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Welcome to Top
Ten Tuesday! Since we’re halfway through the year, I thought I’d share the best
books I’ve read in 2021 (so far). If you saw my Mid-Year Freak-Out Tag, then
you already know my favorites, but whatever. They’re good books! I’m going to
write this post countdown style so it’s extra dramatic. Drumroll, please . . .
.
🥳 Best Books Of 2021 (So Far) 🎉
10. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Young Adult Paranormal Fiction
Why I love it: This novel helped me escape from life, which made me very happy. It’s fast-paced, unique, and funny. Cemetery Boys is young
adult paranormal fiction about a teenage boy who wants to be a brujo and summon
the dead. His family won’t let him become a brujo, so of course he does the
ceremony behind their backs and accidentally summons the ghost of his school’s
recently murdered bad boy. Oops. Chaos ensues. There’s a sweet love story and a
compelling murder mystery. It’s all highly entertaining.
9. How To Breathe Underwater: Stories by Julie Orringer
Adult Literary Fiction Short Story Collection
Why I love it: These bleak little stories are oddly fascinating. Have
you ever read a plot twist that horrified you so much that you set the book
down and backed away slowly? Yeah, that feeling sums up these stories! They’re
all coming-of-age tales about girls or young women. The main characters either
do something horrible or have something horrible happen to them. The stories
are beautifully written and surprising. They come together in ways I didn’t see
coming. I didn’t always know how the author would tie the disparate themes and
plot threads together, but almost all of the stories ended perfectly. I
will definitely reread this collection.
8. There There by Tommy Orange
Adult Literary Fiction
Why I love it: This is a hard book to summarize because it doesn’t have a plot,
but the writing is stunning and the characters are very
real. A few of the characters are a little too real. One of them is a failed writer who
doesn’t know what to do with his life and spends way too much time eating junk
food and screwing around on the Internet. Yeah . . . that’s how I spent all of
2018. I
guess I’d call the book a composite novel? Or character sketches? Or maybe a
loosely connected batch of essays and short stories? I don’t know. It has a
similar structure to The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. It focuses on an event
called The Big Oakland Powwow. Each chapter stars a different Native American
character who is attending the powwow. I promise it’s not as boring as I just
made it sound. I was very attached to the characters, which made the ending
devastating. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book. It literally left me speechless.
7. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Adult Literary Fiction
Why I love it: The story is set in Nigeria and stars two sisters who are
opposites. One is flighty and beautiful and uses her looks to get away with
literal murder. The other is plain and responsible and buries the bodies her
sister leaves behind. The book is about how society is willing to overlook the
bad behavior of beautiful women and how parents have different expectations for
their older and younger children. Neither of my sisters are serial killers (as
far as I know), but I still saw parallels between our lives and the lives of
the characters.
6. Not So Pure And Simple by Lamar Giles
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
Why I love it: I had tons of fun reading this book. It’s a young adult
contemporary novel about a teen boy who has a crush on a girl at his church. He
schemes up ways to spend more time with her and accidentally ends up joining
their church’s Purity Pledge. The book is hilarious, relevant, and timely.
It’ll make you smile, and then it’ll make you cringe with second-hand
embarrassment. The author tackles a bunch of difficult topics related to sex
education. I love this book because the world needs it. It talks openly about
sex, and I wish every teenager had the opportunity to read it. We need to
encourage young people to have conversations about consent and honesty in their
relationships.
5. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Adult Literary Fiction Composite Novel
Why I love it: I was very impressed by Homegoing. It’s a collection of linked short stories that start in
1700s Ghana and follow a family up until modern times. Each story focuses on a
different generation of the family. The book starts with two half-sisters. One
stays in Ghana and marries a powerful man. The other is captured by slave
traders and shipped to America. The writing is stunning. There are scenes that
will stick with me forever, especially the ones set in prisons and mines.
They’re very visceral. I can’t wait to read Yaa
Gyasi’s other book. I think I found a new favorite author.
4. The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
Adult Fantasy
Why I love it: VE Schwab is
one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint! In 1700s France, a
young woman makes a deal with a mischievous god. She wants absolute freedom. He
gives her immortality, but she’s cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
I love how the author examines the upsides and downsides of freedom. Addie can
do whatever she wants because she can’t die, and there are no consequences for
her actions because people forget her as soon as she leaves their sight. Sounds
awesome, right? The author also captures Addie’s crushing loneliness and her
struggle to survive. She can’t make meaningful connections with people. She can’t
keep a job or own a house. It’s a fascinating and thought-provoking novel that
will make you question what you really
want from life.
3. Surviving The Extremes: What Happens To The Body And Mind At The Limits Of Human Endurance by Kenneth Kamler, MD
Adult Medical Nonfiction
Why I love it: If you’re interested in medical nonfiction, this book is
completely captivating. And completely horrifying. It kept me awake for several
nights because I couldn’t stop reading. The book is exactly what it says on the
cover. The author is an “extreme medicine” doctor who works with astronauts, deep
ocean divers, and mountain climbers. The book is about what happens to the human
body in environments that are not human friendly. The stories the author tells
are simultaneously terrifying and amazing. That’s why I couldn’t stop reading
them. I like every chapter, but I think my favorite is the one about Everest.
I’m never going to climb that mountain. Nope, nope, not worth the potentially
horrific side effects . . . .
2. Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman
Young Adult Dystopia / Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Why I love it: Neal and
Jarrod are a father/son writing team. Dry is a dystopia about what happens when California runs
out of water. Reading it was stressful! Probably because I live in a
drought-prone place that starts on fire every summer and fall. I can relate to
the water restrictions and the constant smell of smoke in the story. This is
one of the most realistic dystopias I’ve ever read. I love the pacing. It reads
quickly because there’s a lot of action, but you still get to know and love the
characters. I felt bad for them every time they hit a dead end in their search
for water. (Which was often. These kids just can’t catch a break.) I love that
the characters are forced to make hard decisions. They make mistakes. They
learn they’re not as badass as they first thought. They’re not heroes.
They’re just regular kids dealing with a terrible situation, and it’s
brilliant.
1. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Young Adult Contemporary Novel-In-Verse
Why I love it: See all those awards on the cover? This book totally deserves them. The plot reminds me of A Christmas Carol, but
it’s set in a modern, inner-city apartment building. Most of the story takes
place on an elevator. Yep, a 300-page elevator ride. (I swear it’s not boring!) A teenager’s brother is murdered, and the teen sets out
to get revenge. When he steps into the elevator in his apartment building, a
ghost gets on with him. The elevator stops at every floor, and a new ghost gets
on at each stop. That’s when the Christmas Carol similarities
start. The ghosts force the teen to confront his choices and reevaluate his
decision to commit murder. It’s a thoroughly modern ghost story! And, best of
all, it never gets preachy or heavy-handed! The author treats his (deeply
flawed) characters with compassion and lets the readers draw their own
conclusions. You should read it. It’s an excellent tale.
I can’t wait to read Cemetery Boys!
ReplyDeleteMy post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-reasons-why-i-love-reading/
I loved Not So Pure and Simple and it brings me joy to see it on your best of list. It's way under loved.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you've had some great reads so far this year! I'm looking forward to reading Cemetery Boys.
ReplyDeletemy TTT this week
some great looking books. because i love reading about serial killers, my sister the serial killer jumped out at me
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Yay for Cemetery Boys and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, they're some of my favorites too :) Hope you'll have plenty of amazing reads in the second half of 2021 as well!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic list of books; I have really enjoyed the ones that I have already read. I want to read Dry, but live in southern California so it feels like it might hit too close to home.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed all of these! Addie LaRue was one of my favourite books of last year :)
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/06/top-ten-tuesday-323/
Interesting picks. I'd like to read "There There".
ReplyDeleteHere's my list!
Dry was a great read; I agree, it felt very realistic.
ReplyDeleteI have Cemetery Boys on hold through my library. And Addie LaRue is on my TBR.
ReplyDeleteHere is my TTT post: https://readbakecreate.com/?p=468
Long Way Down was SO GOOD. I have Addie LaRue and I really hope to finally read it soon!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I could not get into Addie LaRue but I have Long Way Down on hold at the library. Can't wait for that one.
ReplyDeleteI have heard good things about a number of these. Addie Larue is on my TBR; I need to read it SOON!
ReplyDeleteCemetery Boys is a book I still need to read. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one I LOVED! I really wanted her to end up with a certain dark god... ;)
ReplyDeleteLindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
So many greats in one place!
ReplyDeleteI loved long way down and my sister the serial killer so much too! I literally just bought there there so I am very happy to see it on this list. I will be reading addie larue in August and I hope I'll be able to like it more than any Schawb novels I've read so far. I also own Homegoing and cemetery boys so it's just a matter of time before I fall in love with them too.
ReplyDeleteFabulous list of books. I'm crazy about Long Way Down and There, There, too.
ReplyDeleteI have heard nothing but great things about Cemetery Boys!!
ReplyDeleteI have not read ONE book from this list?! I did hear about some of them and some of them are on my TBR, but others on this list, I will research them and see if I'll add them! Thanks for this nice list :)
ReplyDeleteGreat list! How To Breathe Under Water sounds good and I've had My Sister the Serial Killer on my TBR for a while.
ReplyDeleteI loved My Sister, the Serial Killer! It was one of my favorite books last year. (or two years ago? things are all blending in with the weird year that was 2020) And I really want to read The Invisible Life of Addie Larue!
ReplyDeleteNice list. I have heard about many here, but have not read them. Of the 92 books I have read so far, I gave 5 stars to 46 of them. So I'm just going to tell you about the most recent 5 stars I finished: The Lost Spells, by Robert Macfarlane. Beautiful small poetry and art book inspired by nature. A real gem: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49358272-the-lost-spells
ReplyDeleteYay, I loved Dry! Long Way Down was also incredible, so I definitely agree with those. I need to read quite a few on your list, too. You have me VERY intrigued by How To Breathe Under Water, too! I hadn't heard of it before but wow. It sounds like I need to read it!
ReplyDeleteYeah I still need to read Addie LaRue ... damn me. I'll get to it. I liked the Sisters Serial Killer book ... There There had too bleak and ending for me! I'm still looking for my favorite book of the year .... it'll probably come in December, ha.
ReplyDeleteI loved Addie Larue and I want to read Dry.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
I didn't know you'd read Addie Larue! Oops! I was supposed to read it with you! Guess I'd better hurry up and read it since you loved it. :-)
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction