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.

Merry Christmas, 2021

I’ve had a nice (and pretty quiet) Christmas holiday. The Saturday before Christmas, I went with my mom and sister and a bunch of nieces and nephews to SL. We went to breakfast and then to the giving machines in the City Creek shopping center. I bought school supplies, clean water, diapers, and chickens to give to others in need. I think the kids had fun. I know I did.

My actual Christmas was low key. My sister got covid earlier this month and it’s been going around her family. We only had a few of them (that had tested negative that day) at dinner on Christmas Eve. Then for actual Christmas, I slept in and then didn’t do much. A little cooking and laundry and movies later in the evening. LOL I have decided that maybe I should leave something to be unwrapped so it actually feels like Christmas. Especially, since I didn’t put up a tree this year. 

Today it’s been snowing so I’ve had another “at home” day. I streamed my church service and then have been doing one of my favorite after-Christmas activities from my childhood: reading and eating mom’s leftover rolls. The only thing missing is that old heater vent in the kitchen. 

Merry Christmas

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.

Lights

 Yesterday I got out to see some Christmas lights with my brother and sister and their kids. It was kind of nice. It was the last warm-ish day we are having according to the forecast so it was a great time to go. 

I haven’t put up a tree this year and so far have no plans to do so, but I did get some lights hung up in a window.  Lights and my nativities will be my decorations this year, unless I get super motivated about a tree. 

Now I’m having a little bit of a lazy Sunday after church, sitting in my library with a blanket and book and Christmas music playing. It’s a good day. 

Happy Late Thanksgiving

Last week I had my annual staycation and it was lovely. Shopping, eating, hanging out with the family, and doing a few (very few) things around the house. I rarely thought about work. I didn’t check the news at all and didn’t have that much time on social media. By Sunday night, I was ready to get back into the normal workday schedule. It would have been a great Monday morning, but I’m completely off my regular sleeping schedule. Ha ha…

 

I’m really grateful for the time I had off. It helps me rest and reset and feel like I can make it to the end of the year. I’m also grateful that I have a regular schedule most of the time. It’s nice to get back to it.

Hello November

Did I think October was my favorite month? I'm rethinking this because so far I'm loving November. I tried to take a picture of the leaves on my tree but I couldn't do them justice. I am loving the gold and red leaves and especially the piles of leaves that are underneath the trees and in the roads.  The piles won't be there long since the lawn care company is here. But my tree still has plenty left to fall and create a new pile.

Other than that life is the same. I'm not that exciting. I've done a few puzzles and I've been reading my Webtoons. 

My pretzel ghosts did turn out super cute!

Mushrooms

So I noticed the other day that I have mushrooms growing in a few places in my lawn. I mean they are just mushrooms and it's not a big deal, but my lawn doesn't normally have the conditions for mushroom growing. It's been a wet October and I've loved it. 

The huge mushrooms made me happy. Also, it made me consider garden gnomes for just a minute. Something about that picture just needs a gnome. The mushrooms won't last and neither will this month or season but I'm enjoying myself in the moment. 

Halloween is coming up and my family is having a "spooky" dinner together. I'm going to attempt a cheeseball that looks like a pumpkin and ghost pretzels. I'm kind of excited. I bought the white chocolate and candy eye balls for the pretzels yesterday and I'm just waiting for the weekend.