Top Books of 2021 + Final Reads
I know I'm out of the habit of book posts when I'm sat here wondering how to introduce this - the best book post of the year! I absolutely love end-of-the-year book lists and peruse many of them myself, so I hope you will enjoy this (although if you've been paying attention none of the below will be particularly surprising). And in the interests of catching you up as it's been a while, I thought I'd also give you a quick overview of the rest of the books I read between July and December. You didn't miss much as it was a busy few months and I didn't manage to read much at all. Over the holiday period I decided to power through all the books that had been hanging around half-finished and banned myself from starting anything new (though I cheated a bit because I needed a new audiobook - I picked Klara and the Sun). I'm still working on it but it's actually been quite a wonderful little challenge - more on that next month though a few are included here.
My only resolution for 2022 was to reduce my screen time, and I'm trying to replace scrolling time with reading time with some success so far; long may it continue! Although if we're talking book goals specifically, I suppose I do have a few. I've plugged forty books into my Goodreads Reading Challenge but to be honest I don't set much store by the numbers anymore; I just like the way Goodreads collates your reading year for you and provides an easy list for me to check when I'm writing my round-ups. I suspect I'll probably get to forty but I haven't hit my reading goal for two years so I'm clearly not a very good judge. The only reason I'm really keen to read lots is just because I'm greedy and know how many books there are out there that I want to get to. But as I say, beyond that I'm not interested in reading great quantities for no particular reason.
One of my actual goals is to finish Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I'm almost done with the third volume, The Guermantes Way, and would like to read the next four this year, too. The other goal is to have a much higher percentage of memorable, enjoyable books to chat to you about at the beginning of 2023. I even did a bit of maths here, so bear with me. I had eight favourites this year out of a possible thirty-four (counting the two I finished on January 1st - hope you don't mind), leaving me with a 23.5% success rate. If you include my honourable mentions, we go up to 32%. In 2020 I had twenty-five favourites out of a possible 120; a 20% success rate that goes up to 26% if you include my honourable mentions. In 2019 we were at 22% and 29% - interesting when you consider that I didn't buy any books that year, just read backlist titles from my shelves! So in conclusion, I did read *slightly* more quality reads that I enjoyed in 2021, but only just. I want that percentage to get up way past 30%, closer to 40% or even 50%! Especially - as I mentioned in last year's round-up - even besides having a little one to care for now, I wanted to read less but better. Although I just about achieved that by the skin of my teeth last year, I think I could be much more discerning about what I read and really only invest time in those books I think I might really like, or even love. Saying that, the mediocre books you read and the ones you love to hate are all part of the reading experience and all have something to offer (even if it's just 'okay, I can happily ignore that writer forevermore' *ahem*… David Sedaris), so I would never want to read only the best; otherwise how would you know the best were the best? But I want my hit rate percentage to go up significantly. Wish me luck!
Okay, enough rambling, let's get into this.
the best of the best/will be carrying them through with me into the future
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I said this in my original review and I'll say the same now, the best way to approach this book is to know next-to-nothing about it but to see it sort of like a mystery that needs to be solved. The first few pages are a bit discombobulating and there's a lot of strange formal-sounding language, but I promise the world is more or less set out for you soon after, and it becomes very readable from then on.
This is one of the more unusual fantasies I've ever read, and the world is fascinating and unique. It is aesthetically pleasing (you'll see what I mean) but it also creeps up on you and nabs your heart without you even noticing. If you like quiet, subtle books, I think you'll enjoy this one. It was one of the first books I read in January 2021 which was unfortunate for me because I kept comparing it to everything I read subsequently. I know it went on to win the Women's Prize for Fiction this year and has garnered even more popular interest since which I'm very pleased about, and I think you should put it top of your priority list; if you haven't read it yet, I'm jealous.
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
We're working backwards here because the first Gormenghast novel in the trilogy, Titus Groan, is in the following section and we'll talk about it more there. But Gormenghast really took my heart. Peake's writing is unlike anything I've ever read, and yet at the same time, I can see both the writers that influenced him (Dickens is one of the biggest standouts), and those that took inspiration from Peake (pretty much everyone that has ever written weird and wonderful fiction since it seems).
In this book, following on from Titus Groan, Titus is now well into his boyhood and beginning to encounter the difficulties of being both the 77th Earl of Gormenghast - a vast, crumbling castle in an unknown land - and also a child wanting to be like any other child, free from responsibility. While this is not a fantasy in the traditional sense in that there is no identifiable magic or magic system, it is usually considered a fantasy due to the gothic setting, the atmosphere and the weirdness and eccentricities of the characters who populate this world. In this novel, Gormenghast as a whole is reeling from the deaths and absences from the first book, and things are beginning to change and grind reluctantly into movement after hundreds of years of stagnant tradition. As a result, Peake's prose eases up a little, too. It flows more, and the plot picks up significantly (the ending had my heart pounding out of my chest!), but there is still all the wonder of the first book, too. I will not do it justice here, but it is some of the most evocative and atmospheric writing I've ever read. It stopped my breath with its beauty multiple times. It is also surprising; you never quite know what scene he will paint next, or what his characters might do, but at the same time they fit seamlessly within his world. Be warned, it is quite dense (though less so than Titus Groan), but I found once I had got caught in its current it carried me along quite easily. I've never considered myself a person who particularly enjoys a very wordy, overwrought style, but Peake and Miéville's Perdido Street Station have changed my mind (more on the latter later). The thing is, is that there must be a good reason for it and it must be executed well, which is extremely difficult to do. With both novelists, the style is there to reflect the content and intentions of the book. For Peake, it fits perfectly with the gothic setting and his characters, and so it totally works. Plus the scenes he creates are quite literally out of this world. I'm already looking forward to rereading this again in the future.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Ah, this one broke my heart. And probably sits on the opposite end of the spectrum from something like Gormenghast. Whitehead's The Nickel Boys is written in that deceptively simple style; pared-back, taut. But every word is packed with meaning, the diction and syntax perfectly chosen and working hard, whilst still feeling smooth for the reader. I sort of wish I'd read this in one sitting or something close to it as I think it would have made for an even better reading; as it was I was so busy I read it more in little snatches. If you can do the former, I'd recommend it.
It is based on a real reform school in Florida and describes the horrors that were inflicted on the boys there, specifically following a boy called Elwood Curtis who is sent there unjustly. It flicks back and forth between the 2010s and 1960s, weaving the story slowly but surely and leaving you with a heart-wrenching ending. Although I read and enjoyed The Underground Railroad (if, as ever, 'enjoyed' is quite the right word), The Nickel Boys feels even more accomplished. Where the former often felt like it was holding you at arm's length, this book will crush up against you, but without any of the trauma porn tactics or exacerbation of suffering that another book about the same subject might include. It is spare, but unsparing. I highly recommend it.
the unsettling/strange
Pew by Catherine Lacey
I have to say that the books I read pre-baby feel like they were read in an entirely different world, so I just refreshed my memory of Pew from my review back in February, and I feel I probably described it best then (it's linked above). This is a strange little book that describes what happens when an unnamed person of indeterminate gender, race, or age turns up in a small American town. Surprisingly given the blurb, the novel is actually narrated from their point of view too, which gives it an interesting and uncanny feel. The combination of these two things - a person unwilling or unable to define themselves using any of the markers of human society - and small-town life throws up all kinds of interesting ideas and questions about personhood and identity, alongside exploration of religion and the position of therapy and medicine. It is an unusual book that reads almost like a modern American fable, and I would consider it a bit of an offbeat classic of our times.
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
I put this novel here because although I appreciated all the same things about it as I do in Gormenghast, it is a bit more of a shambling and slow read. And no doubt this is intentional, as it describes the birth of Titus and how hundreds of years of tradition have their grip on the goings-on in the castle, so that the characters and their storylines are almost mechanical. However, that is all slowly, slowly beginning to change over the course of the book, both in Titus' appearance, but also because of a young upstart named Steerpike, who has designs on power for himself. I think it is important to read this before Gormenghast and it has much of the wonder of the middle book, it is just a bit less easy to read and requires more focus.
Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
I feel like this book is the apex of VanderMeer's work, and all his other books sort of fan out from this one. It felt to me like it contained the heart of many of the themes that characterise his books in one of his most poetic and lyrical styles (and he is a man of many styles). It is a post-apocalyptic fable, or perhaps even a parable. It is a hallucinatory dream (or nightmare?) of a book. It is set in the Borne universe but not quite as we know it. Generally speaking, it follows the three 'dead astronauts' as they try to battle the Company across many versions of the world, of the City. It is a challenging book, but I was also quite moved by it, too. I look forward to rereading it at some point.
the big bois
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
This year I took a step back into my favourite place, Mantel's historical fiction mind. In this much earlier novel, she writes about three major characters in the French revolution, Camille Desmoulins, Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. As I said in my original review, this novel feels a bit baggier than the Cromwell trilogy, but it still has much of Mantel's genius. She has a unique way of bringing her characters to life that really immerses you in the historical setting, without all the bells and whistles.
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
This novel was a lovely surprise, I think because I went into it nervous that I wouldn't like it (I should do that more often). But I found this book to be a lot of fun, despite its grittiness and darkness; Miéville delights in the strange world he has created and allows us to delight in it too. It follows a group of characters in the city of New Crobuzon - a place that is vividly written and I do love a vividly written place - as they battle a dark and seemingly unstoppable force, the terrifying 'slake moths'. I really enjoyed it and it prompted me to buy basically the entirety of Miéville's oeuvre.
honourable mentions
I'll go into these a little more than I usually would as I haven't already written reviews for two of them.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Upon finishing The Night Watchman, I wasn't quite sure what to think. I loved Erdrich's writing style and found myself copying down lots of quotes, but I also thought it a little slow-going and disjointed. It follows a large cast of characters on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, and sometimes the cast seemed too big to support the plot with enough depth. Plus the story seems to be going steadfastly in one direction, only to pivot rather abruptly away from it. However, after a few days of reflection, I found that it has stuck with me; at its heart it is a really interesting story (about the Indian termination policies in the 1950s) and the characters are warm and memorable. And the writing! I won't forget it in a hurry. I definitely recommend it, though I'm interested to read more Erdrich too to see if another of her novels will suit me even better.
Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley
This is one of those books that will stick with me more for the context in which I was reading it than anything else (i.e. lots of long night feeds). But I wanted to include it anyway for posterity, even though I'm not sure it is for everyone. This book is in the same vein as Smiley's other novels Moo and The Last Hundred Years Trilogy; it's a big book following a large cast of characters that dives into both the everyday minutiae of their lives as well as the big lifechanging events (the latter sometimes disguised as the former). Unsurprisingly given the title, this book follows the lives of people involved in horse racing, and I always love the little touches of magic Smiley adds into her seemingly realistic style; some of the horses make the best characters! It won't be for everyone; Smiley always includes lots of detail about the world she's writing about; in this case, you read a lot about the ins and outs of caring for horses and horse racing, but this sort of detail is something I enjoy, always teaching me new things. It's a solid piece of writing and I liked it a lot.
The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer
This is a short little tale set in the Borne universe. Again, I wish I'd read this book in one sitting because I think it would have had a greater effect, so bear that in mind - as a novella or long short story, this would be easy to do! It is about the Strange Bird, a glorious bioengineered bird who has escaped the lab she was created in to set off across the desolate post-apocalyptic landscape you might recognise from Borne or Dead Astronauts. She has a mysterious mission which is revealed over the course of the story, and I found the ending to be moving and quite lovely. Although it gets quite dark in the middle, so be warned; it is VanderMeer after all. As always, he is exploring personhood and ways of being here, along with fleshing out the world he has created. It's only on honourable mentions really as short stories and novellas do not sit heavy on my mind like longer books do.
final reads of 2021
The Martian by Andy Weir [audio]
This book is much loved, and I can see why it has a bit of a cult following. I had actually watched and enjoyed the movie many years ago before reading this book, so I had a bit of an idea of what to expect, and I think the two are fairly similar to my memory. I listened to this and I think it made a good audiobook as it is mostly a first-person narration (I can't remember whether it is explicit that he writes it or voice records it anyway, but obviously for the movie they make it a video log). It's about Mark Watney, an astronaut who has been accidentally abandoned on Mars and who comes up with some rather ingenious solutions to try and keep himself alive until someone can rescue him. Although Watney's solutions and the science he spells out for the reader are impressive and designed to explicate the gravity of the situation (get it…), there is a lot we must suspend disbelief on; Watney is resolutely upbeat - unnaturally so - and in general the human elements of the plot are a bit questionable. The science I can't comment on so you'll have to turn to the forums for that one! But it's a pretty good yarn. I don't suppose this is intended to be uber-realistic in the human sense, and it is geeky and fun. I recommend it if it sounds like something you might enjoy!
The City & the City by China Miéville
Ah, this book was a bit of a disappointment (many of you warned me!) After the success for me of Perdido Street Station I was excited to read my next Miéville but it didn't quite work. The premise is exciting; two cities sit on the same geographical space, spliced together and requiring the inhabitants of each to 'unsee' their neighbours in order to maintain an uneasy peace. Lots of interesting fodder here for a clever speculative fiction. And even better, it's framed as a detective story, a murder mystery that unfolds across the two cities. Sadly the book gets lost after a great opening, getting bogged down in repetitive detail about the way the two cities work together; it is slow and the mystery plot is plodding and predictable. All in all, it just turned out to be a bit boring. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one but I did think there were lots of good ideas in here (worth looking into if you have a specific interest in the city in literature, for instance), and I will still be reading more Miéville in the future.
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
I read this as part of Hena's book club, and I found it to be a light-hearted fun read. It is about Afi, a young woman from a small village in Ghana who is to be married off to one of the sons in a local rich family. However, all is not as it seems with her new husband, as all of his attention is not focussed on her. The best thing about this was the slice of Ghanaian life we see, and I found it to be very readable. It felt a bit like listening to a friend tell you a story about her life. I did find the ending somewhat rushed and felt that there wasn't a lot of depth throughout, but I think this book has a lot of popular appeal.
The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
This was fun! It is a crime thriller about a killer who leaves snowmen wherever he goes… spooky. And for once in my life, I managed to guess the killer pretty early which I'm still very proud of and want to publicly pat myself on the back for. This didn't ruin the book for me, though, and I enjoyed this fast-paced novel for what it was. This is a classic male detective novel with classic male detective syndrome - there is not going to be any ground-breaking feminist theory here. The protagonist drinks a lot, he is emotionally unavailable, the female characters and the way they are described is… not great. But it is fun and I loved the twists and turns and it's actually pretty hard to weave a good yarn like this one so I think it's worth your while. At one point in my notes I wrote that Nesbø clearly 'types whatever comes into his head' which made me laugh; it's gripping nonetheless.
Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake
The final novel in the Gormenghast trilogy and sadly, this one was not for me, though I can appreciate it for what it is. In this novel, Titus has left his ancestral home and is travelling throughout many strange lands and cities. This novel is very different from the previous two, and is written in a completely different style (though there are some hints of the previous works here and there). There is a bit of a debate as to whether this is intentional or due to Peake having written it at a bit of a later date and when he had begun to experience the effects of the disease that would eventually take his life. I think it is probably a little bit of both, though it seems explicitly intentional to me, too. And unfortunately for me, it has more of the hallmarks of the kind of fiction I don't particularly enjoy written at this time (1950s/60s) - that kind of post-war style that just has never much appealed to me - in that it is disjointed and absurd, and rushes through scene after scene without much depth or examination. This is likely because we see Titus unmoored here from his home, and the novel seems to ask who we are without our past, can we divorce ourselves from it? Should we? And if so, how? So whilst I get it, I didn't much enjoy it. And, like many protagonists across many books, tv shows and films, Titus is kind of the least interesting and worst character, even to begin with. So a novel purely focussed on him, and even emptying him of much that makes him, him was never going to appeal to me that much (bring me back Doctor Prunesquallor and Fuschia and Bellgrove). However, I am of course glad I read it and completed as much of the cycle that Peake could write.
A Net for Small Fishes by Lucy Jago
This book was a big disappointment; with such good source material I was hoping for much more. It is a historical novel that examines the friendship between the powerful wife of the Earl of Essex, Frances Howard and relative commoner Anne Turner in the early 1600s. Eventually the pair were involved together in a poisoning scandal with (spoiler) Anne ultimately being hanged for the crime. The drama! The female friendship! Oh, this could have been so good. Unfortunately it felt wooden and awkward; I never felt real warmth between the two women, the initial encounters were not compelling enough to really make me believe anything that came after. And we only get Anne's point of view; as she is often stuck at home and away from the drama at court, the reader feels isolated at the wrong end of the narrative. Perhaps another author might have been able to make more of the everyday life element, but as it was I didn't feel particularly interested in Jago's depiction of Stuart London. In general I felt the characters flat, and it was not particularly well-paced and dragged. Plus the research was sometimes a bit too stark on the page, which I never appreciate in historical fiction. So I can't recommend this one, really!
And that's it! That is my round-up of my favourite books of 2021 and a quick overview of anything I didn't get round to reviewing, too. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you again soon for my January post!