Top Ten Tuesday – Best Books I Read in 2021

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Best Books I Read in 2021.  I had such a good reading year that I’m finding it impossible to narrow down to just ten favorite reads.  Instead of making those impossible cuts to get down to just ten books, I’m going to go ahead and share all of my favorites from the different genres I read.  My groupings aren’t very precise though since several of these could fit into multiple categories.  The bulk of my favorites are also romances since I read more of those than I did anything else in 2021.

* * * * *

My Favorite Reads from 2021

(In no particular order)

 

ROMANCE

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by Ali Hazelwood

PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry

THE SOULMATE EQUATION by Christina Lauren

ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN by Talia Hibbert

VERY SINCERELY YOURS by Kerry Winfrey

ISN’T IT BROMANTIC? by Lyssa Kay Adams

ONE LAST STOP by Casey McQuiston

 

WOMEN’S FICTION

ALWAYS, IN DECEMBER by Emily Stone

UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY by Kristy Woodson Harvey

 

YOUNG ADULT

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES by Lynn Painter

 

FANTASY

UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR by TJ Klune

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab

THE BOOK OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman

A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES by Sarah J. Maas

 

SCIENCE FICTION

PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir

 

HISTORICAL FICTION

THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn

THE FOREST OF THE VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel

 

MYSTERY/THRILLER

RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby

60 replies
  1. Lex @ Lexlingua
    Lex @ Lexlingua says:

    That Hazelwood book is getting such good press! I was trying to avoid it, thinking it was all YA. I should have remembered what they say about judging from the cover. 🙂 Happy TTT, and thanks for a great list.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I avoided it at first because of the hype but fell in love with it as soon as I started reading. I loved that the main characters were scientists. 🙂

  2. Missy
    Missy says:

    Its certainly hard to narrow it down to just 10 favorite reads of the year! (I ended up doing 15 lol) but I like your method of sharing in genres!

    I’ve seen Project Hail Mary on a few lists now and I own the audio for that, so I have to get to it soon in 2022, I need to see what its about for myself!

    Addie LaRue was on my favorites of 2020 list so I fully agree with that, such a fantastic read!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I think Andy Weir tends to write sci-fi that people who don’t normally enjoy sci-fi actually like. He always seems to have these fun, scrappy protagonists that get you so invested in the story.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      I can’t believe it either. It impressed me so much. I also noticed that she has two novellas coming out soon and I can’t wait to read those.

  3. Sam@WLABB
    Sam@WLABB says:

    I read all but one of those romances, and I wholeheartedly support those choices. Painter was a YA standout for me as well. I am smiling just thinking about that book

  4. Literary Feline
    Literary Feline says:

    This is a great list, Suzanne. Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed The Rose Code this year as well, although it didn’t quite make my top ten list. I just got Hoffman’s The Book of Magic for Christmas and I cannot wait to read it. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is on my TBR list–hopefully I can get to it this year. I hope you have a wonderful year of reading in 2022!

  5. Jo
    Jo says:

    The Rose Code was on my list this week too! Addie LaRue made my favourites list last year, so happy to see that you enjoyed it too.

  6. Sharon
    Sharon says:

    Great List. 2021 was a great reading year 🙂 I also loved Project Hail Mary, Isn’t it Bromantic, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, and A Court of Silver Flames 😀

  7. RS @ The Idealistic Daydream
    RS @ The Idealistic Daydream says:

    So fun that you did categories. I have most of yours represented on my list, except that apparently I didn’t read any science fiction this year at all, except for one middle grade novel dealing with an EMP! (The Big Dark, not top tier but still good/recommended)

    But I’m reading Very Sincerely Yours right now, 25% of the way in and holy cow I LOVE it. I’m actually gonna hold off finishing it until New Year’s, so that I can cherish it at the top of my 2022 list all year long, because it’s a 5-star read right now and feels like it has a chance of being Top Ten.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Yeah, those Maas covers are always pretty cool. I haven’t bought this one yet though because it doesn’t match the others I have for the series and I don’t want a mismatched set, lol.

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Oh yes, definitely read ACOSF, especially if you were a Nesta hater in previous books. This book took her from being my least favorite character to one of my favorites.

  8. Dini @ dinipandareads
    Dini @ dinipandareads says:

    Looks like you had a great year of reading! The Love Hypothesis was one of my favourites this year as well and I love seeing it on so many peoples’ lists! 😍 I’ve also seen Project Hail Mary on countless lists so I’m definitely gonna be bumping that up my TBR next year. I hope you have an awesome year of reading in 2022!

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