3 Jan 2022

My Reading Year, 2021

Total number of books: 123
# Rereads: 56 / 46%

# Physical Books on my Shelves by End of Year: 1213 (-64 ...thanks to my MAJOR declutter in August)
# TBR: 213 (+12 ...I'll DEFINITELY need to do something about that this year!)
Longest Book (not counting fanfics or omnibusses): Blue Smoke - Nora Roberts (440 pages)
Shortest Book (not counting short stories or graphic novels): Wine's Up? - Wendy Meadows (104 pages)

Average rating: 3.9

Best New Series:
For the Love of Purple by Audrey Faye. But then, I love pretty much anything she writes!
Love Lines by Cara Bastone. I've read two so far, and they were both very, very sweet.

Abandoned Books
None, but I have some on my "currently-reading" shelf that I probably ought to abandon... at least temporarily.

Worst Book(s) of the Year
* Bear, Otter and the Kid - T.J. Klune. I was so disappointed by this! I usually love everything he writes!
* The Road Trip - Beth O'Leary. Waaaay too depressing for what I thought was supposed to be a feel-good book.
* Little Lady Agency - Hester Browne. I was listening to this as an audiobook, but ended up finishing this as an e-book, as I just couldn't stomach any more of Melissa's father or her insecurity.


Awards:
Worst Book That Everybody Raved About: "Under the Whispering Door" by T.J. Klune. I didn't dislike it, but just found it very average - and since everybody else seems to rave about it, that was very disappointing.

Best Book I Would Never Have Read If Somebody Online Hadn't Told Me To: "Magic Uncorked" by Annabel Chase. Unfortunately I can no longer remember who told me about this 'midlife magic' genre (Paula? I think it was probably you?), but I was instantly interested, and fortunately this, my first forey into that genre, was right up my aisle!

Book read furthest away from home (vacation reads?): I didn't really travel all that far this year, so I guess it will have to be "The Holiday Cruise" by Victoria Cooke, read in the summer house Mum and Dad rented in Jutland.

Book that took you the longest to read: "The Selected Journals of LMM, Volume 1". Granted, I read this in fits and starts, but it took me half a year to read.

Book you read on your birthday: "Oddball" by Sarah Andersen. An ARC I received of a new comic by one of my favourite authors.

Book you read in 2021 but already want to re-read: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir! I basically considered turning right around and starting all over again the minute I finished it.

Most books read by one author this year:
Counting rereads: Debora Geary (21 as herself, another 5 as Audrey Faye)
Not counting rereads: A tie between Audrey Faye and T.J. Klune (4 each)

Favourite new author you discovered Mhairi McFarlane.

Biggest Tear-Jerker: "Last Night" by Mhairi McFarlane.

Epic that Completely Captured my Attention: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. Not sure that it quite counts as an epic, but at almost 500 pages, it's certainly not SHORT either!

Best Memoir: "The 52 Week Project" by Lauren Keenan. Half memoir, half happiness project. Granted, I'm definitely biased (I featured in the book on numerous occasions!), but I'd like to believe I'd have loved it anyway, as it's up my aisle, even putting aside the fact that the author's one of my best friends.

Best Travel Book: "The Little Brooklyn Bakery" by Julie Caplin. I know it's fiction - and not even high fiction at that! - but the book made me feel like I was in NYC while reading it - and that's quite a feat!

Best Paranormal for Grownups: "Magic Uncorked" by Annabel Chase. Apparently there's an entire genre of people finding magic in their 40s. This is the only one I've read so far, but I loved it and am DEFINITELY going to look out for more!

Book you said you'd come back to but still haven't picked up again: "And All the Stars" by Andrea K. Höst. I started reading this back in April, and still haven't finished. It's even a reread and I loved it the first time I read it, so I have no clue what's happening here. Wrong book at the wrong time, I guess.

Book read the quickest after receiving it: "The Beginner's Guide to Loneliness" by Laura Bambrey. I started it 10 minutes after purchasing it, and finished it in less than 24 hours. Definitely a case of right book at the right time.

Book you wish you could go back and read for the first time again: "A Modern Witch" by Debora Geary. *sigh*

Book you "pushed" the most people to read: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. I started raving about it even before I finished it, and have currently pushed it to 3 sisters, 1 niece, both parents and 3 colleagues! :-D

Book you're most excited about in 2022: "Meet Me In the Margins" by Melissa Ferguson (expected publication: Feb 15th). Granted, I've read it already, but I loved it so much that I can't wait for it to be published, so I can push it on everybody else as well. Also, I want a physical copy for my library :-D