Top 10 Things I Read in 2021

If you’ve followed my pop culture roundup over the years, you know I like to read on vacation and in the summer when I can sit outside. This year I added audiobooks into my life and it was a GAME CHANGER. If you follow my Goodreads list, you know I crushed my reading challenge for the year, and then mostly came to a halt this fall. Here, in no particular order are my 10 favorite books I read or listened to in 2021…

1. Ready Player Two – I started off the year with Ernest Cline’s latest. Ready Player One is one of my top 5 (maybe 3…) favorite books ever. It was so fun to be back in OASIS with these characters.  
2. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey – Amber Ruffin is one of my favorite things about Late Night with Seth Meyers. When she wrote a book with her sister about all the crazy racist things that have happened throughout their lives I had to listen! The audiobook is read by the sisters and it’s such a great way to hear this book.
3. Leave The World Behind – Just like Obama, I loved this book. I received it in a Powells subscription club I forgot to cancel (truth…) and am so glad it showed up. I was afraid to read this book on vacation (it’s about strangers showing up late at night claiming to be the owners of a rental house in the woods) and shouldn’t have been. It was a fast read and a fascinating look at race and trust. I now follow the author on Twitter and he is a great follow. 
4. The Singer’s Gun – I had suggested to a friend they check out Emily St. John Mandel over the summer. When they mentioned this older book I had missed by the author, I had to check it out. If you’ve read her other books make sure to not miss this great mystery set mostly on a small Italian island.
5. Nothing to See Here – I have had this book on my “to read” list for a long time, and when it showed up at the library for me I was pleasantly surprised at how FUNNY and clever and weird it was. I devoured it in a weekend at the coast. 
6. Project Hail Mary – I love Andy Weir as an author and his latest was another fun science-y fiction book. It was an excellent escape to space, and I now know for certain I’m okay without every going into space, no matter how much the price may change in my lifetime…
7. The Vanishing Half – Woah this book was fantastic. It’s about twin sisters whos lives go in drastically different directions. It made me think a lot about family and race and the secrets we keep.
8. The Wreckage Of My Presence  – I have loved Casey Wilson since her SNL days, and especially on Happy Endings. Her book is another excellent audiobook choice – and her stories are hilarious and sad and terrifying. And oh so much Real Housewives… 
9. White Ivy – I went into this book not knowing anything about it – which is exactly what you should do too. WOAH. 
10. All Over the Place – I have followed Everywherist on Twitter and Instagram for years. She is HILARIOUS and I don’t know why it took me so long to pick up her book and read it in a hot minute. When a recent blog post went viral this holiday season, I knew exactly why – everything she writes is ridiculous and amazing.

What books did you love and devour this year? Do you have a preferred format for how you read these days? I can’t wait to see what great books 2022 has in store…