2021 End-of-the-Year Book Survey

Head Full of Books: 2021 End-of-Year Book Survey

Stats:

• Number of books read and completed: 150
• Number of re-reads: 9
• Genre you read the most: Literary fiction (50)
  
• Number of books started but not finished:  4, but I didn't keep very good records of my DNF books this year.
  
• Number of children's books read: 21+
  
• Number of poetry books read or reread: 25
• Number of memoirs and nonfiction books read: 36
• Number of graphic or illustrated books read, not children's books: 4

Reading Survey:

(Click on book title if you want to read my review of it.)

 

 

1. Best books read 1n 2021:

• Literary fiction: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
  
• Best Poetry: Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood
  
• Best graphic novel:  Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
  
• Nonfiction:  The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

2. Books I thought I'd love, but didn’t:

• The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
• Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
  

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book:

•   The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Good)
  

4. Book I “pushed” the most people to read:

•  Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  

5.  Best series:

•  Best series starter: Magpie Murders (Susan Ryeland #1) by Anthony Horowitz 
•  Best sequel: N/A
•  Best series ender: Terciel and Elinor (Old Kingdom #6) by Garth Nix
  

6. Favorite new author I discovered in 2021:

•  Maggie O'Farrell
  

7. Best book from a genre I don’t typically read:

• 
   Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu -- though it is literary fiction it is written as a TV script with stage directions, which I usually avoid reading plays and scripts.
  

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year:

•  I Am, I Am, I Am: Seven Brushes With Death by Maggie O'Farrell (unputdownable)
  

9. Favorite book club selection based on the discussion:

•  This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
  

10. Favorite cover of a book read in 2021:

• 
  Something Happened In Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice by Cleano, et al
  
  

11. Most memorable character of 2021:

• Adunni in The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
  

12. Most beautifully written book read in the year:

• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
  

13. Most thought-provoking/ life-changing book of the year:

• A Life On Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough
  

14. Book I've never read UNTIL 2021. Can you believe it? 

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  

15. Favorite passage/quote from a book read in 2021:

• 
  "Every life has its kernel, its hub, its epicenter, from which everything flows out, to which everything returns. This moment is the absent mother's: the boy, the empty house, the deserted yard, the unheard cry ... It will lie at her very core, for the rest of her life" (Hamnet  p. 9,10).

16. Shortest and longest book read in 2021:

• Dune by Frank Herbert -- 890 pages
• 84, Charing Cross Road  by Helene Hanff -- 94 pages
  

17. Book which shocked me the most:

• The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison that Made People Glow in the Dark (Young Reader's Edition) by Kate Moore.
  

18. Best audiobooks I listened to in 2021:

• Fiction: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
  
• Nonfiction: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
  

19. Favorite Children's, JH, and SH nonfiction books I read for my role as a Cybils Judge

•  (SH)- Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights by Karen Blumenthal
  
•  (JH)- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
  
• (Children's)- Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming
  

20. Favorite book by an author I’ve previously read

•  Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
  

21. Best book I read this past year based SOLELY on a recommendation or peer pressure:

• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (the Graphic version) by Tomothy Snyder. Recommended by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC
  

22. Newest fictional crush:

•  Jack Valen in The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah
  

23. Best 2021 debut: 

•  The only debut novel I read in 2021, to my knowledge, was Mary Jane by Blau. I didn't particularly like that book. One debut book I have on my TBR which I hope to still read is The Liar's Dictionary by Williams.
  

24. Best world-building/Most vivid setting I read this year:

• 
  Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  

25. Book which put a smile on my face/was FUN to read:

• The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken
  

26. Book which made me cry:

• Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
  

27. Hidden Gem of the Year? There are several:

•  Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
  
•  Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine
  
• Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri
  
• 
  The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Adunhati Roy
  

28. Anything odd about this year's reading list:

• So many poetry books. I went on a poetry bender in April.
  

29. Most unique book:

• Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
• Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
  

30. Book which made me angry (due to the topic):

• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich [Indigenous peoples' rights]
  

31. Favorite poetry or short story collection: 

• Poetry: Dearly: New Poems by Margaret Atwood; Short Stories: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
  

32. Favorite re-read of the year:

•  This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
  

33. Favorite classic book read during the year:

•  Treasure Island by Stevenson

34. Books I didn’t get to in 2021 are now top priorities in 2022

• Fiction--- Infinite Country by Patricia Engle
  
• Nonfiction--- The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where We Go From Here by Hope Jahren
  
• YA/Junior/Children's--- Mister Impossible (Dreamer series #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
  
• Classic--- Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  
• Poetry/Essays: -- These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
  

35. Bookish goals for 2022

• Complete the tasks set before me as a Cybils book award judge (Jan. 1st to Feb. 14th.)
  
• Write reviews for all book club selections.
• Complete "My One Book" challenge: The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
  
• Read two of the five National Book Award winners.
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner for literature and finish all the past winners on my list, seven in all, counting the 2022 winner. 
• Read at least eight classic books on my list.
  

Blogging survey:

1. Favorite reviews that I wrote in 2021

• Hamnet
  
• The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
  

2. Most popular reviews of the year based on stats:

• Dragon Hoops -- 848 views.
  

3. Best discussion/non-review post:

• Sunday Salon:  We Will Survive This. January 10, 2021
  

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

•  None. COVID protocols! 😨
  

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2021

• Best? Can't think of a best moment but a very good one was my read-along with Helen M. on the book Without You, There Is No Us. 😊
  

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

• I was very streaky this year. I'd read a lot but not blog, then I'd have to blog a lot to catch up. If I'd don't write reviews right away I tend to lose interest in writing them at all. At one point I was 10 reviews behind and had to set myself a little personal challenge to catch up. 😒
  

7. Most popular post this year:

• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You -- 1296 views. I wrote this review in 2020 and then updated and reposted it in February after the book won the SH Cybils Nonfiction Award.
  

8. Posts I wish got a bit more love:

• Great Books and Series for Middle Grade Girls. I made the list at the request of a friend. It took me a while to create and got very little Internet traffic for my efforts, though that wasn't why I created the list. 68 views.
• Poetry Seems to Call Out to Me and I Listen. Another unrewarded blogging effort. I reviewed several poetry books and created visuals to coincide. 47 views, zero comments.
• Book Burning: The Push Back. I often hope to generate a discussion amongst my readers but I rarely do. Few readers were even interested enough in this topic, sadly, to even investigate. 39 views.
  

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.):

• None.

10.  How did I do on my reading challenges or goals for 2021?

• Read 100 books this year. ✔ (150 books)
  
• My Own Personal National Book Award Challenge ✔
  
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner and past winners:  ✔
•  The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (2021)
• The Hours by Michael Cunningham (1999)
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2011)
• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
• Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1989)
• One of Ours by Willa Cather (1923)
  
• Read all the 2020 Printz winners, the award book and the honor books. I read 4 of 5.  ✔-
• • “Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story),” by Daniel Nayeri.  
  • “Apple (Skin to the Core),” by Eric Gansworth  
  • “Dragon Hoops,” created by Gene Luen Yang 
  • “Every Body Looking,” by Candice Iloh  
  • “We Are Not Free,” by Traci Chee
   
• Classics Club Spins and classics club: 6 classics this year. ✔
• Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Kafka
• One of Ours by Cather
• Pride and Prejudice by Austen (reread)
• Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde
• Treasure Island by Stevenson
• The Painted Veil by Maugham
  

• Big Book Summer Challenge. Eight completed ✔
  • 1. End of Watch by Stephen King, 448 pages 
  • 2. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, 464 pages
  • 3. We Are Not Free by Traci Chee, 400 pages
  • 4. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, 467 pages 
  • 5. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, 465 pages 
  • 6. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 496 pages
  • 7. One of Ours by Willa Cather,  459 pages
  • 8. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, 464 pages 
•  Audiobook Challenge: My goal=25, I listened to 43+ ✔
• I completed my 'one big reading goal of the year': to read Dune ✔

-Gratefully turning the page over on 2021.

-Anne