My Favorite Books of 2021

 Before 2021, I was in the longest reading slump of my life, no exaggeration. I started to wonder if I could even call myself a reader anymore. I couldn't finish a new book to save my life and my local library was so small that I had a hard time finding anything I was interested in within their limited selection. But I've always loved to read and write, so the fact that I was losing these lifelong loves of mine was really upsetting to me. I told myself that 2021 was going to be the year that I was going to rediscover my love of books again. So I set a Goodreads goal of 12 books for the year so that it wouldn't be too overwhelming and I could slowly jump back into reading. Well, according to Goodreads, I've read 39 books this year. So I definitely surpassed this goal. 

I read some incredible books this year. I didn't love every book I read but that's okay; not every book is for every person. I read books that I've known about for years and books I've never heard of until this year. It was a very mixed bag and I'm really proud to say that I can call myself a proud bookwork again. So I'm here today to talk about my favorite books of the year. If you haven't read these yet, I would definitely recommend that you go check them out!

1) The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand

This story follows Cassandra, a teenager that was adopted when she was a baby. It was a closed adoption, so she has no idea who her biological parents are. Her adoptive family has given her an incredible life but the story begins when her adoptive mother is in the hospital with a heart condition. Cassandra learns that letters were written to her by her biological mom when she was pregnant. So the book follows Cassandra's search for the letters while also balancing the guilt she feels for doing so while her mother is sick/in recovery. 

The letters were definitely my favorite part of the book. I love when books do flashbacks or include written letters. It's always such a nice touch. I couldn't put this book down. Hand's writing was just so addicting. Her characters were so compelling and I was genuinely invested in the journey to find out about her birth mother. When the book was over, I was scared to read another one because I knew that I couldn't possibly love it as much as I loved this one. 

2) Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Alosa, daughter of the elusive and powerful Pirate King, allows herself to be taken hostage aboard her enemies' ship while she secretly looks for a map for her father. While onboard, she falls in love with the ship's first mate and discovers that her life with her father might not be what she thinks it is. 

This book was so much fun! I couldn't put this down. The banter between Alosa and Ryden was perfect. This book had everything, romance, humor, action, betrayal. Alosa's backstory was so interesting and it was perfect for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean (which I am). I immediately went to Barnes and Noble to pick up the sequel. 

3) The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Avery Grambs is randomly left a billionaire's fortune, even though she never met him before he passed. The only condition for receiving the fortune is that she has to live in his mansion for a year. Unfortunately, his family is, understandably, very upset that they've been stilted in the will. While in the house, Avery receives death threats, becomes involved in a love triangle and tries to solve the mystery of why she was left the fortune in the first place. 

This book had so many twists and turns. It was such a wild ride. I am not someone that's adept at solving puzzles or figuring out riddles, so every twist caught me completely off-guard. I loved the use of games within the story. It showed that the author really thought everything out beforehand. The characters had big personalities and they were so much fun to follow. I preordered the sequel immediately and also loved it. 

4) Go the Distance (Twisted Tales #11) by Jen Calonita

This year, I decided that, since I'm such a big Disney fan, that I'd start reading the Twisted Tales series. I read 5 this year but this one was by far my favorite. This book starts out right after Hercules defeated the Titans. He tries to give up his rights to Mount Olympus to be with Meg as a mortal but his request is denied. So the only way for he and Meg to be together is if she becomes a god like Hercules. She is then sent on a quest to save her ex-boyfriend's wife from the underworld. If she can't do so before the time limit, then she can't be with Hercules. 

This one was another book that was just pure fun. It was amazing to jump into this world and go on such an interesting adventure. I loved that Meg wasn't just saving someone random. This gave her a real challenge, to save the wife of the man she gave up her soul for. I could definitely see myself reading this again, which is more than I could say for some of the other Twisted Tales. I also picked up Mirror, Mirror, also by Calonita, this year (the Snow White Twisted Tale) and that one was also really good. But if you're looking for a Twisted Tale to start off the series, please go with this one. 

5) The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

17-year-old Holly Chase is visited by 3 ghosts on Christmas Eve and shown the error of her selfish ways. The ghosts try to warn her that if she doesn't change her ways, that when she dies, there will be punishment. She ignores all of their advice and ends up dying shortly after their visit. As part of her punishment, she is doomed to live as the new Ghost of Christmas Past. She has her new job for a few years and goes through the motions until one day, she falls in love with the new prospect for Project Scrooge. 

This was the first and only book that I read in a day this year. There is just something about Hand's writing that I find addicting. I wasn't even sure that I was going to love this book when I first bought it. I just picked it up because it was December and I wanted to read something about Christmas. I'm so glad that I gave this book a chance. I loved all of the characters, the wit, the world that Hand created and the ending. Hand definitely solidified herself as my new favorite author this year. If you've never read her books before, please pick them up. You won't be sorry!

Overall, I had a very solid reading year and I'm very pleased with all of the books that I was able to finish. What were your favorite books of 2021? Have you read any of my favorites? What were your thoughts? 

-Chelsea 

My Completed Series

If you know me personally or have been following my blogs for a while, then you know that I'm an absolute bookworm! I love to use any and all of my free time for reading and writing. I've seen some of the BookTubers that I'm subscribed to do the "Completed Series Tag" which is basically where you list out all of the series that you've completed. You can also choose to share what series that you've started, and whether or not you plan to be continuing on with those series. I've never counted how many series that I've read before, so I figured that it'd be a fun little tidbit to learn! So, here are all of the series that I've completed!

(These are in no particular order. And I checked my Goodreads page just to make sure that I didn't forget any books.)

1. The Harry Potter Series- That one was a given, right?

2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians

3. The Sweet Trilogy

4. The Divergent Trilogy

5. The Infernal Devices Trilogy

6. The Legend Trilogy- This series is totally fast-paced and one that I highly recommend!

7. The Shatter Me Trilogy

8. The Flowers in the Attic Series- If you like creepy stories, this is the series for you!

9. The Vampire Academy Series

10. The Kane Chronicles- I'll read anything and everything that Rick Riordan writes!

11. The Selection Trilogy

12. The Summer I Turned Pretty Trilogy

13. The Hex Hall Trilogy

14. The Ruby Red Trilogy

15. The Matched Trilogy

16. The Twilight Saga- I read this in high school when it was super popular.

17. The 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy- I just wanted to see what the hype was all about.

18. Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell Duology

I'm actually pretty surprised/pleased with 18. I thought that I had read more but it's still a pretty good number! But I'm sure that the number will keep increasing! There are only 2 series that I'm in the middle of now that I plan on finishing: The Pushing the Limits Series and The Heroes of Olympus Series.

November Reading List

The year is almost over! I can't believe that it's already December! Just like all of the other months this year, I am recapping all of the books that I've read this month. So without further adieu, here is my November Reading List.

1. Heir of Fire



2. Don't Look Back



3. Titanic: Voices From the Disaster 

 

4. Winter Town



5. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales 



6. Crush



7. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus- I heard that this book was an interesting read, especially for married couples. So, I picked it up from the library and gave it a quick read. It's definitely a unique take on the subject of differences between genders.



-Chelsea

Reader Problems Tag

I cannot resist doing any book-related tags, so here is yet another one!

1. If you had 20,000 books on your TBR, how would you decide which one to read next?

I'd probably try to figure out which books have been there the longest and start from there. I know that it'd be next to impossible but I'd probably end up giving it a shot.

2. If you are halfway through a book and you're not loving it, then do you power through it or put it down?

I normally power through it. I hate leaving books unfinished.

3. If it's the end of the year and you're behind on your reading challenge. Do you try to catch up?

I'm actually done with this year's reading challenge but if I wasn't, then yes, I would try.

4. How do you cope if a series that you love doesn't have matching covers?

I normally borrow books from the library before I buy them. So by the time that I get around to buying them, the covers normally match. It's not an issue that I deal with very much.

5. If everyone that you know loves a book that you don't like, who do you bond with over shared feelings? 

I don't have a lot of friends that read or read the same books that I do. So if I hate it, sometimes I'll go read some bad Goodreads reviews about it.

6. If you're reading in public and you're about to cry, what do you do?

It's actually very rare for me to cry in books. I don't know why, it just is. So I can't see myself crying in public like that.

7. If a sequel of a book that you love comes out but you've forgotten most of the first book, what do you do?

I like to marathon series or at least try to read books in a series in a timely manner. But if I hadn't, then I'd probably just jump right into the sequel and hope that I remember everything while I'm reading it.

8. If you don't want people to borrow your books, how do you politely tell them no?

I just tell them that people have damaged my books before and I don't want that to happen again.

9. How do you get over a reading slump?

I try to just keep reading. If not, I try to find a new hobby until I want to read again.

10. If there are a bunch of new releases coming out, how many do you buy?

As many as I want but not all at once.

11. How long do books sit on your shelf before you read them?

They don't. My nose is stuck in that book from the second that I get it.

-Chelsea

TBR

I'm subscribed to a lot of BookTubers on YouTube and because of that, my taste in books has changed a lot. I've read a lot of books that I never would've otherwise and I've opened my eyes to completely new genres. Generally, whenever I see multiple BookTubers rave about a particular book I'll either buy it or borrow it from the library. As such, I've acquired a lot more books and quite the TBR pile as well.

BookTubers are always filming book hauls and recommending new books. So it's almost impossible to keep up with all of the books that I want to read. Right now, I have over 60 books on my TBR shelf on Goodreads. So I thought I'd share some of the books that I'm anticipating reading the most. I'm not sure when I'll get around to reading them but I'm really hoping that it's sooner rather than later.

Don't spoil me if you have read these books!

1. Heir of Fire- This is the 3rd book in the Throne of Glass series. I've read the first and second book and they were amazing! So I absolutely can't wait to get my hands on this one! I'm sure that it'll be just as amazing!



2. House of Hades- I'm a huge fan of the Percy Jackson books. I've read all of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian books and the first 3 books in the Heroes of Olympus series. But because House of Hades hasn't been released in paperback yet, I haven't bought it. (I own the first 3 in paperback and I want them all to match.) So, I'm probably going to borrow it from the library soon and then buy it in paperback later.



3. The Bronze Horseman- Little Book Owl absolutely adores this book and I trust her opinion. PeruseProject also read it and gave it rave reviews. I'm a little intimidated by how big that it is but I am sure that I'll be ready to tackle this challenge soon.



4. Maybe Someday- Slammed is the only Colleen Hoover book that I've read and I really enjoyed it. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about this book and I'm sure that my second Colleen Hoover novel will be just as great as the first.



What's on your TBR pile?

-Chelsea