Favorite Books of 2021

Hello! I honestly cannot believe we are nearly at the end of the year. Where did it all go? A year spent still under the spell of Covid (and it’s looking to continue into 2022, ugh).

In 2020, I relied a lot on streaming media to get me through the year, but books were my way of coping with madness in 2021. Here are some of my favorite books this year; it was pretty tricky to choose because I read a lot of quality books, and indeed, this is one of those years where practically every book I read was a close to 5-star read.

With that said, here is the best of the best listed in no particular order.

1. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – One of the most calming, soothing books I read this year. Think of this as a gigantic Jane Austen, set in India. I loved the gentle wit and humor, and even though this book is intimidatingly long, it never felt like a difficult read.
2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi – 2021 was a year where I experimented with different types of books. Persepolis is a graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. While this memoir included some anecdotes, it also included lots of historical and political exposition. An educational read that gave a great overview of the history of the Islamic Revolution.
3. To sleep in a sea of stars by Christopher Paolini – Another surprisingly readable chunkster. This sci-fi novel was listed as the best sci-fi of 2020 by goodreads, and it wasn’t hard to see why. It’s like a massive adventure novel through space, and I enjoyed every bit of the ride.
4. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – Again, this was the best goodreads thriller of 2020. Although slightly predictable towards the middle, I enjoyed it. It was well-written, I liked the psychological deep-dive, and the way Michaelides walked me through the different steps leading to the denouement.
5. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane – He is a safe writer for me. His crime novels almost always work for me, and Mystic River was no exception.
6. The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara – Combination of memoir, travelogue, and political dialogue, I really loved Guevara’s thought process and raw, unfiltered writing.
7. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari – My third non-fiction of the year. I liked this comprehensive history so much that I got the graphic novel version of this book for Snubnose.
8. Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan – Fun, irreverevant, chick-lit from one of my favorite Indian writers. This book wasn’t as good as The Zoya Factor, but still good fun.
9. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart – Probably the best book I read this year. Also, the saddest. This book broke my heart, but it was also so, so good. A book I will remember for a long time.
10. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman – A beautiful but simple take on neurodivergence and the loneliness that can come with it. There’s also some suspense (although not enough to classify it as a thriller or anything like it). Sad but uplifting at the same time.

What were some of your favorite reads this year?