My 2021 “Reads O’ The Year”

Reading and thinking about books, storytelling, and writing is a big part of a writer’s life. No surprises, then, that reading and discussing books is also a central plank of my blog.

Although I don’t post on every book I read and enjoy (‘no time, no time’ she cries, reminiscent of the white rabbit’s plaint of lateness), as regulars here will know, I do only feature books I’ve liked. (I leave the others to the “real reviewers.” 😉 )

Yet even among the books I’ve read and enjoyed, there may be one that stays with me, so that when I cast my mind back over the reading year, it’s the one that stands out.

Other metrics of reading goodness include the rereads: a book encountered last year or a couple of years prior that I find myself picking up again (and again!)

And then, of course, there are the enduring favourites, the books that are like old friends, whose company never tires or grows stale, and which are always assured of their place on the bookshelf.

In terms of the new-to-me books read in 2021, the standout was not a new publication per se, but Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer, published in 2000.

The link to my June post is here:

**What I’m Reading: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver**

But here’s a sample of what I had to say:

“… dear readers, that I loved this book! I really enjoyed everything about it: the strong and compelling environmental themes; the equally strong sense of place (West Virginia / Appalachians, I believe), interwoven with family, community, and historical continuity – along with the contemporary challenges to that; the characters (dear readers, I adored the characters); the storylines; the strong beautiful prose – and just the sheer heart of the narrative.

In fact, it’s one of those books where I kept going back and rereading previous chapters, just to ensure I hadn’t missed any of the goodness.”

As for those other classes of read, the palm for most reread goes to Martha Wells’ marvelous novella, All Systems Red, which I found myself returning to several times. Yep, it really is that good.

What I’m Reading: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

I read it for the first time in 2018 and my summary then still holds good:

“I really enjoyed it: All Systems Red is a fun, light read with a genuinely engaging main character and interesting supporting cast.”

And the enduring favourite? That would be Patricia McKillip’s oft-mentioned (by me!) The Riddlemaster of Hed — to the extent that my personal copy, as indicated in May, is falling apart!