp that just spoke to my soul. i love alexis hall’s brand of humour, and this made me smile soooo many times. god, thinking of a few moments from the first and fourth books especially makes me want to bury my face in a pillow to hide my grin. so, yes, fun!
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2021?
one last stop. “but laura, is that even a sad book?” no! it largely is not! but i’m an emotional softie and i love love and i cried six fucking times while reading this. there is now a queen song that i CANNOT hear without thinking of this couple. my decision to listen to all the music in this book as it was mentioned was such a good one, because music ended up being a big part of why i loved this, and why it made me cry.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
i read several anthologies this year, and a couple i think deserve way more attention and acclaim, because the writing/themes were so gripping and strong. one if islands of decolonial love, short stories with the nishinabeg community, talking about racial justice, decolonisation, relationships, land rights and love. some of them were super short, only a couple pages, but really powerful. this book stands out to me especially because right after i finished the audiobook, i literally just started it back from the beginning again, and listened to almost the entirety of it a second time. another great anthology: the secret lives of church ladies. centred on black women and their relationships with the people in their lives, and also god and religion as a whole. several queer stories, simple but effective writing.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
she who became the sun. an exaggeration, of course, but OOOF, this book did not pull any punches. when i realised the directions this was going, i knew it wouldn’t be a total fave, but i have to respect what the author did and how they did it, even if it leaves me feeling kinda despondent and hopeless. a monster calls also destroyed me emotionally by making me think of things i really did not want to think about!!
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2021?
things have gotten worse since we last spoke, just for the structure and the way it’s told (emails and chatlogs) and also how fucking weird it got. i desperately wish it had gotten weird in a psychosexual way rather than a gross-out body horror and food horror way, but it still made a huge impact on me. also sing, which has such a unique concept.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
44 hours, though i guess that really isn’t the book’s fault. from the blurb and the cover, i though i was getting a kind of lost/stranded romance, where the women would be dependent on each other for survival/getting rescued. but... they got rescued 20% in, and the rest of the book is a run-of-the-mill enemies to lovers which i usually like, but it wasn’t what i signed on for! i felt bamboozled! the main characters in the second sister also really pissed me off. i wasn’t totally convinced of their romance in the first place, but more importantly, there was a secondary character who was being brutally abused, and they did almost nothing to help her and it got me SO mad.
Looking Ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2021 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2022?
CALL OUT POST FOR ME: I’VE GIVEN THIS ANSWER FOR THREE YEARS STRAIGHT. but it remains true that i want to reread and finish the when women were warriors trilogy. i just need to make time for it and do it! it’s not that i’m hesitant; i’m really excited to read it! so i have no excuses.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2022 (non-debut)?
i’ve been seeing delilah green doesn’t care get a lot of good reviews, and i really liked the one YA book i read by blake, so i’m excited to read her first adult romance book!
3. 2022 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
the memory librarian. janelle monáe writing about the characters from dirty computer? HELL YEAH! there's also another book that i'm thinking about, a debut that i really want to read. i know i retweeted it on twitter, something sapphic and it might involve a university? but i don't remember the name! lol i need to take better notes when i come across books i wanna read. but i'm sure i'll see it when it comes out.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2022?
nona the ninth. i read the blurb and that’s it. i don’t want to hear anything else about it until it comes out.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2022?
last year, i wanted to read less books, but read longer ones. i did... not read less, aha. and as i said before, a good chunk of what i did read was either a novella (less than 200 pages) or average novel length (200 to 300 pages). i think i’m going to keep that goal though, to read longer books. there are a good few super long scifi/fantasy books that i really want to try to sink my teeth into this year. i kinda miss the feeling you get when you immerse yourself in a world for several hundred pages; even better when it’s part of a series. however, i also know myself: my fave thing to read is cute queer contemporary romance, and i’m not going to deny myself that. so we’ll just see where the year takes me.
and now... CHARTS!!!
first, goodreads’ year in review.
and now, the questions.
Number Of Books You Read: 325. i mean, keep in mind that like 130 of them are novellas/novelettes, but also... i don’t do jack shit BUT work and read lol.
Number of Re-Reads: 10
Genre You Read The Most From: contemporary romance, with 104 books.
>Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2021?
i’ve known the answer to this since june, even before i finished the book, i think? or maybe the moment i finished it. i really didn’t expect that anything would beat it, and it was right; nothing did. the luminous dead. pretty surprising to me, because it’s horror, and i don’t even really DO horror. this year (and last year to a lesser extent) has been about me really figuring out my tastes in horror, really nailing what i like and don’t like. this is a queer scifi horror that takes places on an alien world where a lot of people make their living by joining minind expeditions into the many caverns that have been discovered. our main character is a miner on her fist delve, and i don’t want to say more than that. this book made me lose my MIND with terror (please keep in mind that i’m a baby and get scared super easy) while also giving me complicated and fascinating character interaction that i just ate the fuck up. listening to this audiobook almost made me cry with anxiety but i just could not stop. i can’t describe how this book made me feel, but everything it did... so much respect. fuck. my other faves, in descending order: one last stop, the stars and the blackness between them, the wicker king, project hail mary.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
magic for liars. i’ve been meaning to try sarah gailey for a long time now, and i decided to start with this one. i think this is one of their earlier books too? and while i didn’t dislike it, i didn’t like it anywhere near as much as i wanted or expected to. the main character’s motivations... it’s not that i didn’t understand them, but she did fixate on a lot of things that i felt like... man, it’s a murder investigation! i feel bad talking about her fixation on her jealousy of her sister, because even if they’re adults, that’s still something that would affect that way she thinks and acts but i just found it so tedious and petty. there was also some stuff about the world building and magic system that didn’t work for me and i wasn’t able to get immersed fully... i still liked this but i expected to LOVE it and i didn’t. thankfully, their other books that i read this year worked way better for me. also at her feet, which i’ve had my eye on for years. and i mean, it’s a horny f/f romance, i wasn’t expecting much besides fun kinky stuff. and i got that, and it wasn’t bad, but the love interest reacts to something in a certain way that just made my enjoyment of this plummet so very swiftly.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
a consecrated heart. it’s not that i wasn’t expecting a lot out of this m/m paranormal romance, but didn’t think it would grip me to tight and bowl me over so thoroughly? this was my first work form this author, so i truly had no expectations, but this romance just... ooooof, i loved it so much. it’s a bit darker than what i’d usually go for, but the taboo nature of it was actually super appealing? it’s about a demon tasked with corrupting souls, and his newest project: the new priest at the church he hangs around. i love opposites attract romances, and this is obviously an extreme version of that, with a super amoral but not actually evil demon, and a priest who is such a sweet and fundamentally GOOD person. i loved him so much. this could have easily gone in some directions that i would have hated, and i’m so glad the author avoided that. it’s such a short book but it completed captivated me. for surprising in a bad way, there’s sunset springs. i’ve adored everything i read previously from kacen callendar, their writing is always so freaking transcendent... not this tho. bland as hell, felt like i was reading from a pamphlet.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
i know i’ve pitched the luminous dead to a lot of people, but only pretty recently, and no one’s had the chance to read it yet. i did vote very excitedly for the seep for the sapphic stories book club, and we did end up reading it? though that probably doesn’t count, haha. but i did really enjoy that one; i think it’s the first scifi book i’ve read that looks at the idea of alien invasion via utopia, and it had the advantage of being queer.
5. Best series you started in 2021? Best Sequel of 2021? Best Series Ender of 2021?
best starter: no gods, no monsters. an urban-ish fantasy series that i went into without any expectations, and the writing and the sheer creativity of the world really blew me away. my first from this author and it was super exciting to discover a caribbean fantasy writer that i really liked. this was probably my favourite arc of the year? although maybe it’s tied with the next book. best sequel: the soldier and the spy. m/m historical romance, second in a series with different couples but an interconnected plot. i liked the first book; i LOVED this one. it took some tropes that i don’t always love and made me feral. i am not exaggerating when i say i’ve reread the last chapter of this book 10 times. one of THE best love confession scenes ever written. best ender: a desolation called peace. not much of a competition since i think this might be a only series ender that i even read this year, but it was still so freaking good. i liked it a teensy bit less than the first, but it continued to have soooo much of what i want out of scifi, and what’s more: GIRLS KISSING.
6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2021?
for this question i usually stick to authors that i read from more than once. my most read from genre is contemporary romance, and i have one big standout there. lily seabrooke writes mostly light-hearted, but also really thoughtful f/f romances, with a lot of emphasis on finding yourself, identity and the like. i had one huge complaint with the first book i read from her, the simple answer, but i think it’s still significant that i ended up giving it a pretty high rating, because everything else about it was so solid. it also gave me one of my new fave characters. she writes characters so believably, and they inhabit their dialogue so well, and i just have such a good TIME with her books. i don’t know a lot of other trans women authors who write f/f romance, so i was glad to have found her! i can’t wait to start her new series. rien gray was also a great find, especially for their romantic suspense duet.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
technically the luminous dead fits perfectly, because i really don’t read much horror, but i don’t want to use that for every answer. i’ve never been one for non-fiction though, and i’ve read a lot of memoirs this year that i loved. why be happy when you could be normal? is probably my favourite out of all of them! it’s about winterson’s childhood, growing up adopted in northern england, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her relationships and mental health struggles later in life. the writing... fuck. i literally feel like she reached into my mind and plucked feelings from it; some of those passages brought me to my knees.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
razorblade tears. one of the few thrillers that i really liked, and i seriously hurtled through it. part of it is due to the fact that i listened to the audiobook that was read by one of my favourite narrators, but also, this book (internationally) read kind of like a movie and it was action -packed and violent and really gut-wrenching. not perfect, but i devoured it. run was slightly less successful in terms of my own enjoyment, but it was the very definition of ‘unputdownable’.
9. Book You Read In 2021 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
the luminous dead, for sure. i’m pretty much waiting for my physical copy to get here (though i’ll be listening to the audio again, since i loved it). definitely will reread the locked tomb books as well, in preparation for nona.
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2021?
i can never just pick one! i tend to love simple covers that have really arresting art. my favourite is the stars and the blackness between them. the art is so freaking lovely, and it makes me feel so sad and hopeful, and fits the book perfectly. seeing black girls with natural hair on covers is a new enough phenomenon that it still makes me a bit teary eyed. some runners up: silver in the wood; the murders of molly southbourne; quicksand; sing; a breathless place. that last one always gives me warm fuzzies; it’s a lesbian romance, and the author’s wife does all her covers. :)
11. Most memorable character of 2021?
aster from an unkindness of ghosts. because the author did such a good job of balancing the traumatic things that she went through, but never making it feel like trauma porn, something that was put on display for us... aster is just seared into my memory. i love her so so dearly. i also really love jael from the short story of the same name in the secret lives of church ladies. i fucking love unhinged feral queer black girls.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2021?
these violent delights. even if the plot wasn’t 100% my speed, the writing here made me want to climb out of my skin. it was SO fucking good. this was one of those books that i listened to on audio but didn’t have an ebook to follow along with, so i was just constantly pausing to write down lines and passages in my notes app. these was some truly lovely writing, and i want to read everything nemerever ever writes. this reminded me of how much i LOVE books about obsession, and if this had been like, an unhealthy romance novel, i’d have loved it. speaking about books about obsession and co-dependency that are beautifully written, i can't not mention the wicker king. the writing doesn’t quite achieve the perfection that nemerever got, but it's gorgeous as hell, and i felt for these characters so wholly, and i was overall more satisfied with it. one of my few 5 stars!
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2021?
in the dream house. it’s a memoir about abuse within wlw relationships. it was so well-researched, and i loved the style and the structure that she used, and how frank she was in talking her own experiences and same-sex abuse in general, and all the cases she cited. even though i wouldn’t say it was life-changing for me, it’s something that’s not talked about enough. it’s good in general to smash the stereotype about the supposed purity of f/f relationships, and talk about the ways that abuse can and does exist in them. and in general it was really well-written.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2021 to finally read?
i genuinely might have been the last person on the planet to read gone girl. unfortunately i did know a lot about the story and plot, which couldn’t be helped; it’s so famous and i hadn’t really been thinking about avoiding spoilers for it. it’s such a huge part of pop culture at this point in time, and i can see how it’s influenced a lot of thrillers that have come after it. but i wasn’t spoiled for as much as i thought, and i still enjoyed myself. i’ve also owned the song of achilles for a long time and i’ve been hearing about it for even longer. this one i enjoyed more; it was as lovely as advertised.
15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2021?
from why be happy when you could be normal? another book that i took a bunch of quotes from. every other line, i felt like something was speaking to me personally, especially when she talked about suicide ideation. but these are the lines that stick with me the most: ‘ All my life I have worked from the wound. To heal it would mean an end to one identity — the defining identity. But the healed wound is not the disappeared wound; there will always be a scar. I will always be recognisable by my scar.’ the idea of working from the wound... ahhhhh
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2021?
shortest: before her, at 17 pages. a little short story from one of my favourite childhood writers, talking about life before and after she met her wife. longest: into the fire, at 716 pages. technically a collection of nine novellas, historical m/m romance following one couple (and it ties into an arthurian retelling). i read it as a single book though. the next longest would be the blood we spill, at 637 pages. a long and twisty f/f scifi romance that had a lot of promise but sadly didn’t deliver.
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
tender is the flesh, aka That One Cannibalism Book. it’s not that i was blindsided by what happens, because the author did SUCH a good job with these characters, and the way she parcelled out information to us. i completely understand how/why things went the way they did. it just... ooof. reading it was still shocking.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
every year i answer gideon/harrow from the locked tomb but that’s because it’s true. i’m obsessed with them haha it’s fine i don’t want to talk about it. honourable mentions: jane/august from one last stop, benjamin/august from the soldier and the spy, cinder/george from uncharted.
19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
one of the friendships from project hail mary. and that’s all i’m saying because i went into this completely blind and i want every friend who reads it to have that experience too. yes yes yes! if you know, you know!!!
20. Favourite Book You Read in 2021 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
black water sister by zen cho! you cannot pay me to shut up about spirits abroad, my fave from last year, and i was so excited to read her 2022 release! i liked this one a little less, but still enjoyed it a lot, especially coming down to the end. give me a lesbian and ghosts and post colonialism and i’m a happy camper. also i have to mention last night at the telegraph club. malinda lo’s writing isn’t my favourite, and i had sorta given up on trying her again? i’m REALLY glad i gave her another try. maybe she got a better editor, but whatever it was, this queer historical YA just charmed me to hell, and made me feel things.
21. Best Book You Read In 2021 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
i know couple friends have read and loved the winged histories, but i got a direct recommendation from ingrid for this. i’ve talked about this book enough in other places so i won’t do it here, but the short of it is: this was almost a flop, took me so long to read, i legit had to put it down and come back to it, but i stuck with it and fucking LOVED it. any time i think about DNFing a book i need to think of my experience with this. imagine if i’d abandoned this! i loved it so much! i’ll never not have beef with it but i loved it!
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2021?
an almost even split between vanessa schreier from the simple answer and jane su from one last stop. they’re both so freaking strong and kind and take care of the people in their lives in amazing ways. i’m in love. i’m obsessed. i have feelings for them. me, dropping hints that i want them to come fuck this: y’all come fuck this!!!
23. Best 2021 debut you read?
summer sons. apparently the author is a big raven cycle fan? so... thank you to maggie s. for helping put this in the world, it was so freaking good! (better than the raven cycle tbh, don’t @ me.) queer, light horror, southern gothic, super atmospheric, great writing, really gut-wrenching exploration of internalised homophobia.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
definitely have to give it to the space between worlds. the concept of the multiverse and the way it's discovered and talked about and navigated it super interesting on its own, but also there's the way the author makes it intersect with race and class that just cemented my love for this. the writing and descriptions of the setting were also really up there! also, the unspoken name has a lot of really interesting world-building and lore. it took a while for me to wrap me head around it, but i really liked the concept of the worlds and the gates, and there are certain aspects of the history that i can’t WAIT to find out more about.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
the kate kane series. ‘fun’ probably isn’t the best way to describe this series; it can get serious and parts of it were an utter downer for me. but it’s also the absolutely perfect mix of noir and camp that just spoke to my soul. i love alexis hall’s brand of humour, and this made me smile soooo many times. god, thinking of a few moments from the first and fourth books especially makes me want to bury my face in a pillow to hide my grin. so, yes, fun!
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2021?
one last stop. “but laura, is that even a sad book?” no! it largely is not! but i’m an emotional softie and i love love and i cried six fucking times while reading this. there is now a queen song that i CANNOT hear without thinking of this couple. my decision to listen to all the music in this book as it was mentioned was such a good one, because music ended up being a big part of why i loved this, and why it made me cry.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
i read several anthologies this year, and a couple i think deserve way more attention and acclaim, because the writing/themes were so gripping and strong. one if islands of decolonial love, short stories with the nishinabeg community, talking about racial justice, decolonisation, relationships, land rights and love. some of them were super short, only a couple pages, but really powerful. this book stands out to me especially because right after i finished the audiobook, i literally just started it back from the beginning again, and listened to almost the entirety of it a second time. another great anthology: the secret lives of church ladies. centred on black women and their relationships with the people in their lives, and also god and religion as a whole. several queer stories, simple but effective writing.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
she who became the sun. an exaggeration, of course, but OOOF, this book did not pull any punches. when i realised the directions this was going, i knew it wouldn’t be a total fave, but i have to respect what the author did and how they did it, even if it leaves me feeling kinda despondent and hopeless. a monster calls also destroyed me emotionally by making me think of things i really did not want to think about!!
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2021?
things have gotten worse since we last spoke, just for the structure and the way it’s told (emails and chatlogs) and also how fucking weird it got. i desperately wish it had gotten weird in a psychosexual way rather than a gross-out body horror and food horror way, but it still made a huge impact on me. also sing, which has such a unique concept.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
44 hours, though i guess that really isn’t the book’s fault. from the blurb and the cover, i though i was getting a kind of lost/stranded romance, where the women would be dependent on each other for survival/getting rescued. but... they got rescued 20% in, and the rest of the book is a run-of-the-mill enemies to lovers which i usually like, but it wasn’t what i signed on for! i felt bamboozled! the main characters in the second sister also really pissed me off. i wasn’t totally convinced of their romance in the first place, but more importantly, there was a secondary character who was being brutally abused, and they did almost nothing to help her and it got me SO mad.
Looking Ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2021 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2022?
CALL OUT POST FOR ME: I’VE GIVEN THIS ANSWER FOR THREE YEARS STRAIGHT. but it remains true that i want to reread and finish the when women were warriors trilogy. i just need to make time for it and do it! it’s not that i’m hesitant; i’m really excited to read it! so i have no excuses.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2022 (non-debut)?
i’ve been seeing delilah green doesn’t care get a lot of good reviews, and i really liked the one YA book i read by blake, so i’m excited to read her first adult romance book!
3. 2022 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
the memory librarian. janelle monáe writing about the characters from dirty computer? HELL YEAH! there's also another book that i'm thinking about, a debut that i really want to read. i know i retweeted it on twitter, something sapphic and it might involve a university? but i don't remember the name! lol i need to take better notes when i come across books i wanna read. but i'm sure i'll see it when it comes out.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2022?
nona the ninth. i read the blurb and that’s it. i don’t want to hear anything else about it until it comes out.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2022?
last year, i wanted to read less books, but read longer ones. i did... not read less, aha. and as i said before, a good chunk of what i did read was either a novella (less than 200 pages) or average novel length (200 to 300 pages). i think i’m going to keep that goal though, to read longer books. there are a good few super long scifi/fantasy books that i really want to try to sink my teeth into this year. i kinda miss the feeling you get when you immerse yourself in a world for several hundred pages; even better when it’s part of a series. however, i also know myself: my fave thing to read is cute queer contemporary romance, and i’m not going to deny myself that. so we’ll just see where the year takes me.
and now... CHARTS!!!