Was it the best I've ever read in a year? No, no it was not. But it was also, by far, not the worst... for that designation, you'd have to look to 2020, aka, the only year I've ever lost a Goodreads Challenge.
Perhaps that's why this year's eleventh hour finish feels like such a validation in its own right? All I can say is, that whether you finish your challenge all the way back in August (like I used to in college), or if you close the last page on a two-star graphic novel the morning of New Year's Eve (like I did for 2021), it all counts the same.
Here's what the rest of my reading year looks like, in a nutshell:
In terms of numbers, I think this is yet another year in the continued trend of reading lower page counts than I have the year before... even if you look back at my 2018 and 2019 recaps, there's a demonstrable trend of decreasing total pages, every single year. Maybe this is a part of the Goodreads effect: that in focusing more on the quantity of books you're reading, you sacrifice at least a little bit of quality. Or maybe it's just that after the relative failure of last year, big books scare me now?
(My brother occasionally likes to make fun of this, but I think someday he holds out hope that I, too, will read the Stormlight Archive series, and other Brandon Sanderson novels that are thick enough to be used as construction materials. But as someone who likes to be lying down when I read, I think it's going to have to be a Kindle or nothing for those bad boys... I don't relish the thought of accidentally dropping one of those on my face.)
Another interesting designation for this year's total tallies, is that my average score for rating a novel has dropped substantially. In 2018, my average score was a 3.9; in 2019, it was a 4.2, and same in 2020 (Which is highly ironic, because I was certainly not in a good mood for either of those last two years). But this year? Talk about a cold snap: I had an average rating of 3.5, which feels about right. I was a lot more ruthless with my ratings this year, and found myself reading a lot of boring and average reading material.
But that's all in the past now... 2021 is over, and we've got a new year stretched like a pristine white tablecloth, with all-new place settings for each and every one of us. Here's a couple of ideas for what to add to your plate in the coming year:
Best of the Year
Best months for reading: December (11 books read, 10 of which were in the last five days of the year!), and April (6 read, 2 DNF'd, 2 in progress by the month end)
Best series I read: the Murderbot series by Martha Wells (of which I read the first four titles), and The Immortals series (aka, Daine's books, in their completion) by Tamora Pierce
Best rereads: Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, which preserved every ounce of its usual domestically magical charm, and Kitchen Counter Cooking School, by Kathleen Flinn, which solidified itself as one of my favorite nonfiction books - and books about food - ever, by one of my favorite authors ever.
Top New-to-Me Reads of the Year:
1. Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel
Read in the last few days of the year, this one managed to adhere itself to the walls of my brain so much that I've found myself thinking over its passages long after the final page was turned. About midway through the book, I already started planning out a much more in-depth reread to take place this year, in order to take my time enjoying it more. Utterly lovely and enrapturing, and honestly, one of the few pieces of fiction I read this year that really made me feel something.
2. A Very Punchable Face, Colin Jost
One of my favorite SNL funnymen turns out to be just as much of a compelling personality as I'd hope him to be. From talking about how his firefighting family reacted to September 11th, to discussing the time he was saved from one of his worst surfing fails by none other than Jimmy Buffet, this read was compelling, hilarious, and has been, in total, the book I've recommended to the most people this year. (You should read it, too.)
3. I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are, Rachel Bloom
Listen, I get it: like the television show she both co-created, co-wrote, and starred in - the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which ended its four-season run in 2019 - this book is not going to be for everyone. But it is, in fact, so specifically made for me, that listening to the audiobook while lying on my floor yanked me out of a depressive period that had lasted, by that point, over a month. Her voice and sense of humor might just be for me and me alone, but maybe that's what made it one of the greatest books I read this year.
Honorable Mentions:
Here for It: or How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas
A Black, gay man speaks with enormous strength and joy about the journey it took to gain both while growing up in predominantly white, upper-class communities. Hearing about how his relationship with religion has changed over the course of his life - and how his husband is a reverend! - felt refreshing and honest, and his expertly-woven references to pop culture and media had me googling things whose tabs are still open in my phone browser, in case I want to come back to them again later.
Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century, ed. Alice Wong
I haven't read many - if any at all - works of nonfiction by disabled people before, and reading this collection of pieces with almost zero background was kind of like throwing someone who doesn't like swimming into the deep end of an ice cold swimming pool. It's the kind of shock and chill that reaches into your bones and doesn't let go. This book should be required reading in high schools.
The Answer Is..., Alex Trebek
As a Jeopardy! family - aka, the kind of family who watches episodes together in hours-long binges off of the DVR, has house rules for playing along with the TV, and who has significant opinions on who should be sworn in as the next host - this book was required reading; it just took a little after Alex's death for me to grapple with being able to do it. I still cried, multiple times. What an incredible, humble, intelligent, extraordinary man.
Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas
A truly joyful and engrossing read, that I was absolutely not expecting. It's a key duo of things I don't typically go for - both YA, and Urban Fantasy - and features a trans main character, which I don't think I've read much of in the past, but even right out of the gate, it surprised me by being one of the most compelling, uplifting books I read this year. Totally delightful, sweet, genuine, and comforting.
So, that's it that: 2021 is over. It's crazy to thing that at this time last year, I had not yet read a Paranormal Romance novel about two psychics taking down a psychic serial killer, or four books about a severely antisocial SecUnit who just can't help putting its freedom on the line in order to save its humans, or two really terrifically awful books about meditation.
Can't wait to see the kind of damage I do in the coming year, too!
What were some of your best reads for 2021? How did your Goodreads Challenge go? Let me know, in the comments below!
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