2021 was an incredible year for reading for me! I was somehow able to read over 108 books throughout this past year, which is far and away the most I have ever, ever read in a single year (I typically average 60-75 books each year). My goal was to read 52 books (averaging one per week), and I shattered – and more than doubled! – that goal. As many books as I was able to devour this year, though, it’s so much less about the number and surpassing a goal. Reading is and always has been one of the great loves of my life, and it’s something that has brought me great happiness my entire life. Reading is pure fun for me, and I personally never want reading to be a chore or simply something to check off the list. There are SO MANY incredible books to be read, and my to-be-read book stack is constantly growing. I read quickly and often, but I barely feel like I can keep up with all of the books that I want to read and all of the knowledge I want to learn!
I love when dear friends recommend books to me, and those are the ones that instantly go to the top of my reading queue. Truly, one of the happiest gifts I could ever give someone is a book that he or she loves and connects with, and the same is true when I am given an excellent book recommendation, too. I have shared annual book and reading recaps at the end of every year for a while now (2020, 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, my 2021 non-fiction book list, and my all time favorite books), and here is my 2021 recap of all of the very best books that I read this year! I hope some on this list inspire you to read them and love them, too.
My top 10 fiction books of 2021 include:
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
One Two Three by Laurie Frankel
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My top 4 non-fiction books of 2021 include:
Generous Justice by Timothy Keller
Good Apple by Elizabeth Passarella
5/5 books that I’ve read many times before that don’t count for my top new reads of 2021 but are the best of the best:
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, These High Green Hills & Out to Canaan & Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
4.75/5 rankings:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
4.5/5 rankings:
Simply Good News by N.T. Wright
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly
Atomic Habits by James Clear
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Taste by Stanley Tucci
HRH: So Many Thoughts by Elizabeth Holmes
All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams
Be The Bridge by Latasha Morrison
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
The Queen’s Gambut by Walter Tevis
The Push by Ashley Audrain
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
4.25/5 rankings:
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
What Now? by Ann Patchett
This Is the Story of A Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
4/5 rankings:
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Our Time is Now by Stacey Abrams
The Best of Me by David Sedaris
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Here For It by R. Eric Thomas
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green
That Sounds Fun by Annie F. Downs
3.75/5 or below rankings:
Crying in H Mart (3.75), How Lucky (3.75), The Other Einstein (3.75), Northern Spy (3.75), The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (3.75), Finding Freedom (3.75), That Sounds Fun (3.75), Rules of Civility (3.75), Fox & I (3.75), Beach Read (3.5), The Next Right Thing (3.5), The Glass Ocean (3.5), , Meet Me in Bombay (3.5), , The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany (3.5), The Lions of Fifth Avenue (3.5), We Are the Brennans (3.5), The Beekeeper of Aleppo (3.25), Infinite Country (3.25), Mergers & Acquisitions (3.25), The Age of Light (3), The Wife Upstairs (3), Anne of Manhattan (3), How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House (2.75), The Maidens (2.75), We Run the Tides (2.5), Flowers of Darkness (2.5), The Lost Apothecary (2.5), Betty (2.5), Normal People (2)
I also had a goal to read 21 non-fiction books over the course of 2021, and I am very, very pleased that I read 29 non-fiction books this year! I didn’t check every single book off my pre-set non-fiction book list for 2021 that I shared a year ago, but I did read most of those non-fiction books (14), plus 15 additional ones. I love, love, love non-fiction books (fiction, too!) covering a wide range of topics and written by a wide range of authors. There is SO MUCH to learn, so much wisdom to soak up, so many unique perspectives to listen to and immerse myself in, and an incredible array of topics to discover and deepen my thinking and knowledge base. Many of my non-fiction reads cover topics that are deeply important to me, like faith, personal growth and development, business – plus topics I just love reading about, like food and travel and interesting people. It’s so important to me to constantly be learning and to read the works of people I admire or look up to… and some who just entertain me!
My 29 non-fiction reads for 2021 include:
Prayer by Timothy Keller
Generous Justice by Timothy Keller
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Simply Good News by N.T. Wright
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Good Apple by Elizabeth Passarella
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
HRH: So Many Thoughts by Elizabeth Holmes
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Fox & I by Catherine Raven
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Our Time in Now by Stacey Abrams
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
What Now? by Ann Patchett
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach
Mergers and Acquisitions by Cate Doty
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Finding Freedom by Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie
Whew! It’s always hard – in a good way! – to narrow down my favorite books of the year, and this year’s may have taken the cake! I am a little in awe that I managed to read 108 books this year (over 37,000 pages!!). I would highly, highly recommend all of the books that I shared above in the 4/5 rankings or higher, and obviously my favorite books and most recommended ones have the highest ratings and reviews. My library queue is already overflowing with books that I can’t wait to read in the new year.
Now it’s your turn! What is THE best book you’ve read in the last year? What’s your most recommended book to your own family or friends? I would absolutely love to hear from you and add to my queue, and I hope you enjoyed this roundup of my recent reads, as well!
I always share what I’m reading in real time over on Instagram (#stephaniereads), along with Goodreads – so find me on one or both of those! I share longer reviews and recommendations on Instagram Stories as I finish every book, so all of my reviews and recaps are on there. You can read a ton more previous blog posts of mine about books: my 2021 non-fiction book list, my favorite books of 2020, my favorite books of 2019, my favorite books ever, all things books, let’s talk about books, best books of 2014, best books of 2013, the South’s best books and authors, and plenty more in my blog’s archives!
Affiliate links are used in this post – but I can’t sing the praises of shopping from smaller, independent bookstores (or supporting the library!) enough!
Raleigh Wedding Planner 
Our library had the Amazing Book Challenge 2021. Each month had a theme (included those I read and would recommend):
January True Crime
February A book of mythology or folklore (The Blue Salt Road)
March A book written by a local author
April A book where the protagonist has a disability (The Golden Age)
May A book with the theme of anti-racism (Same Kind of Different as Me)
June A book that features a LBGTQ+ main character
July A book about traveling/follows a traveler (The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper)
August A book set somewhere other than North America or Europe (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind)
September A book translated from another language (Before the Coffee Gets Cold)
October A YA best seller (This Poison Heart)
November A book centered around a holiday
December A book that was made into a movie or tv series (Big Little Lies)
Here’s what’s coming for 2022:
January Classic
February Wild About Animals
March Biography or Memoir
April Poetry
May Read Green
June Refugee or Immigrant Experience
July American Revolution
August Author’s Debut Novel
September Banned Books
October Dystopian Reads
November Native American Reads
December Reading in Illinois
I LOVE this list and these book topics!!! What a brilliant idea. Thank you so, so much for sharing the list for last year & this year – and your picks, too! Love you!!
You’ll need to put Sooley on this year’s list. By John Grisham, but not his usual. This one is about basketball and is set in Durham NC.
Adding this one; thank you!!