2021 in Review

 For me, 2021 was generally better than 2020, but I am still finding myself to be a more moody reader. I have given myself more latitude to let go of books which don't really grab me. I try to be fair by reading a certain number of pages, but I don't force myself to keep going anymore. I've returned a number of unread library books, my own catch-and-release program.

My statistics say that I read 226 books in 2021, but I know that I reread a number that I didn't bother to record. This is the lowest number of books in several years. Despite this, I have still read an incredible amount and discovered so many books that delight and entertain. It's difficult to boil down the year to the best choices, but here are my favourite books of 2021.

My Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project: I used a month-by-month reading list this year to keep me on track with this project this year and came the closest yet to meeting my reading goal, finishing 45 titles. Several books got shunted to next year simply because it seemed that I hit what for me was a decline in the delight of the choices. If I can't face them next year either, they will be purged from my list.

My Favourite Reading Project Titles: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin and Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay. Both are fantasy novels, unsurprising to me. Fantasy is truly my genre of choice. I find both worlds to be engrossing and enveloping. They leave me with a book hangover, needing a bit of processing time before I move on.

New Comfort Reading Series: Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries are now among my go-to books when I'm needing inspiration or a sure thing in my reading. It's a dangerous thing to pick up All Systems Red, because I know I'll be binge reading all six books. Thankfully five of them are very short, revving up my reading without distracting me from new material for long.

Favourite Canadian Novel: Sufferance: A Novel by Thomas King. Reminiscent of his earlier The Back of the Turtle (which I also loved) and also of his Thumps DreadfulWater Mysteries (which I highly recommend). Pointed social commentary concealed in a hilarious story set-up. I would also give his novel Indians on Vacation as a runner-up. Not without humour, but more serious in nature.

Favourite Classic Novel: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Need I detail my delight? (This may be heresy, but I think I like this better than Pride and Prejudice).

Most Charming New Discovery: I loved Richard Osman's books, The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice. Talk about great roles for older people! Add in some interesting mystery elements, and I was in hog heaven.

Best Adventure of a Woman of a Certain Age: Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson caught me by surprise. I expected to like it, I didn't know that I was going to love it. I don't know why novels of this vintage (1930s) charm me, but I do enjoy them enormously.

Best Nonfiction: Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach. This woman consistently writes books that entertain, amuse, and inform me. Her sense of humour is compatible with mine and, yes, there is frequently talk about poop, but I'm okay with that. If you deal with livestock, you know what an important function that is.

My Shakespeare Project is currently on hold. My local theatre company is severely limited by covid restrictions and the cinema is not currently offering any Shakespearean films. There's an operatic version of Hamlet, but that doesn't really appeal right now.

Agatha Christie Reading Group: I am going into my second year of reading one of Christie's novels per month with a group of fans of her writing. We started in October 2020 and are reading them in publication order. It's fascinating to watch her writing and her characters develop. This is one reading task that I look forward to each month.

Other Random Books I Enjoyed This Year: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots; Plan B and I Dare, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller; The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu; Slough House by Mick Herron.

I wish you all happy reading in 2022! May the Goddess of Reading grant you concentration, patience, and, most of all, joy in your book selections.