2021 reading wrap-up

Hello, friends! Today is my 2021 reading wrap-up, which will be fairly long and statistics-filled, because I love stats. So without further ado, here are the books I read in 2021!

Key

• (📚) = owned prior to 2021
• (🇨🇦) = Canadian author
• (🌾) = Indigenous author
• (🌈) = LGBTQ2S+ author or representation
• (📖) = on TBR prior to 2021
• (🎶) = audiobook
• (🆓) = from the library
• (🔎) = translated book
• (✨) = favourite

Books read

• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (📚, 🌈, 📖, ✨): 5 stars
• The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya (📚,🇨🇦 , 🌈, 📖, ✨): 5 stars
• Vi by Kim Thúy (🇨🇦, 🆓, 🔎): 4 stars
• The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware (📖, 🆓): 4 stars
• Red River Girl: the Life and Death of Tina Fontaine by Joanna Jolly (📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese (📚, 🇨🇦, 🌾, 📖): 4.5 stars
• Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith (🌈, 📖, 🆓): 2 stars
• Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo (🇨🇦, 📖, 🆓): 4 stars
• The One by John Marrs (📖): 4.5 stars
• Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis (🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• The Divines by Ellie Eaton (🆓): 3 stars
• Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho (📖, 🎶, 🆓): 5 stars
• Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo (📖, 🆓, 🔎): 4 stars
• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown (📖, 🎶, 🆓): 5 stars
• Lobizona by Romina Garber (📖, 🆓): 4 stars

• Night by Elie Wiesel (📚, 📖, 🎶, 🆓, 🔎): unrated
• The Future of Another Timeline by Analee Newitz (🌈, 📖, 🆓): 4 stars
• We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates (📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner (📖, 🆓): 3 stars
• They Said This Would be Fun by Eternity Martis (🇨🇦, 📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• Love Lives Here by Amanda Jette Knox (🇨🇦, 🌈, 📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4.5 stars
• Theory by Dionne Brand (🇨🇦, 🌈, 📖, 🆓): 3 stars
• From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle (🇨🇦, 🌾, 📖, 🎶, 🆓): 5 stars
• The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed (🌈, 📖, 🆓): 4 stars
• Haben by Haben Girma (🆓): 4 stars
• The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz (📖): 3.5 stars
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (📚, 📖): 3.5 stars
• Home by Toni Morrison (📚): 4 stars
• Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha (📖, 🆓, ✨): 5 stars

• The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh (📖, 🆓, ✨): 4 stars
• Beach Read by Emily Henry (📖, 🆓, ✨): 4.5 stars
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (📚, 🇨🇦, 🌈, 📖): 4 stars
• Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristen Radtke (📖, 🆓): 2 stars
• The Fire Never Goes Out by Noelle Stevenson (📚, 🌈, 📖): 4.5 stars
• On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (🌈): 5 stars
• The Outside Circle by Patti Leboucane-Benson (🇨🇦, 🌾, 🆓): 4 stars
• Brood by Jackie Polzin (🆓): 4 stars
• Islands of Decolonial Love by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (🇨🇦, 🌾, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (🇨🇦, 🌈, 📖, ✨): 5 stars
• Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl (📖, 🆓): 4.5 stars
• Wink, Poppy, Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke (📖, 🆓): 3 stars
• Replay by Ken Grimwood (🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers (🌈, 📖): 3.5 stars
• The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (🇨🇦, 🆓): 4 stars

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: 3.5 stars
• Last Call by Elon Green (🌈, 🎶, 🆓): 4 stars
• Check, Please! Volume 2: Sticks and Scones by Ngozi Ukazu (📚, 🌈, 📖): 5 stars
• A History of My Brief Body by Billy Ray Belcourt (🇨🇦, 🌾, 🌈, 📖, 🎶, 🆓): 4.5 stars
• The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh (📚, 📖): 4 stars
• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (🌈, 📖, 🆓, ✨): 4.5 stars
• She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard (🌈, 📖, 🆓, ✨): 4.5 stars
• Birthday by Meredith Russo (🌈, 📖, 🆓): 2 stars
• Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour (📚, 🌈, 📖): 4 stars
• Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti (🌈, 🆓): 4 stars

Statistics

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Format

• 27 were ebooks
• 14 were physical books
• 14 were audiobooks

AGHHH my goal was to read 15 physical books, I was so close! But all my ebooks and audiobooks were from the library, and I’m always happy supporting my library 😇 I definitely want to try to read more physical books next year, though. There are so many I own that I want to read, I just have to sit down and do it.

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Age

• Adult: 42
• YA: 13

This is pretty par for the course! Definitely less YA than usual, but I said that last year so I guess this is just the ratio from now on.

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Rating

• ★☆☆☆☆: none
• ★★☆☆☆: three
• ★★★☆☆: eight, including four 3.5 stars
• ★★★★☆: 34, including nine 4.5 stars
• ★★★★★: nine
• One unrated

Another overall great reading year! According to Goodreads, my average was 4.1 stars, which is about right! There were definitely a lot of “meh” four stars, books that I rated four stars because they weren’t bad enough for three stars but I also didn’t love, but overall, I think my ratings are pretty true.

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Source

• 41 were from the library
• 15 were books I owned
  • Eleven of which I owned prior to 2020

Again, pretty par for the course. I bought more books this year than I usually do, due to mood reading and wanting to (unsuccessfully) spend less time on screens. Also this number is a little off because I listened to the audiobook for Night but I also own a copy, so I counted it as both.

TBR status

• 41 were on my TBR prior to 2020
• 14 were added to my TBR in 2020

41 is pretty good! This is actually more impulse reads than I thought honestly, but I’m not mad about it.

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Publication

• Seven were published in 2021
• 13 were published in 2020
• 12 were published in 2019
• Five were published in 2018
• Four were published in 2017
• Four were published in 2016
• Ten were published in 2015 or older

Keeping up the trend of being about two years behind everyone else. This is a lot more 2021 releases than I expected, and more current releases than usual! Definitely happy I read so many 2021 and 2020 releases.

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Genres

• 20 were contemporary/general fiction
• 16 were nonfiction, four of which were a memoir
• Six were fantasy/fantastical
• Four were romance
• Three were sci-fi
• Three were horror/thriller
• Two were historical fiction
• One was dystopian

Of these,

• Six were graphic novels
• Three were part of a series
• One was a short story collections

This is a pretty typical breakdown as well! There’s a lot less historical fiction than usual, and much less fantasy/fantastical than last year. I also read about as many books from series as I was expecting. One goal for next year is going be to finish some of the series I have started.

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Canadian and Indigenous authors

• 14 authors were Canadian (25%)
• Five authors were Indigenous (9%)

These numbers are fairly small, and definitely something I want to work on. That being said, 25% and 9% of my overall reading is pretty good! I think I just want to focus on consciously looking for more Indigenous and Canadian authors to read.

Last, I wanted to take a look at the reading goals and TBR I had set earlier this year!

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Goodreads goal: 40 books

I did this! I read over 50 books this year, so I definitely exceeded my goals, despite being in a terrible reading slump for several months.

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Other reading goals

Read one graphic novel: I also achieved this goal! I co-hosted graphics-a-thon and read six graphic novels!

Read one translated book: I also did this! I ended up reading three translated books, which is honestly probably more than I’ve ever read, so I consider this a success!

Read at least 15 books on my physical TBR: SO CLOSE! This will definitely be a goal for 2022.

Read at least four non-fiction books: I achieved this as well! I usually read a decent amount of nonfiction, as it’s all I listen to on audio.

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2021 TBR

As a reminder, here are the books I had on my 2021 TBR. The ones I read have been crossed out.

• The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz
• Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore
• Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
• A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara
• The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
• Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
• Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo
• Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese
• Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
• She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard
• The Project by Courtney Summers

Considering how terrible I am at following TBRs, I consider this a success! Of the 15 books I wanted to read, I read 10 of them, including two 2021 releases! I also own the ones I’m missing, so hopefully I can read them at some point soon.

So that was my reading year! I was so thrilled with how much I read and how great the books I was reading were. Thank you all for the recommendations!

How was your reading year? Did you read a ton of great books? What genre did you read the most from? Let me know!

Ally xx

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