My Top Five Books of 2021

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 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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