My Favorite Books of 2021
My Favorite Books of 2021
This year started off slow in my reading as we had a baby, but I was luckily able to finish my goal with the help of audiobooks during my commute, cleaning, etc. Although I was able to read 79 books, this year was a year full of duds sadly. With even less free time now, I started discarding books much quicker. Before, there may have been 1 book every year or two where I gave up and didn’t finish. Other than that, I would finish every. Single. Book. I started. Now my inner “Meadow” is coming out and helping me discard books that put me off or are boring for too long. Maybe the book does get better and I am missing out, but in my experience they never have and there are too many wonderful books in the world to waste my time.
So, my favorites list this year is a bit thinner than in the past and I didn’t have to cull the list as I did have a few that really stood out against all others. Plus I read two absolutely flawless series that are now some of my all-time faves.
Have you read any of the ones I listed below? Would love to hear your thoughts or if you recommend any others that might be similar to these.
Click the book covers to read my full review and a synopsis of each book.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
This was an unputdownable book, once you started it you just had to read more and more until you finished it. I was excited that this plot was different than many of the other popular thrillers the past few years (The Girl on the Train, The Girl in the Window, The Woman in Cabin 10, etc.). You go into this knowing who did the murder just not the why, and yet you kept uncovering little surprises with every chapter.
2. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
An Instagrammer I follow recommended this book and I picked it up thinking it would be a quick and entertaining read, but just as predictable as other YA dystopian novels. I was wrong! This book shocked and shook me and I am still thinking about it several months after and will recommend it to whoever I can. It is wonderfully dark, a bit gory and was another unputdownable novel.
3. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
This book ruined me in all the best ways and is another that I just keep thinking about weeks after reading it. Although mostly a romance in style, this book is so much more. Colleen Hoover made the story so very real and understandable.
