Best of 2021 – Goodreads

I had set a goal of 60 books for the year 2021 and conquered it by completing 80 books. Little unbelievable for me. This is by far my best performance in the last 5 years. I have never set a big goal like this before and I went 20 books above the goal, that was amazing.

I am not a fan of purchasing books, so my sources of reading were the public library, kindle app, and Libby App. Omaha Public Library was preferred as I love hardcovers over the digital versions. I used Kindle mainly for books not easily available in the library like Indian writer’s books. Prime members have many good books available to read for free, in addition to that, I also took Kindle Unlimited membership on a promotional deal. Libby app is useful to check out digital versions of books from your library to your device. You can read them on Kindle or Libby app.

Source:-

• OPL
• Kindle
• Libby

Talking about genres, I covered most of them – Fiction, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Graphic novel, Classics, Horror, Self-help, Short-stories, Health, Photography, Cooking, Educational, Mythological, and Biography.

Out of 80 books, many stayed with me. Each book you read leaves an imprint on you. Although each book was unique in its way, I selected 12 favorites that deserve to be on our book-shelf.

TOP 12 Books of 2021

S. No.	Title	Author	Genre
1	The Vegetarian	Han, Kang	Fiction
2	The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit	Finkel, Michael	Non-Fiction
3	The Nickel Boys	Whitehead, Colson *	Fiction
4	The Ardent Swarm	Manai, Yamen	Fiction
5	Pet Sematary	King, Stephen	Horror
6	West with Giraffes	Rutledge, Lynda	Historical Fiction
7	Tesla: Inventor of the Modern	Munson, Richard *	Biography
8	Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy	Sadhguru *	Self Help
9	Fight Club	Palahniuk, Chuck *	Fiction
10	“I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice	Starita, Joe	Non-Fiction
11	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	Süskind, Patrick	Historical Fiction
12	The Complete Maus	Spiegelman, Art	Non-Fiction

Honorable Mentions

S. No.	Title	Author	Genre
1	The Dinner	Koch, Herman	Fiction
2	Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1)	Andersen, Sarah *	Animation
3	Indian Horse	Wagamese, Richard	Fiction
4	The Devil’s Highway: A True Story	Urrea, Luis Alberto *	Non-Fiction
5	The Snow Child	Ivey, Eowyn *	Fantasy
6	A Christmas Carol	Dickens, Charles	Classic

Total Reads

S. No.	Title	Author	Genre
1	Manglacharan (JAN)	Premchand, Munshi	Fiction
2	मेरी प्रिय कहानियां (JAN)	चतुरसेन, आचार्य	Short Stories
3	A Beginner’s Guide to the Stock Market: Everything You Need to Start Making Money Today (JAN)	Kratter, Matthew R.	Educational
4	Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy (JAN)	Sadhguru *	Self Help
5	The Vegetarian (JAN)	Han, Kang	Fiction
6	Bonsai Basics: A Comprehensive Guide to Care and Cultivation (JAN)	Lewis, Colin	Educational
7	The Widow’s Cabin (JAN)	Davis, L.G. *	Fiction
8	Turning Point (JAN)	Deaver, Jeffery *	Thriller
9	Giraffe & Flamingo (JAN)	Sittenfeld, Curtis *	Short Story
10	The Dinner (JAN)	Koch, Herman	Fiction
11	Shanta : The Story of Rama’s Sister (FEB)	Neelakantan, Anand	Hindu Mythology
12	Taproot (FEB)	Young, Keezy	Graphic
13	The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit (FEB)	Finkel, Michael	Non-Fiction
14	Buried (FEB)	Deaver, Jeffery	Suspense
15	Snowflakes (FEB)	Ware, Ruth	Fiction
16	The Nickel Boys (FEB)	Whitehead, Colson *	Fiction
17	Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1) (FEB)	Andersen, Sarah	Graphic
18	Chetna’s Healthy Indian: Vegetarian: Everyday veg and vegan feasts effortlessly good for you (FEB)	Makan, Chetna	Health & Food
19	A Burning (FEB)	Majumdar, Megha	Fiction
20	The Ardent Swarm (FEB)	Manai, Yamen	Fiction
21	Sula (MAR)	Morrison, Toni	Fiction
22	The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos: The Best Techniques for Showcasing Your Handmade Creations (MAR)	Adnum, Heidi	Educational
23	Notes from the Underground (MAR)	Dostoyevsky, Fyodor	Classic
24	Slow Burner (MAR)	Lippman, Laura	Suspense
25	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) (MAR)	Rowling, J.K.	Fantasy
26	The Lost Words (MAR)	Macfarlane, Robert *	Graphic
27	The Need (MAR)	Phillips, Helen *	Fiction
28	Pet Sematary (APR)	King, Stephen	Horror
29	Everything Is Here to Help You: A Loving Guide to Your Soul’s Evolution (APR)	Kahn, Matt	Self Help
30	Big Mushy Happy Lump (Sarah’s Scribbles, #2) (APR)	Andersen, Sarah	Graphic
31	Treasure (APR)	Braithwaite, Oyinkan	Short Story
32	Indian Horse (APR)	Wagamese, Richard	Fiction
33	The Gift (APR)	Gaylin, Alison	Suspense
34	Herding Cats (Sarah’s Scribbles, #3) (APR)	Andersen, Sarah	Graphic
35	Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix (APR)	Zoboi, Ibi	Fiction
36	Let Her Be (APR)	Unger, Lisa	Short Story
37	How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet (APR)	Egan, Sophie	Educational
38	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) (MAY)	Rowling, J.K.	Fantasy
39	The Midnight Library (MAY)	Haig, Matt	Fiction
40	West with Giraffes (MAY)	Rutledge, Lynda	Historical Fiction
41	Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other (MAY)	Black, Conrad	Biography
42	The Devil’s Highway: A True Story (MAY)	Urrea, Luis Alberto	Non-Fiction
43	Open House (JUN)	Sise, Katie *	Suspense
44	In the Heart of the Fire (Nameless: Season One #1) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
45	The Snow Child (JUN)	Ivey, Eowyn *	Fantasy
46	All My Friends Are Dead (JUN)	Monsen, Avery	Graphic
47	Photographing the Dead (Nameless: Season One #2) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
48	The Praying Mantis Bride (Nameless: Season One #3) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
49	Tesla: Inventor of the Modern (JUN)	Munson, Richard *	Biography
50	A Death (JUN)	King, Stephen *	Suspense
51	Red Rain (Nameless: Season One #4) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
52	The Mercy of Snakes (Nameless: Season One #5) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
53	Memories of Tomorrow (Nameless: Season One #6) (JUN)	Koontz, Dean *	Thriller
54	The Story of an Hour (JUL)	Chopin, Kate	Classic
55	The Gift of the Magi (JUL)	Henry, O.	Classic
56	The Yellow Wall-Paper (JUL)	Perkins Gilman, Charlotte	Classic
57	A Christmas Carol (JUL)	Dickens, Charles	Classic
58	No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History (JUL)	Huckelbridge, Dane *	Non-Fiction
59	The Masque of the Red Death (JUL)	Poe, Edgar Allan	Classic
60	Go the Fuck to Sleep (AUG)	Mansbach, Adam *	Graphic
61	The Girls in the Attic (AUG)	Gabriel, Marius	Historical Fiction
62	Cause of Death (AUG)	Deaver, Jeffery	Suspense
63	5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth and Other Useful Guides (AUG)	Inman, Matthew	Graphic
64	Fight Club (AUG)	Palahniuk, Chuck *	Fiction
65	Mexican Gothic (SEP)	Moreno-Garcia, Silvia *	Mystery
66	“I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice (SEP)	Starita, Joe	Non-Fiction
67	The White Tiger (OCT)	Adiga, Aravind	Fiction
68	Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened (OCT)	Brosh, Allie *	Graphics
69	A Lesson Before Dying (OCT)	Gaines, Ernest J.	Historical Fiction
70	Why Don’t You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It?: A Mother’s Suggestions (OCT)	Marx, Patricia	Graphics
71	ट्वेल्थ फेल | Twelfth Fail | 12th Fail (NOV)	Pathak, Anurag	Non-Fiction
72	The Last Leaf (NOV)	Henry, O.	Classic
73	Chanakya Neeti (NOV)	Jain, R.P.	Philosophy
74	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (NOV)	Süskind, Patrick	Historical Fiction
75	7 Secrets From Hindu Calendar Art (DEC)	Pattanaik, Devdutt *	Mythology
76	MAUN MUSKAAN KI MAAR (DEC)	Rana, Ashutosh	Short Stories
77	The Complete Maus (DEC)	Spiegelman, Art	Non-Fiction
78	Prep: The Essential College Cookbook (DEC)	Morford, Katie Sullivan	Educational
79	Tears of Amber (DEC)	Segovia, Sofía	Historical Fiction
80	The One Hour Content Plan: The Solopreneur’s Guide to a Year’s Worth of Blog Post Ideas in 60 Minutes and Creating Content That Hooks and Sells (DEC)	Kothand, Meera *	Educational

Goodreads of February 2021

Goodreads Of March 2021

Goodreads of April 2021

Goodreads Of May 2021

Goodreads Of June 2021

Goodreads Of July 2021

Goodreads Of August 2021

Goodreads Of September 2021

Goodreads Of October 2021

Goodreads Of November 2021

Goodreads of December 2021

I have set a reading goal for 2022 and looking forward to finishing it just like 2021. Have you already set your reading goal?

Happy Reading! Keep Traveling !!!