I’ve been all over the place this year, from studying in England to traveling in Italy and Puerto Rico to coming back home to southeast Kansas. For me, one of the only constants of the past year has involved reading. Whether I was alone in quarantine in England or enjoying the beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico, I could frequently be found with my nose in a book. (As I write this, I am currently working on reading my 81st book this year!) I’ve always enjoyed reading, but I found it to be particularly comforting during this difficult year. So, I thought I’d write a quick blog post to sum up my year in books. If you’re looking for a recommendation for your next read, you’re definitely in the right place!
Before I briefly cover my year in reading, I also want to put in a plug for getting a library card from the State Library of Kansas. As an avid reader, I know the cost of purchasing books can add up quickly. I saved a lot of money this year by checking eBooks out for free from CloudLibrary with my state library card!
With that in mind, my first five-star read of the year was The Nickel Boys by Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead. I read this book in February for a Marshall Scholars book club (which was one of the absolute highlights of my time spent isolated in England). Two other five-star reads I finished as part of that book club this year were Exit West by Mohsin Hamid and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.
I read the most books during the months of May and June (when I read 15 and 16 books, respectively). The incredible books I read during these months will always be tied up in my memories of traveling in England, from reading The Thursday Murder Club at the White Cliffs of Dover to reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream right before seeing the play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. I also really enjoyed reading Hamnet right before visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. (If you’re curious about reading more about these travels, they are all chronicled in my previous blog posts!)
While I didn’t read quite as many books in July, I still managed to finish nine books while traveling in Italy. (I find that I am always able to finish more books while traveling!) This included my favorite book of the year, The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. I read this while on a train in Italy, and was absolutely riveted by the story. And I clearly wasn’t the only fan of this read since it was later selected as a Pulitzer Prize winner! If you take nothing else away from this blog post, note my short (but accurate) Goodreads review of this book: “An absolute must-read.”
Other five-star reads that I finished while in Italy included Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (which convinced me to add Bletchley Park to my bucket list of future places to visit in England), Northern Spy by Flynn Berry, and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. (I was definitely feeling like reading historical fiction while in Italy, if you can’t tell!)
After returning from Italy to England, I was focused on finishing my dissertation. While this meant that I didn’t read nearly as many books in August, I was still able to finish my favorite science fiction read of the year: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. And my favorite dissertation-related read was The Big Truck that Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster by Jonathan M. Katz. While this book was originally published in 2013, it is (unfortunately) just as relevant today as it was when it was first published. As someone who was only 12 years old at the time of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, my knowledge about both the earthquake itself and the aid response was certainly not up to par. I learned a lot while reading this book, and highly recommend reading it in its entirety.
After finishing my dissertation, I packed all of my belongings and moved back home to the United States! I then finished my last reading spree of the year while on a short trip to Puerto Rico in September. I can’t think of a more perfect brain break than reading by the water for days on end, and I am beyond grateful that I was able to do just that in Puerto Rico before starting my first “big girl” job! The three best books I read on that trip were It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, The Riviera House by Natasha Lester, and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
This year was filled with ups and downs — from having some of the most amazing travel experiences of my life to spending more than a month in complete isolation in a different country. Throughout it all, I definitely felt like Emilia Fox said it best: “I never feel lonely if I’ve got a book — they’re like old friends. Even if you’re not reading them over and over again, you know they are there. And they’re part of your history. They sort of tell a story about your journey through life.” Having read 28,842 pages during yet another unprecedented year, I concur! Here are all of my five-star reads from 2021:
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
- Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuro Ishiguro
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
- Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
- The Guest List by Lucy Folley
- The Push by Ashley Audrain
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
- The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer
- The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
- Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
- The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
- Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- The Big Truck that Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster by Jonathan M. Katz
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
- The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang
To read my reviews of these books (as well as the other 49 books I read), check out my Goodreads profile. And if we’re not already friends on Goodreads, add me because I love seeing what my friends are reading!
Thank you for reading about my year in reading, and happy New Year! May your 2022 be filled with happiness and five-star reads!
Clara Kathleen 