Top 5 books I read in 2021 – with links to the reviews

Reviewing my Goodreads Reading
Challenge, this year I have read 37 of a planned 40 books so far. You can see
the full list here
if you’re interested. That doesn’t even count the beta reading I’ve been doing
on the side. As you can see my tastes are varied so it’s hard to compare these
books, but I am going to look back at the five that I enjoyed the most this
year. This list is in no particular order and based entirely on my personal
opinion.

 

1.     
Wendy, Darling by A. C. Wise

A dark retelling of Peter Pan
that made me hunger for more Peter Pan fiction. Check out my review.

 

2.     
How to get a Blackbelt in Writing by Aiki Flinthart

This book
tied together my love of martial arts and my love of writing neatly. I’m
currently reading her other work: How to Fight Like a Girl and will be writing
my thoughts on these in detail in the new year.

 

3.     
I am not your Final Girl by Claire C. Holland

The first
book of poetry I’ve read in a long, long time. Holland has written poetry about
a number of horror heroines (a term I’m falling in love with more and more).
The poems in here are sharp, poignant and beautiful. Look for a detailed
review/discussion in 2022.

 

4.     
If It Bleeds by Stephen King

Stephen
King used to dominate my reading landscape. Lately, I’ve been diversifying my
reading in a lot of ways and as a result I’m reading less King. I was starting
to wonder if I was losing my interest in his work or “outgrowing” him. I had a
couple of Audible credits left over and grabbed this novella collection. This
book showed me that, while I still want to continue to reading more widely, I
do still love Stephen King’s writing. Check out my review here.

 

5.     
Midnight Shadows from Eerie River Publishing

Over the last couple of years, I’ve
really come to appreciate the short story. I used to be drawn more to novels
and struggled with enjoying short fiction. Now, I appreciate short stories and
have even been writing some of my own. Every story in Midnight Shadows was
excellent. Short story anthologies often have some weaker stories mixed in.
Reminded me of getting an album back in the day and only really enjoying half
of the music. With Midnight Shadows, I enjoyed them all. Check out my review
here.

 

 

 

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