2021 Reading Roundup

Another year, another book recap. 2021 was a pretty okay year for reading. I always had a book or two in my hands. I didn't finish any audiobooks; I'm still listening to the same book I was listening to in March 2020- Samantha Irby's Wow, No Thank You. I have about an hour left. It'll probably get counted next year and meanwhile audiobooks continue to stack up in my Libro.fm account.

I'm pretty satisfied with my total even if it strikes me as low compared to some years. I was trying to work my way through some short books, as well as alternating between books that have been in my stash for a long time and newer things that continue to trickle in. I still work for a bookstore but I haven't stepped foot in my workplace since the shutdown last year so I don't get the same access to ARCs that I used to, although I still can get some. But don't worry- I'll never run out of things to read.

That's my Christmas book haul. But on to the recap from 2021.

How many books read in 2021?

59 books in 2021, up 5 from 2020. 

How many fiction and non fiction? 

37 fiction versus 22 nonfiction. I was always reading one of each but the nonfiction books tend to be longer.

Male/Female author ratio?

27 male to 31 female plus one that I don’t know.

Diversity?

19 authors were people of color or about a third. At least 6 authors are Jewish and at least 10 of the books covered LGBTQ themes or characters.

Favorite book of 2021? 

Milk Fed, by Melissa Broder

Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why? Always, but I’ll never tell.

Oldest book read?  Nightmare Alley, by William Lindsay Gresham, published first in 1946.

Newest? My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley, to be published in 2022 by Penguin Random House.

Longest and shortest book titles?

Shortest title: Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell

Longest title: Jack the Ripper & the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect, by Robert House

Longest and shortest books?

Longest: The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fantonne Jeffers

Shortest: My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley

How many books from the library? 

None! For the sixth year in a row I did not read a library book.

Any translated books?

I read books or stories translated from French, Italian, Japanese, German and Spanish.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?

Apart from various locales in the United States including Los Angeles, Texas, Brooklyn, Georgia, New York City, Boston, Washington state and Oregon, I went to England, South Africa, Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Senegal, Japan, Argentina, Poland, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Tibet, India, Turkey, Kenya, Italy, China, Spain and Russia as well as the Discworld.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?

I read two books by Melissa Broder.

Any re-reads? 

I re-read Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham and Made for Love by Alyssa Nutting.

Favorite character of the year? 

Marie de France in Matrix by Lauren Groff.

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation? 

The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett. My husband recommended it.

Which author was new to you in 2021  that you now want to read the entire works of? 

Deesha Philyaw

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read? 

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read? 

I read all four books I had on last year’s list of books I wanted to make sure to get to- Outlawed, Lampedusa, Grotesque and Luster. I was glad to get to Radio Free Boston by Carter Allan and Savage Nights by Cyril Collard.

Bookish Events in Marie's Life: 

Another pandemic year and not a lot in the way of bookish events. I did enjoy NAIBA’s virtual conference and the CABS seminar I attended virtually in August. I am toying with the idea of becoming a rare book dealer at some point and I learned a lot from that program. 

Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2022:

• All of You Every Single One by Beatrice Hitchman
• Vladimir by Julia May Jones
• Vernon Subutex by Virginie Despentes
• The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces by Susan Tomes