My 2021 Bookshelves Highlight

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Many things happened in 2021. But one of amazing things I'm grateful for, is me coming back from my reading slump.

Yes, 2020 was quite challenging. It was hard enough for me to finish my readings or even start a new one. Only in Q4 I found my interest in reading again. In 2020, I got 6 books in total for my Goodreads tracking. Quite lame, huh? Hehe I know.

So, early in 2021, I pledged myself to finish at least 10 books in total for 2021. But along the year, I regained my love for reading, so I added more in the target to 20 books. Turned out I did pretty amazing (for me) and finished 53 books. And here are some of the highlights of my 2021 bookshelves!

My Goodreads 2021 general statistics

My Goodreads 2021 average rating

AUTHORS

In 2021, I discovered many good books, also fell in love with some authors' writing style too. Most of my ratings are 4⭐, and I got 4.1 as an average rating. I found my new favorite authors: V.E. Schwab, Holly Jackson, and Leigh Bardugo. Although the later would be because of I prepared myself for Shadow and Bone adaptation at first, but reading her books was also a good fantasy escape for me, the world building and characters (especially in Six of Crows duology, yes I love that one!).

As for V.E. Schwab, I just love how the fast paced and strikingly interesting characters she had in her books. And some of them are morally grey (if you know, you know😉 --- okay it's obviously Victor Vale, Eli Ever, Lila Bard, and Holland Vosijk😁). 

And Holly Jackson, damn I adore her young-adult whodunnit trilogy A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Also love the fast pacing story, really likeable characters, and the supporting techs (and a modern investigation style) are really interesting combination.

My Storygraph 'Most Read Authors'

GENRES

2021 was also my highest fantasy reading so far. I read a lot of fantasy books, as well as young-adult, and as much as 98% of my shelves were consists of fiction. Only 1 book was considered as nonfiction, and it was a poetry collection, Dearly by Margaret Atwood. I'm not a huge fan for nonfiction, tbh I am really a snail when it comes to this genre, as I like to enjoy my time reading it on and off, and not a marathon one for it.

Fantasy, Young-Adult, and even Crime or Thriller/Mystery, are my constant preferable genres since I was a child. I love daydreaming. Even so dreaming about myself in a magical or faraway world. Or getting tangled in an unsolved mysteries. That intense feelings...

And must I say that not only the genres that getting particularly uniformed, but the pacing also. I am really into fast paced books, as they're really hard to put down. Majority of the books I read have this pace. Most of the times I find myself difficult to attach into the story at first chapters, as I still learning the characters (which are usually various and in fantasy, you'd get used to the vast background). This early chapters could getting me so late to digest into the middle part of the book. But in second half, once I got the rhyme, it became unstoppable. Therefore I really prefer a fast-pacing books, which are 61% of my collections.

My Storygraph 'Moods' and 'Pace' books

5 STARS! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's not really hard to make me absolutely love a book. Just give me a fast pacing story with interesting characters, or even complicated plot but giving pure satisfaction at the end of the book, then I am in! Other way? I also love a heart-warming story with beautiful set ups, or with a full fluffy chapters that can make me grinning and crying in 1 book.

Therefore, at least one third of my 2021 shelves were getting 5stars from me. Most of them were my obsession at the time, and the rest was what I found really endearing, such as The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise and The Midnight Library. I was literally crying and smiling while reading both. Though the first one was for middle-grade, I would still recommend it for adults because the story value was revolving around found-family and pure kindness. And in The Midnight Library, an adult fiction who won Goodreads Choice Awards in 2020, deserved all the praise it had. A slightly dark theme about self survival in mid life crisis, could be a good choice for everyone who face hard times and doubts.

As for the fantasy category, I got some of Grishaverse (Shadow and Bone, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom) lining up. I love the Grisha world and how Leigh wrote in details. But for the Shadow and Bone trilogy, I found it hard to like them all and only love the first book, since the ending was not really satisfying for me. But for Ketterdam and the Crows part, I absolutely love both of the stories. The perfect scheming and thick heist plot, with underdogs characters, please count me in.

Another trilogy that I just found interesting is A Darker Shade of Magic! A fantasy series following young magician who was also a prince and emissary of magical kingdom, which of course set in one of four Londons. The world building had so much potentials and the characters (with a spark of romance) were captivating indeed!

Still in same genre, I got Serpent & Dove and Our Violent Ends. I think it was a little habit to give 5 stars for the first book of the fantasy trilogy, and ended up not liking much of the rest. This happened for Serpent & Dove. I was obsessed with the first one and found myself hoping for more for the ending. While also having monster in the story, Our Violent Ends was more of a romance Romeo-Juliette-retelling set up in 1920s Shanghai. It's a bit much to absorb in the first book (These Violent Delights), but once I got the plot, Our Violent Delights couldn't seem thick enough to finish it less in 3 days. The angst this sequel offered, couldn't agree more. I literally cried a lot like a baby reading this book. And the way Chloe Gong wrote the words, love it!

My 5 stars rated in chronological order

Speaking of romance books, I also read a lot of contemporary romcom in 2021. 3 of them made the list. People We Meet on Vacation was easily becoming my best romcom book that I read last year. It's easy to read, having enough balance between angst, longing, fun and fluffy feelings. Telling about how bestfriend going as strangers and then friends again and eventually lovers, it reminded me of Love, Rosie movie, and I love this dynamic. While the other 2 books had popular trope among book readers, enemies to lovers, Paris is Always a Good Idea and The Spanish Love Deception. Both of them had working adult main characters and I always love the travel/trip background.

Next to them was the Villains (Vicious, Vengeful) duology which had an urban fantasy slash science fiction genre with a little touch of dark academia, about two bestfriends coming to nemesis after a fortunate death trial. It's very intriguing and interesting 'cause there was no good characters nor saint in this story. Everyone was a morally grey. Each had guilty of something, that made everyone was a villain.

And in 2021 I also discovered a super thrilling murder mystery trilogy: The Fourth Monkey Killer. I put the second and third book (The Fifth to Die & The Sixth Wicked Child) as my 5-stars read. The story follows a detective versus a serial killer whose have a very intriguing childhood trauma, and surprisingly both main characters might be related in one way or another.

As my ultimate scifi reading was of course, DUNE. Finally had a grip on myself to read this masterpiece when the movie was so close to be aired in October. It's the longest book that I read last year, but there was not ounce I felt of boring, instead it had a fast paced and amazing characters telling. So details yet made me forgot that I was in the middle of a book.

SO HYPED, BUT DON'T LIKE IT

Despite so many books that I loved, there's also a few that I really found it hard to fall. It's inevitable when we read a lot of books, there would be a list of disappointing books, or maybe just a meh reading. Sometimes thanks to the poor storytelling or writing. For some authors, I just didn't find that 'click'. Not because of the idea for the story, but I found it a bit blunt or too vapid on how the author brought them. Or maybe there's just the story that I didn't feel kicking in. In 2021, these two were what I often saw in booktok/bookstagram recommendation but I was just not into them.

Books I found pretty plain and I didn't really like

SHIP THEM HARD

The first of my one true pairing (OTP) for 2021 of course, Darklina. Now now, I know that both of them was more like a nemesis, but who can deny the electric aesthetically speaking (light and dark? come on please) of chemistry between them? Even Mal could not come close (Nikolai was another case though). I know that this couple was eventually a lovers-to-enemies, but even as enemies, they both served well (iykwim).

Darklina (the Darkling and Alina Starkov from Shadow and Bone)

At the second place is, Kellila. I love them so much, their unstoppable teasing, the pull and push dynamic, and I love how Kell was an obsessed boy over Lila (who was so wild obviously), while both still managed to be badass. Honestly I cannot wait to read them more in the upcoming Threads of Power series!

Kellila (Kell Maresh and Lila Bard from A Darker Shade of Magic series)

Moving on, I have Pipravi as my last but absolutely never least OTP. Coming from a young adult whodunnit genre, both are what I adored in modern relationship books. Not really clingy, smart, funny, and help each other, and for sure, die for each other.

Pipravi (Pippa Fitz-Amobi and Ravi Singh from A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series)

Those three are actually my favorites and I will stand to defend them lol. Anyway, honorable mention I presented for : Kanej (Kaz Brekker & Inej Ghafa - Six of Crows), Loureid (Louise le Blanc & Reid Diggory - Serpent & Dove), and Romajuliette (Roma Montagov & Juliette Chai - These Violent Delights), for made me cry during reading their stories, like ugly crying!!

I'M DYING TO WATCH THE ADAPTATION

Aside as a book reader, I also love watching movies or tv series. And definitely like to see some book adaptations. As for my 2021 shelf, I am begging on every good producers to make below titles get a decent adaptation. Anyway, it doesn't count for those books that already getting adapted.

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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is obviously my first on the list! I feel like I can imagine if this heart-thumping story can make it to the screen. The high school setting, little teenage romance, podcast which of course, really on the spot for today's generation, and also the fast pacing young adult mystery.

Villains Duology (Vicious &Vengeful) also my other first (is this possible lol) option for adaptation. I really really love this dark twisted grey character-based story. And I can already tell it can be a masterpiece dark x-men if needed.

Despite few books hold 5-stars rating for me, I only see above series have a big chance to be brought out in the screens, since they are not a fantasy and old set up. Both series have modern settings with roughly young characters, which of course, will be a good sell point in my opinion.

That was all for the highlight of my 2021 book shelf! Some of the series are to be continued to this year.. and I am so excited to read more or diving into new stories!