I realized that I hadn’t done a decent book post in a while, so here we are 😁! I thought I would do a year in review of my reading selections from 2021.
First, I read 24 books this year averaging about 390 pages per book. The longest book from last year – Chains of Iron by Cassandra Clare, registering a whopping 656 pages, followed by none other than the King himself (Stephen that is) with Billy Summers at 514 pages and we are gonna talk about that. As for the shortest? That would be The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, again followed by Stephen King’s Later. Bookends so to speak 😆.
Given my reading slumps, the insanity that occurred when I was selling and moving, I impressed myself with this number. The year before was only 15 😬 and 2019 (the first year I started tracking) was 20 so YAY me! Let’s see if I can top 24 this year 😊.
So a quick breakdown of my reading list revealed that I read several books that were series or trilogies. For example, I read Nora Roberts Guradians trilogy, which I enjoyed, 5 of Kim Harrison’s Hollows series which included the new release American Demon, the Chains of Iron (second book in The Lost Hours trilogy) and so on. Series accounted for 67% (16 out of 24 books) of my reading list last year. Even I am shocked by that 😮.
Let’s talk about the other eight books instead. As a Stephen King fan, it was a good year. I really enjoyed Later, and Billy Summers wasn’t bad but the first half did not need to be as long as it was. I’m not sure why he dragged it out so much, but I think a good 50 pages could have been edited out. When I hit the second half, I couldn’t put it down! And the quote “Fucking Marge” has become a favorite – for many reasons 😆.
The Boy et al was a beautifully illustrated tale of love, hope and friendship, great for young and old alike. As a matter of fact, it resides in my nephew’s play area at my house so that he can read it one day.
I read Us Against You by Fredrik Bachmann because of the HBO series (that I need to finish one day). It’s a tough but honest read if you are looking for something different.
Grady Hendrix is becoming a new favorite of mine. Last year I read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Vampire Slaying, which was decent enough to encourage me to read The Final Girls Support Group. If you are looking for dark humor mixed with some horror, this is the book for you. Warning the protagonist is annoying but it works with the story.
Karen White’s Last Night in London was such a sweet story, I can’t recommend it enough. If you haven’t read her, she falls under the GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) category usually and she has several stand-alone books along with her Tradd Street series (the last of which The Attic on Queen Street, came out in 2021 as well). She is truly one of my favorite authors 💜.
Lastly, I discovered two new authors this year. Lana Harper who wrote Payback’s a Witch, an LBGTQ love story that I read because of the plot and well Witches (I like supernatural stuff). I only qualify it because I am not much of a love story gal 🤷🏼♀️. But this I really enjoyed because it was lighthearted and fun. I am looking forward to the next book, From Bad to Cursed. She kind of gives me Kim Harrison vibes, so I think I’ll stick with her for a while.
The other author I picked up was P. Djeli Clark. He wrote a book called Master of Djinn, set in 1912 Cairo. Its genres are listed as fantasy, steampunk and historical fiction. I picked it up because you don’t often see books about Djinn. Despite it being set in 1912 (historical also not a particular favorite of mine 😬) the djinn mixed with steampunk and a female protagonist that I quite liked, made it one of my favorite reads of the year.
That’s the breakdown peeps 🐥. I’ll post the full list below. If you choose to read any of the books listed, let me know what you liked or didn’t like. I won’t be offended as reading is very subjective 😊.
| Stars of Fortune | Nora Roberts |
| Bay of Sighs | Nora Roberts |
| Island of Glass | Nora Roberts |
| The Mask Falling | Samantha Shannon |
| The Scorpian’s Tail | Preston & Child |
| Later | Stephen King |
| Chains of Iron | Cassandra Clare |
| Us Against You | Fredrik Backman |
| The Boy, the mole, the fox and the horse | Charlie Mackesy |
| Last Night In London | Karen White |
| American Demon | Kim Harrison |
| The Golden Cage | Camilla Lackberg |
| Dead Witch Walking | Kim Harrison |
| The Good, The Bad and The Undead | Kim Harrison |
| Every Which Way But Dead | Kim Harrison |
| A Fistful of Charms | Kim Harrison |
| Silver Tears | Camilla Lackberg |
| The Final Girls Support Book | Grady Hendrix |
| Billy Summers | Stephen King |
| Bloodless | Preston & Child |
| A Master Of Djinn | P. Djeli Clark |
| The Attic on Queen Street | Karen White |
| Autopsy | Patricia Cornwell |
| Payback’s a Witch | Lana Harper |
My Lemons My Lemonade 