Hey Interwebs!
Finally here are my best books of 2021. I had a hard time of narrowing it down to just 10 books so this is my top 15 reads of 2021, all 4.5 or 5 Star reads. I'm going to do this similarly to my worst books of 2021 and we'll start with my least favorite of the 15 and end with my best book of 2021. So without further ado, here's the best books of 2021.
- That Summer by Jennifer Weiner (4.5 Stars): this is a contemporary fiction about two women, Daisy and Diana, who become friends but Diana has a secret, one that involves something that happened to her years before and is the reason she sought out Daisy's friendship. This book kept my attention and I just had to know how this story would turn out for both women as well as for the "villain" in both their stories.
- Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke (4.5 Stars): this is a horror novella about a man and the boy who lives in his house, the boy who isn't his son. This book was delightfully creepy and succinct and this is one of my favorite covers.
- Girl A by Abigail Dean (4.5 Stars): this is a thriller about a sibling group narrated by the oldest sister who was the one who escaped and saved them from their family cult. It follows hem piecing things together when they're left the house their parents held them captive in after their mother's death. It was intense and unputdownable for me.
- White Smoke by Tiffany D Jackson (4.5 Stars): this is a young adult horror/thriller that was billed as Get Out meets The Haunting of Hill House about a family that moves into a house that might be haunted in a town where something seriously weird is going on. I loved this book a lot more than I expected and I want to reread.
- The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (4.5 Stars): this is a ghost story/thriller about a woman who comes to work at this titular hotel where her aunt disappeared from years before to find out what happened and discovers the haunted past of the hotel. This book had many twists and turns and I loved every minute of it.
- Uzumaki by Junji Ito (4.5 Stars): this is a horror manga about a Japanese seaside town that is being taken over by a sinister spiral. This was my first manga in general and I fell in love with the art style of these books and the way he tells stories and now I've bought most of his backlist.
- Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrick Backman (5 Stars): This is the first Backman book on here and it follows Britt-Marie who's left her husband and is piecing her life together while running a soccer club for children. I love Britt-Marie she's a complicated character who is so often unlovable but the message about leaving your mark on life was completely on point.
- Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (5 Stars): this is a TJR new release about the Riva siblings and the party they throw every summer and the secrets that are revealed in the wake of it all. I love everything I've read from TJR and was not disappointed by this family drama.
- And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrick Backman (5 Stars): this is a novella narrated by a nameless grandfather who is slowly loosing himself to dementia and his relationships with both his son and his grandson as this process happens. It was beautiful and sad and just got more beautiful and more sad and I loved it.
- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrick Backman (5 Stars): this is about a young girl whose grandmother has died and left her instructions to find and deliver apologies to everyone in her life and sends the girl on a journey of healing in the process. I loved the childlike fairytale framing of this story and the way everything comes together to reveal the basis of her grandmother's stories.
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (5 Stars): this is a backlisted TJR title and one that Malibu Rising was a loose spinoff of (Mick Riva, the siblings' father was one of Evelyn's seven husbands). I loved this story of love and loss and finding yourself when everyone else thinks they know who you are.
- Beartown by Fredrick Backman (5 Stars): this is about a town obsessed with youth hockey and how it all falls apart when a girl is assaulted by the hockey star. I loved this story despite not knowing anything about hockey and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel and getting into the show on HBO.
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman (5 Stars): this is a story about an old man named Ove who wants to die to be with his late wife but keeps getting interrupted by his new neighbors who need his help with various things. This book was beautiful and I loved Ove and his grumpy old man vibes and his burgeoning relationship with the young mother next door and her children.
- Outlawed by Anna North (5 Stars): this is an alternate history novel about a version of the American old west where any woman who does not fit into their particular model is branded as a witch and put to death including the main character who is training to be a midwife and ends up being infertile so she goes on the run and joins a gang of other women in her position. This book was amazing! I got it from the library on a whim and I just absolutely found it delightful and I'm looking forward to more from this author. Plus this cover is absolutely amazing.
- My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (5 Stars): and to no one's surprise this is my favorite book of 2021. This follows Jade who is obsessed with slasher movies and finds herself in the middle of one in her small Idaho town. This book is absolutely a love letter to slasher films and such a slow burn horror which are all things I absolutely adore. AND IT'S GETTING TWO SEQUELS!!!!
So those are all my favorite books in 2021. It has quite a mix of books from horror to thrillers and historical fiction and contemporaries. I highly recommend any and all of these and will definitely read more by any and all of these authors.
Tomorrow we will have a wrap-up of 2021 in general as well as my goals for 2022 as we wrap-up 2021 and head off into the new year.
Happy Reading!
Richelle
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