In which I continue my blast from the past with a list of my favourite books of 2021.
2021 was an unexpectedly fabulous year of reading for me! I read 86 books, a personal best in the years that I've been keeping track, and I found a lot of new favourites. Looking at general trends, I loved a large number of science-fiction books this year (4 of my top 10 books). Perhaps unsurprisingly, in a pandemic year, I was also drawn to books about lonely, isolated people finding companionship.
Honourable Mentions
So many great books means that a few of them just missed the cut. I absolutely love the ballet Nijinsky, which uses some of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (The Year 1905) in its score, so I was fascinated by Julian Barnes' The Noise of Time, a spare, compact book about the composer and the compromises he must make to the integrity of his art to appease the Soviet Union. I raced through Juliet Marillier's fantasy novel The Daughter of the Forest, which is loosely based on loosely based on the legend of the Children of Lir and "The Six Swans", and rooted for its protagonist as she endures hardship for the chance to save her beloved brothers. Continuing my exploration of Jane Austen's works, I enjoyed Emma, but admit that I needed a second read to truly understand and adore it. I thought E.J. Beaton's political fantasy The Councillor was tremendous fun with a protagonist I adored. And of course Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series continues to deliver and I loved her take on a murder mystery in Fugitive Telemetry.
The List
"I can't always speak my mind, not if I want to get the things I need or go places I need to go. Everything I do, every word I say, is calculated to make people comfortable. To make them respect me. None of it is a lie, but it is an act, and it's one that gets very, very tiring."
10. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
I wasn't as taken with Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers' third Wayfarers book and wondered if the series was losing its shine, but the final volume, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within moved me to tears. Chambers' unique brand of hopepunk is virtually plotless - it features several aliens who face travel delays and are unexpectedly stranded together at an interstellar port - but as the characters' stories are revealed to one another, they show each other the kindness and understanding so present in all of Chambers' work. The book never feels preachy, and yet each of the characters' predicaments have real world resonance. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within offers the same comfort as slipping into your pajamas and holding a cup of your hot beverage of choice in hand. There's something powerful in that. While saying goodbye to the Wayfarers series is a bittersweet affair, I couldn't have asked for a more satisfying end than The Galaxy, and the Ground Within.
"The twilight struck chilly as he went outside. He experienced for the first time that special dread brought by the first touch of winter to lovers who have nowhere to meet except out of doors."
9. The Charioteer by Mary Renault
I've had Mary Renault's books on my to-read list for years and I certainly didn't expect her WWII novel to be the first book of hers I tried, but thank you to my friend Six, who recommended The Charioteer because they were right - it's brilliant. Written in 1953, wasn't accepted by U.S. publishers until 1959 because of its positive portrayal of homosexuality! The story follows Laurie, a soldier wounded at Dunkirk, who must choose whether his affections lie with Andrew, a young Quaker conscientious objector working at his hospital, or Ralph, a naval officer that he looked up to when they were both at an all-boys boarding school. I loved the intimacy and the relationships between the characters and I think this is a book that I will get even more out of when I inevitably re-read it.
"But in grieving for a murderer, thou art not grieving for the monstrous. Thou grievest for the man who failed to reject the monstrous act."
8. The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
The Goblin Emperor is one of my all-time favourite novels, so when I heard Katherine Addison was writing a novella set in the same world it quickly became one of my most anticipated books of the year. The Witness for the Dead lives up to the hype. Building on her brilliant world building, The Witness for the Dead is a gently paced mystery, and while there is darkness and murder, there is also kindness, compassion, and healing. The real draw though is protagonist Thara Celehar, who is called to help the common people by speaking on behalf of the recently deceased. He's a layered, lonely character and I absolutely loved living his daily routine and watching him work. By the end he felt like a dear friend and I look forward to reading more of his adventures.
"The universe erases me, but it also remakes me again and again, so there must be something worthwhile in this image."
7. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Tightly plotted and perfectly-paced, The whip-smart sci-fi dystopia The Space Between Worlds is set on an Earth where multiverse travel is possible with one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, a poor, Black, queer girl plucked from the rural wastelands because her life has been cut short on 372 other worlds. Now she has an apartment in walled-off Wiley City, an aloof but beautiful handler to flirt with, and is on the road to citizenship and security, but when one of her few remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, Cara is drawn into a plot that threatens the entire multiverse. The Space Between Worlds is such an assured debut I can't believe it's a first novel! The plotting will make your head spin, but it's grounded in a layered exploration of identity and privilege and characters and relationships that you root for. It's absolutely one of the best books I read all year and I love that it features a bisexual woman as its protagonist!
"Our will and fates do so contrary run."
6. The Sugared Game by K.J. Charles
I originally picked up the first book in K.J. Charles' 1920s set historical romance trilogy assuming it would be a guilty pleasure read, but I adored both Slippery Creatures and The Sugared Game. The very things that seem to have put off some romance readers - the lack of a neat happily ever after ending for each book and the amount of plot - have elevated this romance into my favourite ten books of the year! The sizzling chemistry but complications between Will Darling, a bisexual WWI veteran-turned rare book dealer, and his enigmatic, aristocratic, sometimes lover and spy Kim Secretan left me torn between wanting to read it all in one sitting and drawing it out so the series would never end. The plot is engaging, the secondary female characters charming and worthy of their own novel, the sexual tension between Kim and Will simmers, and the sex scenes are enough to make you fan yourself or open a window. I've been putting off finishing this series because I can't bear for it to be over, but I really do need more Will and Kim in my life.
"What was it about whiteness that seemed to elicit an infinite spring of faith and second chances?"
5. The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya
The Subtweet, a look at the transformative friendship and falling out between two brown women in the music business, is practically flawless. I love that Shraya, a Canadian trans woman of colour, is doing so well and while this is my first work of hers that I've read, it certainly won't be my last! Shraya's razor sharp commentary on the music industry, and especially the experience of being a brown, queer, woman in the industry is told through concise and exacting prose. I was floored by how clever and incisive this book is as Shraya lays bare the insecurities of both Neela and Rukmini and comments on the process of making art in the modern age.
"Obey, obey, obey, then do what you want."
4. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Years ago I read Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and really enjoyed it. I've been meaning to pick this book up ever since, but only putting it on my 35 to read before 35 blog post and its number coming up on my one of my friend Rick's BookTube Spins gave me the push I needed. I knew nothing about nineteenth century China, so Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was an educational and engaging read for me. I loved reading about the laotong/"old same", the idea of an emotional match between two women that will last a lifetime, and about nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women used to communicate in secret. The central relationship in the book is between two of these women, Lily and Snow Flower, who are "old sames". I was deeply invested in their bond and desperately wanted everything to work out! Although the passages on foot-binding can be graphic and may not be for the squeamish, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is an affecting story of female friendship and survival that sucked me in.
"She'd said, When you know why I had to come with you, then we can talk. And she hadn't meant When you figure out the political situation on Lsel Station, she'd meant – She'd meant, When you understand that when the Empire commands, I can't say no. She'd meant When you understand that there's no room for me to say yes, even if I want to. She'd meant You don't understand that there's no such thing as being free."
3. A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
The more I sit with A Desolation Called Peace, the more I love it. The Hugo Award winning, whip-smart sequel to ambitious space opera A Memory Called Empire is practically perfect. It's well-written, with a focus on language appropriate for an alien culture that values poetry and literature, the character arcs are well fleshed out, the world building continues to astonish, and the depiction of a first contact scenario is fascinating. It's Mahit who is the beating heart of this series though, and her identity crisis and the muddle of her feelings as she questions where her loyalties lie and how she can reconcile her feelings for a woman from a colonizing empire who will always see her as a "barbarian" is exquisite. For me, this is the rare sequel that improves on its predecessor, but both books in this duology are a treat and will undoubtedly be viewed as science-fiction classics in decades to come.
"Perhaps he has the Kind One speak it for him first, before he tries it out on his own; smiling over the syllables, the sound like a sweet on his tongue, rhyming with the word of his soul; a discovery of not only his new name, but a guiding philosophy on life. That this is how everyone should be named: a hand, thrown into a bag of words, in search of that singular and fitting shape."
2. The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
Until September, I was certain The Vanished Birds would top my 2021 list of Favourite Books. Although I've ultimately ranked it 2nd, it was extremely close and this is one of those books that will live in my heart (and on my book shelf) forever. Told through Jimenez's lyrical prose, The Vanished Birds is about the devastating impact of both colonialism and capitalism on people and worlds, but it's also about the choices we make and the relationships we hold dear. I still can't believe this is a debut novel, it's so accomplished; far reaching with its ideas and scope, yet intimate and moving on a personal level, it's one of only a few titles all year to actually make me cry. After I turned the final page, I practically thrust it at my mom, knowing she too would love it (she did). It feels like it's flown under the radar and I have no idea why because it's such a brilliant book and there's just something about the way Simon Jimenez writes that works so well for me. I can't wait to read everything he ever writes!
"I suppose we always hope that those closest to us can see into our hearts—but unless we invite them, or show them in words or deeds, how can they?"
1. The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
As much as I adored The Vanished Birds, in the end my list really couldn't have been topped by anything besides Victoria Goddard's extraordinary novel. At just over 900 pages, The Hands of the Emperor is a cross between Disney's Moana, beloved TV series The West Wing. the Broadway musical Hamilton, and Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor. While many fantasy novels are about the quest, the adventure, The Hands of the Emperor is about the quiet work of building a better world through competent, compassionate government. In this time, when governments around the world seem to be actively working to kill their citizens through deliberate mismanagement and greed, there's something powerful about a fictional government that implements universal basic income so its citizens no longer live in poverty. The Hands of the Emperor is also about the profound relationship that develops between His Radiancy, The Sun-on-Earth, a literal god, and Cliopher "Kip' Mdang, a supremely capable cinnamon roll of a man who happens to be His Radiancy's personal secretary, after Kip dares to invite his lord to vacation with him in his distant homeland. This is a character-driven slow-burn of a novel about devoting your life to something and someone worthy of it, about the conflict between being pulled home, but knowing you have a duty to make the world a better place, and about two lonely, middle-aged men finding each other and being changed by one another. I have never read anything quite like it and I love it with all of my heart.
Thanks for sitting through my look back at what I read and loved in 2021. I promise we're onto this year's reads next!
Next up: My 2022 Least Favourites
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