Well, this year I read more books than I have ever read before- for a total of 112 books! I don’t think that there was a single day of the year that I didn’t read a book.
I’ve always been a voracious (and fast) reader, but during my college and early motherhood years I went years without picking up a book (besides ones I had to read for classes). I distinctly remember the book that broke my years long slump. In 2017, I devoured Hope: a Memoir of Survival in Cleveland in one road trip and I was hooked back on reading.
2017: 32 books
2018: 64 books
2019: no idea
2020: 102 books
2021: 112 books
The problem with reading so much is that I can tend to get sucked into the quantity and the quality of books is not as high. I have read a lot of really good books over the years, but I have also read a lot that I frankly just didn’t need to spend time on! It’s hard to know if a book is going to be life-changing good or total twaddle before reading it, and I’ve read too many twaddle books over the year. So don’t let the high number of books I’ve read make you think that I’m above average intelligence hahahaha.
This blog post will basically just be a list of the books I’ve read this year, sorted by rating. I will have a later blog post compiling all my reading stats (longest book, most books read in a month, etc) and another post with my top 10 of the year. So this will just be a long list of all the titles. I do review every book I read on my bookstagram account, and I also track all my reading on Goodreads, although I don’t write any reviews on Goodreads. You can follow me on both those accounts to keep up with my reading in real time!
Please keep in mind that ratings and reviews are subjective. A read that is 2 stars for me may be your favorite book of the year! And ratings and reviews never happen in a vacuum. Sometimes I read a book that has a negative spin on law enforcement and I just can’t get over it, but you may read the same book and find that that part of the book does not bother you in the least. I may be reading a book while going through something really tough (like having a kid in the hospital), and so my review of that book comes out more negative because my life circumstances were tough while I was reading it. I also am fully aware of how hard authors work to write books and how important it is to support them. It is always a delicate balance between leaving a fully honest review and respecting the work that they have done. So, keep my ratings with a grain of salt and if you want to read the full review for each book, head on over to my Instagram where I have a written a review for all of these books!
Here are the books I read this year:
1 star (DNF – Did Not Finish).
These are books that I started and gave a valiant effort to, but abandoned them. This is a delicate art and one I have not perfected. I like to finish everything I start so there are a lot of books that I should have abandoned that I did not.
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares
Family Reunion
The Far Field
The Abolitionists Daughter
2 Stars- Strongly Disliked, Would not Recommend
That Sounds Fun
On the Bright Side
The Kids Are In Bed
Uncanny Valley
A Baxter Family Christmas
Hands Free Life
Every Bitter Thing is Sweet
Eleanor and Park
Olive Kitteredge
The Sunday Philosophy Club
3 Stars- Enjoyed it, but Probably Wouldn’t Recommend to Anyone and Everyone
This is the hardest group to rate for me, because I didn’t strongly dislike it, but also didn’t like it. Also, this category tends to include more books that I want to label as closer to 4 stars, but just couldn’t give them all four of those stars. This category also included books that I really enjoyed but there was one piece to the plot (i.e. the ending- I’m looking at you, “In Five Years”) that just killed the book for me.
A Holly Jolly Diwali
The Kitchen Front
Hana Kahn Carries On
Five Total Strangers
Broken Bread
In Five Years
To Hell With the Hustle
Of Women and Salt
The Jetsetters
Why Motherhood Matters
My Heart: Every Beat Surrendered to an Unchanging God
The Little Book of Hygge
The 15:17 to Paris
Lilac Girls
I Know How She Does It
The Cake Therapist
A Walk Across the Sun
The Snow Child
The Last Song
The Centurion’s Wife
Year of Wonders
The Uncommon Reader
Farmer Boy
Waiting for the Night Song
I’d Rather Be Reading
The Tech-Wise Family
Winter Street
Notes from a Blue Bike
Call it Courage
4 Stars- That was Good! I Enjoyed it and would Recommend
Share Your Stuff- I’ll Go First
The Holiday Swap
Hamnet
People We Meet on Vacation
Viral Parenting
Keep Showing Up
Far From the Tree
The Practice of the Presence of God
Prayers for the People
I Hope This Finds You Well
The Soulmate Equation
Dial A for Aunties
The Christmas Swap
Malibu Rising
Awaking Wonder
Get Out of Your Head
The Push
The Tea Chest
Daughter of Rome
Don’t Overthink It
Be the Bridge
Clap When You Land
24/6
You Are the Girl for the Job
The Unhoneymooners
10 Blind Dates
The Very Worst Missionary
Jackpot
Little Fires Everywhere
The Lucky Few
The Yellow Envelope
A Fall of Marigolds
Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
The Secret Life of Bees
Jane Eyre
Little House on the Prairie
East of Eden
The Duties of Parents
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Little House in the Big Woods
I Know This Much is True
A Walk in the Woods
A Fatal Grace
Party of Two
The Recipe Club
5 Stars- YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY
XOXO
The Well-Watered Women
Of Princes and Promises
House Lessons
The Lazy Genius Way
Adventuring Together
A Better Life
Risen Motherhood
Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11
Mama Bear Apologetics
Suffering is Never For Nothing
Even Better Than Eden
The Read-Aloud Family
Gay Girl, Good God
Humans of New York: Stories
The Praying Family
The Railway Children
The View from Saturday
Have you read any books on this list? Did you add any books to your list to read?