Best Books 2021

I felt like my reading last year was not normal and pretty much expected it to go back to normal, or closer to normal this year. It didn’t, so now I think this is the new normal. Web comics took over a big chunk of my reading time so my book count is much lower than it has been in previous years. Not that I’m trying to read a certain amount of books, but the web comics reading is not going to go away. At least not until a few of them finish.

 

I read 74 books this year. For the first time since I’ve been tracking, I borrowed more books than I bought. That’s a crazy change.  As with last year, I read more ebooks than paper. The #1 genre this year was Sci-Fi Romance followed by Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Then I have a 2 way tie for spots 3 and 4 with Contemporary Romance and Historical Mystery, followed by Urban Fantasy/PNR for the top 5. Outside of my favorite genres, I read 1 children’s book, 1 classic, and 5 non-fiction. Not too bad.

 

What a sad little stack

Here are my best books of 2021. Ten books-it’s not very long this year. I feel like I didn’t get wowed by many at all. But these are some good ones.

 

The Third Pole – Mark Synnott

This Everest expedition from the Tibetan side was fascinating to me having only read about expeditions from the Nepal side. Plus, they were looking for Sandy Irvine’s remains in addition to summiting. I loved it.

 

A Stranger in Town – Kelley Armstrong

I love this series so much and some good stuff happened in this one. I’m happy/sad that the final book comes out next year.

 

Paladin’s Strength and Paladin’s Hope – T. Kingfisher

Two Kingfisher books made the list this year. I love the world she’s created and the humor in these books is the best.

 

Murder on Cold Street – Sherry Thomas

Another great book in the series. LOL at this point I’m hazy on the details but I know I loved it and I have the last book waiting on my shelf.

 

Murderbot – Martha Wells

I read Exit Strategy, Network Effect, and Fugitive Telemetry this year (books 4-6 of the series) and I’m putting them all on the list. I love Murderbot.

 

Delivering Evil for Experts, and Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped – Marie Annette

Marie Anette is a new to me author this year. I loved this series and world she has built and am so happy she has a nice backlist for me to dig into.

 

 

The top 3 webcomics were super easy to pick out. After that, I absolutely cannot do it. There are so many good ones I’m reading, so I’m sticking with top 3 and then a huge list of honorable mentions.

 

The Gentle Way – by True

I am such a fangirl of this one. I love it so much! The characters are so fun, the art is amazing, and the humor and story just get me. Plus, I’m learning a little bit about judo. A shy girl is trying to get better at judo and she meets a handsome stranger who helps her out but won’t teach her, for reasons. But he likes her and she’s breaking down his walls. It’s sooooooo good.

 

Midnight Poppyland – by Lilydusk

I still love this one so much. I really hope she gets some deals to get this in paper one day. A small town girl meets a mafia bad boy. Season 2 has had so many good parts and so many parts where crap hit the ceiling. Again, the story and art here is amazing.

 

A Business Proposal –  by Guava Farm, Perilla, NARAK, and Haehwa

This is like one of those old romantic comedies. I laughed so hard and have read it over and over again. A girl accidently goes on a blind date with the CEO of her company and he decides to marry her. Hijinks galore. It’s so much fun. This one is complete too so I can read the finished story over without waiting for updates. It’s a definitely plus.

 

Honorable Mentions (aka others I really like, but don’t get me started on all of the ones I actually like and read):

 

Webtoon:

The Empress Remarried

Purple Hyacinth

Covenant

Suitor Armor

Unholy Blood

Everything is Fine

Swamp & Sea

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

The Kiss Bet

Lore Olympus

 

Tapas:

Painful, but Desirable

Positively Yours

All the Things I like About You

One More Try

I’m the Tyrant’s Secretary

 

Manta:

Under the Oak Tree

 

According to my Webtoons stats (so not including all the apps I read on), my top genres were Romance, Fantasy, and Drama. They say I read 296 episodes from 70 romance series. That seems like a lot, but I did binge a few and I have done a lot of re-reading of favorite episodes. LOL it still seems like a lot more than I really did, but who knows.

Another One

So I finally joined the cool kids and caught up with the Lore Olympus webtoon. I tried it once or twice before and didn’t really love it right off. I wasn’t sure about the art because my personal preference is more realistic looking characters, but it really grew on me and I can really appreciate how well drawn they are and how realistic their expressions are. Her version the underworld/Olympus/mortal realm came alive in the artwork. Plus, a big part of the story is dealing with trauma and I probably wasn’t ready to read about that when I tried it earlier.

One of the reasons I had a hard time getting back to it is because there are so many episodes out and I figured I was way behind on the story, like starting a series with 10 books already out. But I forgot this is a webtoon and even though it’s been years since episode 1, it hasn’t been that long in the story. Reading it all at once (most of it anyway) was actually really nice because the story is really tight and when the scenes jump around, they always come back together and it was fun to be able to see that. In other webtoons I read, I sometimes have to re-read to put a story arc together.  

 

Yep, I guess I’m a fan now. It’s a very good comic and deserves the praise it’s getting. Plus, with it becoming more mainstream now, it can only be good for other webtoons that I love. I’m really hoping a few of my other favorites get printed.

A Business Proposal

Since I started down the road of web comics full time last year, I have probably spent between $150.00 -$200.00 on “money” for episodes. I started on Webtoons where I still read the most. Then, after debating with myself for a while, I decided to start using Tapas. And recently, I subscribed to Manta comics after getting sucked into one of theirs. I mean, I could read the free stuff or wait for free episodes but I don’t want to. I’m not worried about the money and I feel like it’s going to support the creators that I’ve really enjoyed. I am still deep down the rabbit hole with web comics and have no plans to come out. There are just so many stories that I’ve loved so much so they’re basically like books in that regard. In fact, I really wish some of them could be published traditionally so I could have a physical copy. I even joined Patreon so I could support some of my favorites. I spend less than $10.00 a month on Patreon so it’s not much at all but it’s something.

 

I just finished A Business Proposal on Tapas and I have to say it might have beat Midnight Poppy Land for #1 favorite. I’m calling it a tie for now. If MLP were not on hiatus, it’s possible it would still be ahead. A Business Proposal is finished and I absolutely love that I have a complete story to re-read. And I have definitely been re-reading it. It is a rom com that made me laugh out loud and just feel good. A girl goes on a blind date for a friend and pretends to be a femme fatale to get rid of him. Unfortunately for her, he’s decided to marry the blind date to get his grandfather off his back and he’s also the CEO of her company. Hijinks ensue. The comedy reminds me so much of silly comedy in old movies like The Glass Bottom Boat. The misunderstandings get cleared up before too many episodes and there’s not a ton of extra drama. Ha-ri, the main female character is funny, but she’s also smart and has a lot going for her. Taemu, the main male character is the good looking, rich boss. The thing I love the most about their relationship is that he’s all in from the beginning. He doesn’t even question why. And while it may seem like he has the upper hand, she really does have him wrapped around her little finger even if she doesn’t realize it. Besides the story, the art is fantastic. I don’t always love when web comics use the chibi style, even for comedic relief, but it is so funny here. There’s a lot of understated humor that just gets me. Anyway, A Business Proposal has joined MPL on the list of favorites and it will most definitely show up on my "best of" list for 2021.