Kay’s 2021 Reading Recap
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I started reading a lot more in 2021. Partially because I wasn’t traveling as much as I had been in the previous years (mother’s medical concerns + global pandemic and all), but also because I had started working on a new novel and it is my personal belief that you cannot be a writer without reading. Not a good writer anyway. Along with, yanno, supporting other authors, you also learn new techniques in the craft, you observe things you like and don’t like in books, you get to know the industry and the trends and patterns that go with it.
If you want to be a good writer, you also have to be a reader.
I am…still working on that same novel, haha, but over the course of the last two years, I have read A LOT of books. I thought I was an amazing writer before, but I know my craft has improved so much because of reading both good and “bad” books.
I did order them based on my enjoyment of them, so the first listed was my absolute favorite of the year and goes down to my absolute least favorite of the year. While I DOUBT any of the authors would ever randomly stumble upon my lil ol’ blog in the vast space of the internet, I’m not going to qualify my lesser favorites because I wouldn’t want any author’s feelings to be tweaked. These rankings are only in comparison to each other.
I’m also not gonna I’m not going to number them, because it’s not important how many I read. I didn’t have any specific goals or targets to hit. I read as I could and took breaks when I wanted. Reading is important, but it’s also…not life-threatening or anything.
I’ve linked all of the books to Amazon BUTTT I encourage you to shop around at your local indie bookstore and if they don’t have the book, maybe they could order it for you and your money would go directly to supporting them. And also, you don’t have to spend any money at all! Utilize your local library and I’ve especially loved using the Libby app for digital library renting!
Without further ado, here are all the books I read in 2021!
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (fav speculative fiction)
- The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey (fav memoir)
- The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (fav general fiction)
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (fav suspense/horror fiction)
- The Removed by Brandon Hobson
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib (fav graphic novel)
- Moving to Merida by Cassie Pearse (fav nonfiction)
- Thirty Talks Weird Love by Alessandra Narváez Varela
- Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (fav YA)
- You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria (fav romance)
- Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (fav mystery)
- The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
- A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong
- Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (fav fantasy)
- With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
- The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- She Memes Well by Quinta Brunson
- The Other Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey
- Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel
- Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- Luster by Raven Leilani
- Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo
- Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
- Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
- Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (best historical fiction)
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Leaving Tabasco by Carmen Boullosa
- Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
- Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
- Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos
If you’re interesting in more of what I’m reading, check out my 2022 Reading Recap!
