Books I read in 2021
If you’re looking for previous end-of-year reviews, please refer to my book lists from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 & 2020.
This ritual and touchstone is turning into a strange one for me, and I think in part because this year has been such a year of transformation. On the last day of 2020, I received a confirmed diagnosis that I suffer from a (when untreated) pretty debilitating autoimmune disease. I’d spent much of 2020 essentially wondering why I was still exhausted; chronically fatigued to the point where I was sleeping 20+ hours a weekend when we couldn’t leave our shared 600 square feet, I wasn’t traveling for work, and while the start of the year was especially intense at work the act of working from home had actually helped me establish healthier boundaries. One former colleague this year talked about how it always seemed that I was either working feverishly or aggressively recovering. There was no middle ground.
“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice.”
But what does this have to do with reading? Well, a typical weekend or evening for the past decade was often spent with hours drifting in and out of sleep and getting lost in a page. Now, with treatment, both my partner and myself have a mixed sense of awe and anger at what I can achieve during the day. While my energy still has to be actively managed, I’m no longer limited to “one big activity” a day but rather can both go on a walk, and maybe cook a meal, and go to the store all without needing hours of recovery time. With that, similar to last year I didn’t read that many books (29 compared to a peak of 68 in 2014) and while it’s never been about the count — I’m really quite okay with that because it’s been an adventure to see what else I can fill my time with now that I have the energy to pursue other interests.
The Top Picks:
1. Non-Fiction
Can’t Even — How Millennials became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Peterson — When Anne Helen’s article on millennial burnout first came out in 2019, there was nothing I could relate to more. Small tasks felt impossible to achieve, and for all of the ease and access and connection of the world everything still felt — exhausting? This is a clear-eyed analysis of what has happened to those of us born between 1981 and 1996 and the forces at work (mostly against) us and our psychological wellbeing. If you are interested in deep analysis of the American psyche and culture, especially through the lens of work, her weekly newsletter is one I would recommend.
Honorable Mention: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson
2. Fiction
Six of Crows (#1–2) by Leigh Bardugo — This was a year when I enjoyed all of my fiction reads but this one scratches a very particular itch — not only is this a well-balanced fantasy series with excellent world-building and a balanced magic system, but these two books in particular are centered around a heist. Recommended to anyone who equally loved The Gentleman Bastard series.
Honorable Mention: The Invisible life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
3. Graphic Novel
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha — A stunning memoir documenting a Korean-born, non-English-speaking girl who is abruptly transplanted from Seoul to rural Alabama, and struggles with her identity, her relationships, and cultivating what she truly loves. While my experience as a third-culture kid is a polar-opposite one (I grew up Hapa in the American South, wishing I could better connect with my mother’s Chinese heritage and Taiwanese upbringing and not the Evangelical purity culture I found myself in), the feeling of a distinct ‘otherness’ and a disconnect between both worlds I think can be universal.
Honorable Mention: Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna
The Full List, in chronological order:
- Six of Crows (#1–2) by Leigh Bardugo — This was such a perfect opener for the year. The story follows criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker on the streets of the hyper-capitalist (and criminal) Ketterdam. Kaz curates a merry band of misfits from gunslingers to grim guardians who need to work together to take on an impossible heist. What I loved most about this, besides the character and the world-building was the writing was just plain fun.
“It’s not natural for women to fight.”
“It’s not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
— A sample of dialogue between Mattias and Nina, Six of Crows
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab — I’ve been a longtime fan of this author’s other series (namely her Shades of Magic series), but I’d never read a standalone piece of hers. Well, this was worth it. I loved the concept: on a rural farm in the late 17th century, when confronted with the cage of marriage or the freedom that life has to offer — Addie makes a desperate deal with the devil to live forever (but be forever free) — and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. A heart-rending dance with the devil, the dreams that you wish for and their realities, and reflection of what love can truly mean.
“Small places make for small lives. And some people are fine with that. They like knowing where to put their feet. But if you only walk in other people’s steps, you cannot make your own way. You cannot leave a mark.”
— Addie LaRue, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
- Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Peterson — This book provides a good overview of the impact of generation preferences, management consultants, and 1099 labor on American society today. One tension that arose for me in this book is that overwork does work for a narrow set of people, and that changes what we expect of everyone. In the book, this is linked directly to Wall Street and big four consultants where hours worked has a direct tie to compensation and bonuses. Given their influence on organizations everywhere, the formula becomes that if people aren’t successful, they simply aren’t working hard enough. As someone who literally physically cannot do that anymore because I burned so hard for so long, it is difficult to separate my past from my present and how it shapes my philosophies and management approaches at work. I will caveat that this is written almost exclusively from a white woman’s perspective, undoubtedly this is still levels above what an average BIPOC person experiences in today’s America.
“The truth was, all of those tasks would take away from what had become my ultimate task, and the task of so many other millennials: working all the time. Where had I learned to work all the time? School. Why did I work all the time? Because I was terrified of not getting a job. Why have I worked all the time since actually finding one? Because I’m terrified of losing it, and because my value as a worker and my value as a person have become intractably intertwined.”
— Anne Helen Peterson, Can’t Even
- Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend — While I have always loved the world of the Wundrous Society, I absolutely struggled with this book in part because an unknown disease is striking characters down across the fantasy/steampunk world of Nevermoor. While COVID (briefly) got better this year, the topic was still a bit much.
“Darling, you know better than anyone; people hate what they are afraid of, and they are most afraid of what they don’t understand.”
— Dame Chanda Kali, Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow
- A Deadly Education (The Scholomance Series #1–2) by Naomi Novik — This was a runaway favorite of the year, which follows one of my favorite fantasy tropes: teens attending a school of magic. The twist? That the school itself has more of a ‘learning-by-doing’ philosophy and is actively trying to kill all of its students with monsters (called maleficaria in the series). In this series, you follow outsider El who would rather follow her principles than succumb to an easier route to power. As she works to save the school and its students, you see her start to come out of her shell and even make a friend or two along the way.
“I don’t have a very good idea of how people behave with their friends normally, because I’d never had one before.”
— El, A Deadly Education
- The Mirror Visitor’s Quartet (#1–3) by Christelle Dabos — I originally picked this up because I was interested in the bespectacled protagonist, Ophelia, who can understand the history of an object just by touching it. Her powers attract an unexpected marriage and political machinations. Reading this revealed an unexpected hatred of mine: the expectation of a reader (or a viewer) to follow along simply to discover what, in fact, the actual *point* is. Westworld, while lauded, is a good example of this for me.
“If Ophelia had learned one thing in life, it was that errors were indispensible for personal development.”
— The Missing of Clairdelune
- A Touch of Darkness (Hades and Persephone Series #1–3) by Scarlett St. Clair — Picked this up based on a #BookTok recommendation and, as a longtime lover of Greek Mythology, I thought this modern reimagining of the romance between Hades and Persephone would be fun to explore. In this interpretation, deities and mortals live side-by-side in a modern-day Athens. While many of the references and the initial exploration of the world is fun, I would only recommend reading if you’re a fan of the harlequin romance genre. (I also was appalled that I left a copy at a colleagues home, which he returned with a knowing look.)
“The first rule of men, Persephone, is that they’re all idiots.”
— A Touch of Ruin
- A Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson —It is a rare moment for me to pick up a standalone fantasy book that isn’t a part of a series and this one was perfectly bite-sized. This one follows Elisabeth, a foundling who has been raised in Austermeer’s Great Libraries, where she has been trained to protect and manage their collection of grimoires. This book gets off to the races, starting with a mysterious murder and quickly unraveling a centuries-old scheme that is destroying all of the Great Libraries. As familiar as the novel’s template is, it felt fun and original in its world of demons, sorcerers, and magic spell books.
“She now understood that the world wasn’t kind to young women, especially when they behaved in ways men didn’t like, and spoke truths that men weren’t ready to hear.”
— Margaret Rogerson, A Sorcery of Thorns
- The Galaxy and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4) by Becky Chambers — This book is a delight, despite being virtually plotless. The narrative centers around a small ragtag bunch of aliens all of whom happen to be at the same interstellar rest stop when a tech error leaves them all stranded for a few days. They talk, they eat, they reflect, and they band together. What I love about Becky Chambers is how she uses aliens as a way to reflect our reality as humans: people can different and strange to one another, and it can be hard to communicate and share experiences and principles with people who don’t share them — but finding a way to connect in spite of that is a beautiful, powerful thing.
“There was no law that was just in every situation, no blanket rule that could apply to everyone, no explanation that accounted for every component. This did not mean that laws and rules were not helpful, or that explanations should not be sought, but rather that there should be no fear in changing them as needed, for nothing in the universe ever held still.”
— Roveg’s Reflections in The Galaxy and Ground Within
- Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots — This was an incredibly fun villain origin story /page turner centered around Anna Tromedlov, a henchman for hire who has been mostly serving as a temp for two-bit villains. An encounter with a hero leaves her injured, unemployed, and uninsured. This low in her life leads to an obsession with finding ways for her, powerless though she is, to inflict pain on the heroes that wronged her and others. In doing so, she finds her ability to research and reveal heroes weaknesses to be lucrative business and eventually grows into a master villain in her own right.
“In chess, a pawn is the feeblest piece, and the most vulnerable — the most expendable. It’s easy to ignore a pawn, to take it for granted while you concern yourself with the more powerful pieces. However, a pawn is also the one and only piece that, if left unchecked for too long, can become a queen.”
— Leviathan, Hench
- The Dublin Murder Squad (#1–5) by Tana French — There was a point this year where I was struggling to finish a book and so I thought murder mysteries were the right incentive. Each of the books in Tana French’s series follows a unique character that you’ve been introduced to in a previous book — the love interest that’s so deep undercover she gets lost (The Likeness), the boss who bends too many of the rules (Faithful Place), the star of the squad as they’re starting to unravel (Broken Harbor), and the mischievous daughter at her angstiest (The Secret Place). I can understand why this author is lauded; she embeds you so firmly in the minds and worlds of these characters they come alive in the room with you flaws and all.
“I am not good at noticing when I’m happy, except in retrospect.”
— Detective Rob Ryan, Into the Woods“Only teenagers think boring is bad. Adults, grown men and women who’ve been around the block a few times, know that boring is a gift straight from God. Life has more than enough excitement up its sleeve, ready to hit you with as soon as you’re not looking, without you adding to the drama.”
— Detective Mick Scorcher, Broken Harbor
- History Comics: The Roanoke Colony:America’s First Mystery by Chris Schwizer —Picked up in Artists Alley at New York Comic Con because I loved the artist but didn’t have an original I wanted. Loved the depth of research and freedom to explore multiple theories about what happened to the colonists (as well as the impacts they had on indigenous people).
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir — A friend and I were discussing Andy Weir and believe he might be the first true “pop hard sci-fi” author to exist. What I consistently love about his writing is not only the dedication to making sure every calculation and hypothesis is firmly grounded in the limits and abilities of today’s science, but also making it just oh-so-fun to read. It is impossible to write a review without spoilers, as the protagonist wakes up in space, not knowing who he is or how he even got there. But I promise, the end is worth it.
“Oh thank God. I can’t imagine explaining “sleep” to someone who had never heard of it. Hey, I’m going to fall unconscious and hallucinate for a while. By the way, I spend a third of my time doing this. And if I can’t do it for a while, I go insane and eventually die. No need for concern.”
— A sample of the signature truly hilarious internal dialogues that Andy Weir crafts in Project Hail Mary
- Almost American Girl by Robin Ha —We were in the middle of moving and I realized this book had been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. I always find myself attracted to a memoir, especially to learn more about Korean culture and of someone who is close to my age. While I don’t have much to add on what I shared above, I also love Robin’s series of illustrated cookbooks.
- The Wives by Tarryn Fischer — There’s a few times when I get halfway through a book and I realize it’s absolutely not a book for me. This one was painful, but kind of like watching a train wreck. The premise of this book sounds interesting at a surface level: Thursday’s husband, Seth, has two other wives. She’s never met them, and this arrangement works for her busy lifestyle. One day in a chance encounter, she realizes that her husband may be abusing another one of the wives. This sets off a series of events with twists and turns leaving you questioning your own sanity til the very end.
“People treat being sick in the body as fine, normal, empathy-worthy; they’ll bring you soup and medicine, and press the back of their hand to your forehead. But if they think you’re sick in the mind, it’s different. It’s mostly your fault — I say “mostly” because people have been told again and again that mental illness isn’t a choice — it’s chemical.”
— Thursday, The Wives
- The Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna —Read almost entirely in line while I waited to get my booster. The author was born in just three days after the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia. The Year of the Rabbit traces the lived experience of his parents, as the regime changes over, as they leave the city for the countryside, and then later, as they plan their escape. The father is a doctor and as such is considered to be an intellectual enemy of the party and so must hide his identity. This dense, beautifully illustrated book covers a full history — stories of what was taken, what was built, and what the work camps were like. As someone who grew up learning very few references about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, this was an eye-opening and harrowing history.
- Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson—While I am not always the most open about my family and their dynamics, in this year of much learning and even more unlearning, this was possibly the best book I could have read (also recommended to me by #BookTok).
“Many emotionally immature people were “overpruned” early in life, growing up within a very limited range of acceptability. Their personalities are like stunted bonsai trees, trained to grow in unnatural shapes. Because they had to bend to fit their families, they were unable to develop fluidly into the integrated, natural people they might have become.”
— Lindsay C. Gibson, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
- Seek You: A Journey through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke —A surprisingly dense hybrid graphic-novel/long-form essay, Seek You is a stunning visual exploration of loneliness. What I love about how the author navigates this topic is that she manages to make it feel like a communal experience, reminding us that ‘loneliness is one of the most universal things any person can feel,’ and by addressing the topic from a variety of angles and perspectives she shows us that this disquieting emotion is as varied as the people who experience it. An ironically perfect anchor for the year as we’re about to likely re-enter a new stage of lockdown as COVID and Omicron surge again.
Thank you for reading this far. If you also love reading books, have some fresh recommendations, or just ever want to discuss them — it would be great to swap notes. Feel free to say hello on Twitter: @rachelmercer or on Goodreads.
