Favorite reads of 2021

Happy New Year, everyone! It's time to share my top ten favorite reads of 2021. 

As I've mentioned in previous posts, last year, I participated in the Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge. It was also a year of Brandon Sanderson books for me since I read five of his books in 2021, including the first two in the Stormlight Archive series. Both themes are reflected in my top ten list, as four books from the Goodreads Choice Awards challenge and three books by Brandon Sanderson made it onto the list. The complete top ten list is as follows:

1. The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson 

2021 was the year I finally decided to read Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. I've read his Mistborn series (both the original trilogy and the Wax & Wayne books) as well as The Rithmatist, and I've loved them all. However, the Stormlight Archive series was always daunting because each book is over 1,000 pages long, and there are supposed to be ten novels in all (when they're eventually published). I finally dove in last year, and I'm glad I did. Usually, with such long books, I find that a good percentage is filler, but I can't really think of anything I'd cut from The Way of Kings. The Stormlight Archive has the potential to become my favorite fantasy series of all time!

2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab 

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. For one, it's more of a romance than a fantasy novel despite being a finalist in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards under the Fantasy category. The book also moves slowly. However, the writing is beautiful, and that made the story itself beautiful. I found myself falling deeper into Adeline's life the more I read it, until I wished the book would never end. It has been a long time since a book connected with me on an emotional level like this one did, and all I can say about Addie LaRue is, I will remember you for a long time.

3. My Contrary Mary - Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows 

When the Lady Janies released a new book last year, I had to read it. I rated the first three Janies books as 5 stars, and it's possible that My Contrary Mary is my favorite of the bunch (although it's technically part of a new Mary series). As always, the story was fun and funny to read. I appreciate all of the pop culture references and wondered how many more I missed. Not knowing the history it's based on, I can't say how accurate the portrayal of Mary was, but one thing the Lady Janies books does is make me want to learn more about the historical characters they're based on, which is yet another point in their favor IMHO. I recommend My Contrary Mary and the Lady Janies books to everyone.

4. Elantris - Brandon Sanderson 

In addition to beginning the Stormlight Archive series this year, I also read Elantris, Brandon Sanderson's first published novel. It's hard to believe this was his first book because it's as good as many seasoned writers' best works. As with all of Sanderson's books I've read so far, the world-building is fantastic, including the magic system in this world. There has been talk of a sequel to Elantris, and if Sanderson ever writes it, I can't wait to read it.

5. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig 

The Midnight Library was the winner in the Fiction category of the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards, so I had high expectations going in. Fortunately, the book lived up to those expectations. It was inspiring in a way few books are, covering topics such as life choices, regrets, and the importance of one's perspective on life. Although the philosophical teachings could be a bit heavy-handed at times, I found several nuggets of wisdom in this novel.

6. Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson 

What, yet another Brandon Sanderson book? I was able to finish the first two books in the Stormlight Archive series this year, and both were great. I rated Words of Radiance lower than The Way of Kings because it was hard to live up to the greatness of the first book. If I had waited before starting the second book, I might have rated it higher. Nevertheless, this was a great sequel, and it confirms my suspicion that the Stormlight Archive is on its way to becoming my favorite fantasy series ever.

7. The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James 

One part thriller and one part horror story, this was a gripping book that was hard to put down until I finished reading it. The novel is told from the point of view of Vivian in 1982 and her niece Carly in 2017. Both women were interesting protagonists with distinct voices, and I had a great time reading both of their stories. The author did a masterful job weaving their stories together, and I thoroughly enjoyed being led along for the ride.

8. The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis 

I watched the Netflix series based on the book and thought it was very good. As it turned out, the adaptation was fairly faithful to the book, making the book a delight to read. The book talks chess more than the TV series did, so you'd probably like it more if you're familiar with the game. However, I don't think you need to be a fan of chess or to have watched the series to enjoy this book.

9. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson 

The last 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards book I read this year was also one of my favorite books of 2021 and possibly my favorite YA mystery ever. The way the mystery unfolds was well done, and I felt like I was piecing things together the same way Pip did. The story alternates between third person narration and Pip's journal, which is written in first person. Sometimes, the transition threw me off a little, and Pip did some things that I felt were out of character for her, but this book kept me glued to the pages throughout. After finishing A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, I learned it was part of a trilogy. I'm definitely interested in finding out what happens to Pip next.

10. The Butterfly Garden - Dot Hutchison 

This haunting story was one of the best thrillers I read this year. There are potentially horrific triggering events, so be warned before you read this book. Otherwise, this was a well-constructed and well-told story. I was particularly impressed by the way the author was able to introduce so many characters, yet make them all memorable and believable. This is the first book in a series, and I'm excited to read the sequels.

 

What I read in 2021

 

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for myself to read at least 100 books in 2021. I'm happy to say that I surpassed the goal, ending the year with 103 books read.

 The average rating for the books I read was 4.03 stars, broken down as follows:

• 5 stars - 33 books
  
• 4 stars - 40 books
  
• 3 stars -  30 books
  

The 4.03 stars average was higher than the 3.96 stars in 2020.

Undoubtedly, my Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge contributed to the higher ratings this year since the 28 books I read as part of the challenge resulted in a 4.11 average. Unlike last year, when the New York Times Bestseller challenge pulled down my average, this year's reading challenge raised it. I'm planning to continue the challenge in 2022, so we'll see if the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalists are as good as the 2020 books.

In my next post, I'll list my top ten reads of 2021. Stay tuned!

 

Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge recap

For my reading challenge this year, I chose to read at least twenty books from the list of 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards finalists. I ended the year reading twenty-eight of them.

The books I read were (in alphabetical order by title):

• Anxious People - Fredrik Backman
• Beach Read - Emily Henry  
• Confessions on the 7:45 - Lisa Unger
  
• A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik 
• Devolution - Max Brooks
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson
  
• The Hollow Places - T. Kingfisher  
• Home Before Dark - Riley Sager
  
• The House in the Cerulean Sea - T.J. Klune 
• House of Earth and Blood - Sarah Maas
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab
• The Kingdom of Back - Marie Lu 
  
• The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson  
• Luster - Raven Leilani 
• Malorie - Josh Malerman
  
• The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
• Migrations - Charlotte McConaghy
  
• The Night Swim - Megan Goldin 
• One by One - Ruth Ware
• Oona Out of Order - Margarita Montimore 
  
• Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
  
• Solutions and Other Problems - Allie Brosh
• The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson
  
• Strange Planet - Nathan Pyle
  
• Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid  
• The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James
  
• To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini  
• When No One is Watching - Alyssa Cole 

Of the 28 books, I rated 12 as 5 stars, 7 as four stars, and 9 as three stars. The average rating came out to be 4.11, which is higher than my overall average of about 4.0 stars for the books I've read and logged on Goodreads. It was also much higher than the 3.5 average from my New York Times Bestseller reading challenge in 2020. As far as reading challenges go, this one was a success. I read a lot of books that I really enjoyed, including some that will end up on my top ten favorite reads of 2021.

There were a couple of interesting observations from this reading challenge. First, the category winners didn't perform as well as the other finalists. My average rating for the books that won in their category was 4.0, the same as the typical book I read. The real gems were the finalists that didn't win in their category. I also found that I usually either really liked one of the Goodreads Choice Award finalists or thought the book was mediocre. As noted by the ratings above, there were more 5-star and 3-star ratings than 4-star ratings. This was unusual because normally, 4 stars is the most common rating I give a book.

Since this reading challenge went so well, I'm planning to continue it again next year, using the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalists. I hope I'll enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the books I read this year!

NaNoWriMo 2021 recap

Another NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is behind us. I started this year's NaNoWriMo with the same modest goals as last year: to write 20,000 words in the month of November. The good news is that I accomplished the goal, ending the month just over the target with 20,040 words.

November started out well for me. After the first week, I had already written nearly 7,000 words. And then work kicked my butt. During week 2, there were days when I barely had fifteen minutes to write, and my average daily word count for the rest of the month was less than 400 during the work week. Yet, thanks to the fast start, I hit the midpoint of my 20,000-word goal by November 13. The weekends also helped because I was able to write more on Saturdays and Sundays. However, it still came down to the last day before I crossed the 20,000-word threshold.

My WIP is now at about 40,000 words, and I estimate the first draft to be 50,000 to 60,000 words long. Given that I still want to finish the first draft by the end of the year, that means another mini-NaNoWriMo for me in December to accomplish my goals. Now that I've already written 20,000 words in November, another 10,000 to 20,000 in December looks more doable than it did a month ago.

NaNoWriMo 2021

It's that time of year again when writers around the world try to kick their monthly word count goals into high gear for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). As someone who has reached 50,000 words in the month of November three times before, my goals have been more modest in recent years. Now I approach NaNoWriMo like someone who joins a gym in January: to reach short-term goals if I can, but also to develop better habits that will hopefully last beyond the month. 

Last year, I used NaNoWriMo to add about 20,000 words to my YA zombie apocalypse novel, Hopeless. This year, I'm working on its sequel, and I hope to emulate the writing schedule that led to the publication of Hopeless in June. To reach that goal, I'd ideally finish 40,000 words by the end of November. I've written about 20,000 so far, which means my NaNoWriMo goal this year is another 20,000 words.

Since I wrote 20,000 words last November, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to reach the goal again this year. As always, I'll report on how I did at the end of NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck!

Hopeless is on sale for Halloween

The title pretty much explains it all. From now until Halloween, my YA zombie novel, Hopeless, will be on sale for 99 cents! Buy it here, or if you're a member of the Kindle Unlimited program, you can read it for free!

Description:

The zombie apocalypse happened faster than anyone could’ve imagined. 

On what she believes is a normal Friday night, seventeen-year-old Sara goes to bed believing that she’ll see her parents and her brother the next morning. Instead, she wakes up to a new world where zombies are taking over. Worse yet, she is alone. The rest of her family isn’t home from their outings the night before, and she can’t contact them. 

Slowly, Sara learns how dire the zombie situation is. With only herself to rely on, she must figure out what’s happening and how to survive. But more than anything, she hopes she’ll be reunited with her family again. Even if she has to risk her own life to make it happen. 

A 2021 writing update

 

First of all, thank you to everyone who supported my latest release, Hopeless! I hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'm currently working on the first draft of the sequel to Hopeless, which is still untitled. (I have a few options in mind, but I haven't decided which one I like best and may not until after the first draft is completed.) Last year, I started writing Hopeless in June and completed the first draft in December. January through May of 2021 consisted of revisions, editing, and everything else involved in putting a book together for a June 2021 release.

I liked the 12-month cycle that I went through to publish Hopeless, and my intention is to follow the same schedule as much as possible for the sequel. A couple of weeks after the release of Hopeless, I began writing the second book. I've only finished about 10,000 words, which isn't as far along as I'd like, but I have nearly four months remaining until the end of the year. Last year's word count got a boost from NaNoWriMo, and I anticipate using November to help me catch up this year as well.

If I'm able to replicate this schedule for the sequel, I'll continue sticking with it for subsequent books in the After Z-Day series, assuming the books are all roughly the same length as Hopeless was. But first things first. I want to reach 25,000 words by the end of October, add another 15,000 to 20,000 during NaNiWriMo, and complete the first draft by December 31. Let's see how I do against these shorter term goals.