Best of 2021: Books, Part 1

This year I continued to look to books for comfort, and I was more eager than ever to be pulled in by a good mystery. I also read more young adult books than I have in recent years and was happy to get back in touch with that genre. Take a look at my favorite books read in 2021, numbers 10 through 6!

10. A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch

The Charles Lenox detective stories have been a saving grace during the pandemic. Whenever I need a certain type of escape, I pick up the next book and disappear into Victorian England. A Burial at Sea is unique because it takes Lenox away from the usual supporting characters. On a diplomatic trip to Egypt, Lenox must solve a murder aboard the ship. I enjoyed the tidbits about sailing and the navy, and the crew provided many interesting characters (and suspects).

9. Sadie by Courtney Summers

Before this year, I had not read any YA thrillers. This year, um, things changed. Courtney Summers writes about unapologetically messy girls, and Sadie is about a teenage girl who goes on the road trying to find her sister’s killer. Summers takes a clear-eyed looked at living in poverty and how people can get lost when living in desperate situations. I was most impressed by the character voice, which is so specific and unlike anything I’ve encountered in the YA space.

8. The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

The Enigma Game is another World War II historical fiction story from the author of Code Name Verity (previously seen in this post). The three main characters are a young RAF pilot, a volunteer airfield driver, and a girl working as caregiver to an elderly woman. Along with all the intrigue and sweet friendships of Wein’s previous novels, The Enigma Game features an indomitable old lady and the charming setting of a small Scottish town.

7. Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen

Remember my obsession with the Queen of the Tearling series in past years? The author is still writing Tearling books, and this year brought a prequel focusing on one of the best characters from the original trilogy. Beneath the Keep follows a man of many names, who went from being a prize fighter in the Tearling’s underworld to the queen’s most trusted guard. I find the world and characters incredibly compelling, and it was a dream to get the Mace’s backstory.

6. The Ivies by Alexa Donne

Alexa Donne, my favorite creator on Authortube, released her first young adult thriller this year. The Ivies is about a group of girls at an elite boarding school who are determined to get into Ivy League schools at all costs. When one of the girls is murdered, narrator Olivia discovers just how far her friends were willing to go. Alexa hits the right tone for her subject matter, combining snarky teenage girls with sharp commentary about class and wealth.

Tomorrow I’m excited to share my top 5 books of 2021!

Best of 2014: Book Edition, Part 2

You guys, these books are so good. I hope you enjoy my top 5 books of the year, and when you’re done enjoying, maybe go check one out. (Or, you know, all of them. Whatever.)

5. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss is the first in a series of related books, and I could easily have included any of them on my favorites list. However, there’s something special about Anna, the story of a high school senior sent to a boarding school for Americans in Paris. It has just the right balance of wish-fulfillment and relatable characters. I love Anna’s interest in cinema, not to mention her swoon-worthy Paris romance. Stephanie Perkins creates a world that I was all to happy to live in for two more books.

4. Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

While reading Dark Places, I was constantly trying to solve the mystery, even when I wasn’t actually reading. Libby is the lone survivor of the night her brother killed her mother and sisters, a childhood trauma that has turned her into a less than functional adult. However, an unlikely alliance with real crime enthusiast/nerd Lyle leads her to rethink what she thinks she knows about the night that changed her life forever. The plot unfolds with fiendish tenacity between Libby in the present and her brother Ben on day of the murders. I defy you to stop turning the pages. (Click here for further discussion.)

3. The Other Typist, by Suzanne Rindell

Friendship can be a transformative influence, as several of the books on this list attest, but The Other Typist deals with a darker transformation. Rose Baker is a by-the-book typist for the New York City police department, until a new typist joins her precinct. Odalie is a Roaring Twenties daydream worthy of Jay Gatsby. Beneath the trappings of speakeasies and flapper haircuts, this novel is an engrossing study of identity. Is it truly possible to change who we are? (I had plenty more to say in my full review here.)

2. Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell

Reading Attachments is like watching a really good romantic comedy, one that’s genuinely romantic and funny. In the early days of office internet, Lincoln is hired to monitor employee emails for a newspaper. In the line of duty, he reads the messages between two women and falls in love with one of them. The premise may sound far-fetched, but Rainbow Rowell has a knack for bringing realism to any scenario. One of my bookstore coworkers asked which Rainbow Rowell character would be my ideal boyfriend, and I had to say Lincoln. He’s the perfect combination of sweet, awkward, and self-deprecating.

1. Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity won the Printz Award for good reason. It opens with a British spy writing her confession in a French Gestapo prison. However, she uses the time and paper to tell about her best friend Maddie, the transport pilot who flew on this already-doomed mission. The story is absolutely gripping, made all the more so by the fierce bond of friendship that the reader can feel between the two friends. Code Name Verity has everything going for it: strong writing, characters, and plot. It’s also covers two of my favorite genres (young adult and historical fiction), making it an easy pick for my favorite book of the year.

Thanks for joining me on this year-end retrospective. Catch you in 2015!

Best of 2014: Book Edition, Part 1

I followed my reading goal of two-books-per-month again this year, and it was difficult to narrow them down to ten favorites. That’s what I call a good problem to have. Enjoy numbers 10 through 6!

10. Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire is a companion novel to Code Name Verity. The protagonist changes, but some characters reoccur. During World War II, young American Rose Justice travels to Britain to volunteer as a transport pilot. However, bad luck in the air over France lands her in Ravensbrück, a women’s concentration camp. I’ve read a lot about World War II, but Wein does a fantastic job of showing the camaraderie that can arise between people in desperate situations. Rose and her fellow prisoners make a pact to “tell the world,” and by writing this book, Wein helps to fulfill her character’s promise.

9. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green & David Levithan

First and foremost, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is hilarious. John Green’s writing always has a dose of humor, but this novel made me laugh out loud more than any other. When two Chicago teens meet, and are both coincidentally named Will Grayson, the hilarity ensues. One Will Grayson is struggling with his sexuality; the other is struggling with his general apathy and a flamboyantly gay best friend named Tiny Cooper. Tiny alone is worth the price of admission, but the novel boasts a delightful cast of characters.

8. Longbourn, by Jo Baker

A novel about the servants from Pride and Prejudice could have been an epic failure, but not in the capable hands of Jo Baker. Longbourn only deepened my understanding of the world surrounding the classic story, while also providing compelling characters of its own. If you enjoy the “below stairs” aspect of Downton Abbey, consider this a more sophisticated version. And if you think that Jane Austen is all people sitting around in drawing rooms, then the uncertainty of a servant’s existence might better suit your fancy. (You can read my full review here.)

7. The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

After years of good intentions, I finally read The Virgin Suicides. Now I understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to Jeffrey Eugenides. His writing style is a bit off-kilter, which is perfect for this story about a family of teenage girls cloistered by their parents. It’s a downright Hitchcockian example of the male gaze to female object, or as the wise John Green might say, “failing to imagine others complexly.” And aside from the English major speak, it’s just a beautifully written novel. (You can read my full review here.)

6. Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

Just like the work that came after, Gillian Flynn’s first novel cuts to the bone. Camille Preaker is a reporter sent to her Missouri hometown to investigate the murders of two girls. The assignment forces her to rekindle a relationship with her mother and the teenage half-sister she never really knew. These women all demonstrate Flynn’s bravery when it comes to creating female characters with a healthy dose of menace about them. Sharp Objects is small town depravity as seen through Camille’s mind, which is as twisted as the rooms of her mother’s Victorian house. (Click here to read further discussion.)

Let’s do this one more time tomorrow!