It is finally time to talk about my favourite books that I read in 2021! This is one of my favourite posts to do as I love gushing about the ten books I absolutely adored in the past year. I read some really great books in 2021 and had a lot more 5 star reads than I did last year, which made it hard to narrow down my favourites. Unlike in previous years, every book on this list I gave 5 stars! As I loved all of these books, I couldn't really put them in any kind of order, other than my top two.
1. The Simple Wild by KA Tucker
This is easily my favourite book I read in 2021 and one that really caught me off guard. I had heard great things about it so ended up picking it up on a whim when I wasn't sure what I wanted to read next and then completely fell in love. The Simple Wild follows Calla as she moves to Alaska for the summer to spend time with her estranged father, who she has just discovered has cancer. When she first arrives, she meets surly pilot Jonah and the two develop an instant rivalry. This is their absolutely adorable enemies to lovers romance, set in the most beautiful Alaskan town, with some more serious and emotional topics mixed in as we see Calla coming to terms with her father's diagnosis. I had so many emotions reading this! We had the highs of Calla and Jonah's developing relationship and some really great banter that came with that, and then the next minute my heart was breaking. I really did adore this book.
2. People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
My second favourite book of the year was less of a surprise after Emily Henry's 2020 release made it on to my favourites list of that year. People We Meet On Vacation is the story of Poppy and Alex, two best friends who took a summer trip together every year for ten years, until one summer changed everything and the two hadn't spoken since. However, two years after that summer and starting to feel stuck in a rut in her life, Poppy reaches out to Alex and convinces him to take one last trip with her. We get to see their friendship develop through chapters flashing back to their previous summer trips, while we see the friendship turn into something more on their current trip. I adored their friendship, it was so much fun spending time with them in both the past and present and I was really rooting for them to repair their friendship. The friends-to-lovers romance was so sweet as it was clear to see just how much these characters cared for one another. I also really loved books about travel in 2021, probably as it wasn't really possible in real life, so the travelling aspect of this book was a lot of fun as they visited so many different places over the years and we got a small glimpse into all of those trips. I just love Emily Henry's writing and can't wait to read more from her.
3. Eleanor & Grey by Brittainy C Cherry
This was my first Brittainy C Cherry, despite having heard great things about her books for a while now, and I'm so glad I started with this one as it is my favourite of hers that I have read so far. In Eleanor & Grey we are following our main characters as they develop an unlikely friendship as teenagers and help each other through some very difficult times. The two are then forced apart and completely lose touch. In the second half of the book, they are brought back together as Eleanor becomes the nanny to Grey's children, but he is nothing like the boy she used to know as he grieves the loss of his wife. This book broke my heart! While they are both dealing with really difficult situations in the first half of the book, their developing friendship and then relationship is the sunshine in all of the sadness, both in their lives and for the reader. To see them brought back together and not be that sunshine again was just so sad. Grey is so broken and his children are really struggling to cope with their loss and it is heartbreaking. However, I loved seeing how things developed with Eleanor came into their lives and how she helped all of them. I still struggle to talk about this book without just gushing.
4. Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard
This was another surprise, although it really shouldn't have been as Sara Barnard is one of my favourite authors. I didn't have high hopes, despite loving the author, as I haven't been loving YA anymore. While I think this is technically classed as YA, it didn't read like that at all. Destination Anywhere follows Peyton who has always really struggled to make friends and has dealt with a lot of horrible bullying over her time in school. After things with her new 'friends' take a turn for the worst, Peyton buys a one way ticket to Canada to run away from her life. This is the story of her travels around Canada as she makes friends along the way, while also telling the story of the developing friendship that pushed her to run away through flashbacks. As I said before, I really loved reading books involving travel in 2021 and I think that is a big part of why I loved this book so much. I loved experiencing Peyton's travels around Canada with her and it made me want to book a trip to the places she visited. The flashback chapters were really hard to read about as they detailed the horrific bullying Peyton had to endure. However, that made the fun travelling chapters even more enjoyable as they were usually a bit of light relief from the hard stuff. Sara Barnard can do no wrong for me.
5. From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata
I have been wanting to read this book for so long but never got around to it until 2021, and now I wish I had discovered it sooner. This is enemies to lovers and involves figure skating, I should have known I would love it. From Lukov With Love follows Jasmine who has spent most of her life training to compete in figure skating but after losing her doubles partner to another skater, her career has come to a standstill and her time to compete is running out. When her long time rival is in need of a new partner and reaches out to her to join him, she knows he is her only option, even if she despises him. If they want to compete in the upcoming season, the two need to put in some intense training sessions and after spending so much time together, they start to wonder if they really hate each other after all. This was the perfect enemies to lovers as it was such a slow burn and I loved every second of it. We really got to see these two go from absolutely despise each other, to being able to sort of tolerate each other, to maybe actually friends and then eventually, after waiting for it for so long, lovers. I adored these characters and their romance. I also really liked the insight into the figure skating world, as well as the interesting family dynamic in Jasmine's family. There was a lot to enjoy in this book and I loved it all. I will definitely be reading more Mariana Zapata soon.
Now for something completely different. This is a thriller that I was not expecting to love as much as I did. It is following a lawyer who becomes involved in a high profile case in which a famous actor is accused of murdering his girlfriend and head of security. However, the serial killer who committed the crime is on the jury. This is one of the most messed up thrillers I have ever read, as I typically stick to more domestic or psychological thrillers. It was full of twists and turns that kept me reading and had me desperate to know what was to come. It is so cleverly written and I was very impressed by my first experience of Steve Cavanagh's writing, especially as someone who doesn't typically read this kind of book.
7. The Only Plane In The Sky: An Oral History Of 9/11 by Garrett M Graff
Let me get this straight; I didn't enjoy any part of this book. It was, however, one of the most intense and powerful books I have ever read. The Only Plane In The Sky is an account of the events of September 11th 2001, told through interviews collected by the author. It is the most thorough account of that day that I have ever come across and features excerpts from interviews with everyone you possibly think of. Being only six years old at the time, I don't remember much of that day. Listening to this audiobook gave me a small idea of how terrifying the whole situation must have been for those all around the world watching these events unfold. It may not have been an enjoyable read, but it is definitely one that will stick with me for a long time.
I debated putting this one on the list as I had already included the first book in the series as my favourite book of the year, but this is one of my favourite things I read in 2021. This is a novella in the Simple Wild series and follows Calla and Jonah as they celebrate their first Christmas together. As a Christmas lover, this was completely perfect for me. I loved being with these characters again and it really felt like I was spending Christmas with them all. I obviously can't say too much without spoiling parts of the other books but this was everything I could have asked for and had me feeling every emotion.
9. Southern Storms by Brittainy C Cherry
Another Brittainy C Cherry book made it on to the list, are we even surprised? Southern Storms follows a woman who moves to a small town when fleeing an abusive marriage and finds herself drawn to the town's grumpy loner. Of course, as all her books seems to be, this was a heartbreakingly beautiful book with a romance I was really rooting for. Both Kennedy and Jax are very broken characters dealing with a lot of difficulty in their past and through finding each other they start to learn to let others in. Their romance was incredibly sweet, despite Jax's bad boy demeanour, and I loved watching their relationship develop. I really enjoyed the small town setting as well, especially the antics of some of the neighbours. This was a hard book to read but I really loved it.
10. Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) In Songs by Sara Bareilles
This is one that I read at exactly the time I needed to read it. It is a collection of essays about her life, her journey in discovering music and her career so far. They cover a whole array of topics including her childhood, her personal struggles and her songs. I related a lot to her personal struggles and found a lot of what she discusses struck a chord with me. I just love Sara Bareilles and her music so it was lovely to get to know her more through this book.
Those are my top ten favourite books of 2021! I read some really great books last year and some of these I know I will be thinking about for years to come.
What was your favourite book of 2021?
Sophie :)
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