This is my eighth annual roundup of the books I read in a year. Earlier instalments are here:
my top 32 books for 2020,
my top 20 books for 2019,
my top 19 books for 2018,
my top 17 books for 2017,
my top 16 books for 2016 (actually only 15),
my top 15 books for 2015, and
my top 14 books for 2014. I now have a
summary page that links to all the roundups.
Note that these are books I read in those years, not books published in those years - though these days I am reading a lot from Netgalley, which are often advance copies of books that haven't yet been published, so a higher proportion of my reading is books published in the year I read them (or, occasionally, even the following year).
The total of the first six years comes to 100 books, and I added 32 last year and 31 this year, for a running total of 163. I've stopped arbitrarily tying the number to the last digits of the year, which I did up until 2017. If a book is good enough for me to recommend, even with caveats, it goes into the Best-Of list. Five-star books automatically go on the list, and it also includes a selection of four-star books that I think are worthy of mention. As of the end of 2021, I'm starting to be less inclined to award four stars to books that I don't feel belong on the list, but there are still a good many in this year's reading. Out of 54 books that I gave 4 stars to, 26 (slightly less than half) made it onto the list.
No Most Disappointing Book of the Year anti-prize this year, even though it's an odd-numbered year. So far I've awarded one in 2017 to Andy Weir's
Artemis, and another in 2019 to William Gibson's
Agency, both books by popular authors that I know can write good books, but on this occasion, in my opinion, did not. I didn't read many books by really popular authors this year, and the ones I did read were not disappointing.
Not appearing on this list are 11 early works by P.G. Wodehouse that I read in editions from Project Gutenberg. Eight of them (
Picadilly Jim,
Uneasy Money,
The Prince and Betty,
Love Among the Chickens,
Ukridge,
Jill the Reckless,
Indiscretions of Archie, and
A Damsel In Distress) earned four stars; none is quite good enough to make it to the Best-of-2021 list, but several came close, and if you enjoy Wodehouse's humour and haven't read these, it's worth popping over to Gutenberg.org and downloading them. Their besetting fault, which is a fault I've noted in a lot of books I've read this year, is that they often rely on unlikely coincidence to get people into position for the plot to happen - though that's a criticism I've leveled at
Dracula, too, and it doesn't make that a bad book.
Also not quite making it to the list are the first four books in a newish series by Lindsay Buroker,
Elven Doom. This isn't because they are bad, or because I didn't enjoy them, but I couldn't quite bring myself to add them to my Best of the Year because, like all of her books, they're formulaic. The formula, at least, is largely Buroker's own - she's not just making them from box mix, it's her own recipe, even if it's the same recipe all the time. If books were food, these would be Subway: still fast food, and you know going in exactly what you're going to get, but it's well prepared, enjoyable, and reasonably nourishing, and a bit different from what the other fast food outlets are serving.
Overall Statistics
I read and rated
90 books in total in 2021, up from 82 in the previous year. I started and abandoned a few books that aren't reflected in the total, as usual, and there are some cookbooks I partially read that also aren't counted.
Here are my figures in a table:
| 5 star | 4 star | 3 star | 2 star | Total |
| 2021 | 5 | 54 | 29 | 3 | 90 |
| 2020 | 8 | 53 | 21 | 0 | 82 |
| 2019 | 11 | 36 | 17 | 1 | 65 |
| 2018 | 5 | 72 | 15 | 2 | 94 |
| 2017 | 10 | 56 | 19 | 0 | 85 |
| 2016 | 11 | 53 | 12 | 1 | 77 |
| 2015 | 11 | 68 | 19 | 2 | 101 |
| 2014 | 9 | 70 | 23 | 2 | 104 |
| Total | 70 | 461 | 155 | 11 | 698 |
| Average | 9 | 58 | 19 | 1 | 87 |
The 5-star book number is lower than average (in fact, about half the average number), the lowest of any year other than 2018, when I also only read 5 5-star books. The 4-star number is about the same as last year and not far below the average, even though I've started marking more harshly. The growth is in the 3-star and 2-star books; I read more books this year than last year, and because I'm being less generous about awarding four stars, a greater than average number got the 3-star rating. Also, I downgraded some to 2 stars that might, in other years, have been given a reluctant 3. One of these would easily have been a 4-star book if it hadn't relied on unlikely coincidence after unlikely coincidence, literally dozens of them, with no in-universe explanation or justification or any evidence of embarrassment on the part of the author. It was the first novel by a young writer, so I refrained from giving it a Most Disappointing Book of the Year award; that's reserved, as I said before, for books by writers who have previously proved that they can do better.
Discovery
Where did I get these books? This year, 41 - the same number as last year - came from Netgalley: none of the 5 five-star books this time, but 22 of the 54 four-star books (including 12 that made it to the Best Of), 18 of the 29 three-star books, and all 3 of the 2-star books. A somewhat disappointing outcome from Netgalley this year; last year, 17 Netgalley books made the list, including 3 5-star books. I thought I was being more picky about what I get from Netgalley, too. Maybe people are getting better at blurb writing but not at novel writing, so I pick up the book and am then disappointed. I do like to give an original-sounding premise by an unknown author a try from time to time, because I've found gems that way before, but it's hit and miss.
Fourteen books came from Project Gutenberg, the 11 Wodehouse books and three others, none of which made it to Best of the Year.
Twelve came from my Await Ebook Price Drop wish list on Amazon, where I park the books I hear about from various sources (mostly
Fantasy Faction,
Fantasy Literature, my Goodreads friends, and occasionally
Tor.com) and want to read, but that are (for me) overpriced. The New Zealand dollar is especially weak against the USD at the moment, and I only read most books once, so I'm willing to wait until they're on sale. Of these 12, 3 were 5-star, 8 were 4-star (including 5 that made the Best Of list), and one was 3-star.
Eight came from BookBub: 1 five-star, 3 four-star including 1 Best Of, and 4 three-stars. Two of the BookBub titles went on my Needs Editing shelf, 0 on my Seriously Needs Editing shelf, and 3 on my Well-Edited shelf. (I don't usually mark the state of editing on the Netgalley books because they are often pre-publication, meaning they will probably receive more copy editing before release. Honestly, a lot of them need a lot of work.)
One came from the library; as with last year, it was a book by Jim Butcher, for which I wasn't prepared to pay the publisher's ebook price, and it made the Best Of.
Amazon's algorithm recommended me 1 5-star and 4 4-star books, all of which made the Best-of list, and one 3-star book (though it also recommended me a lot of books I had no interest in whatsoever). I got two books from OpenRoad's Portalist newsletter, which I unsubscribed to during the year; the books I was getting were not good quality or well edited, and neither of them made the Best-of. One book I picked up because I know the author on the Codex writers' forum. The remainder were either found browsing Amazon or were continuations of series I'd read previously.
Top-Rated Books
So, here is my list, ranked this year for the first time in tiers, and approximately in ascending order within each tier. Your taste may well vary, and on a different day, my rankings within the tiers might vary too.
Links are, as usual, to my Goodreads reviews.
First, the bronze tier: books that had notable flaws (or sometimes just weren't quite in the centre of my taste), but managed to entertain me enough to earn a spot on the list despite this.
31.
Stargazy Pie, Victoria Goddard. Even though excessive coincidence was needed to steer the rather ineffectual main character to where he needed to be for the plot, and even though he wasn't the right focus character (since there was a much more competent and interesting middle-aged woman who was doing a lot more protagonising), there's still a lot to like in this quiet village fantasy with an epic fantasy implied in the background.
30.
The Gryphon Mage Trilogy, Rachel Neumeier. I bounced off the first book in 2012, but on my second attempt, enjoyed the whole trilogy enough to give it a place on the list. Though it takes itself just a little too seriously, occasionally resorts to convenient coincidence to drive the plot, and has a number of holes in its worldbuilding and logistics, the three quite different unusual women who are the main protagonists in the three volumes are enjoyable to read about, and at its best it's compelling and dramatic.
29.
Map's Edge, David Hair. Adventurous, exciting, suspenseful, and full of tension, though it suffers from some unnecessary fortunate coincidences and a bit of shonky worldbuilding. Unfortunately, the sequel didn't work as well for me.
28.
Glass Coffin, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch. While it's difficult to have fairy-tale characters who are also well-rounded, this book eventually does go some way towards achieving that feat, and it has a good heart.
27.
Sky Tribe, Sabrina Chase. Third in the Mage Guardians series, and not the strongest; the stakes are lower, and the characters from the previous books are sidelined, but it's still a fun adventure.
26.
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher. A combination of predictable and unpredictable, maybe driving home its point (that if a YA heroine is having to step up, the adults have neglected their responsibilities) a little bit too hard and too often, but overall charming and enjoyable.
25.
Mercurial, Naomi Hughes. On paper, not a book I should enjoy, as it's dystopian and features torture and cruelty, but there was a pretty strong promise of a redemptive arc made early on, and the author fully delivered on it.
24.
A Grimoire for Gamblers, Amanda Creiglow. A sensible, capable young woman protagonizes intelligently, bravely and effectively in an urban fantasy plot that avoids the usual cliches. A little dark for my usual taste.
23.
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Box Set), Patricia C. Wrede. A lightly sketched fairy-tale setting backgrounds capable and unconventional characters dealing courageously with dangerous, if sometimes inept, antagonists.
Now for the silver tier: sound books that unquestionably belong on this list, but aren't among the very best I read this year.
22.
The Last Mage Guardian, Sabrina Chase. This was a re-read as a runup to reading the third in the series. The prior read was in 2013, the year before I started the annual Best-Of lists. A competent young woman in an alternate Europe in something like the 19th century has to step up and take care of a dangerous magical enemy.
21.
Dragonhunters, Sabrina Chase. This was also a re-read as a runup to reading the third in the Mage Guardians series, of which this is the second. The prior read was in 2014, and it didn't get one of the then-limited number of spots in my first annual Best-Of list, but it makes it on reread. I wish more steampunk was this well executed and lived up to the promise of its premise so well.
20.
Half a Soul, Olivia Atwater. First of three rather delightful Regency fantasy romances in this series, with a bit more social awareness than a lot of Regency romances, and a strong noblebright plot.
19.
The Dream and the Muse, Jake Burnett. An unexpected gem of a YA portal fantasy, with a highly unconventional and ingenious heroine discovering her potential, guided by a thoroughgoing (but ultimately chaotic-good) rogue.
18.
The Prince of Secrets, AJ Lancaster. Volume 2 in the Stariel series, of which the first made my 2018 list, and better than the first book in that it's less predictable. (Still read them in order, though.) An appealing romantic pairing facing a wide range of problems with courage and intelligence.
17.
Castle in the Air, Diana Wynn Jones. The sequel to
Howl's Moving Castle, set in an Arabian-Nights-inspired milieu, with an initially unpromising hero who steps up when it counts, and lots of twists and turns.
16.
Miss Bennet's Dragon, M. Verant. Essentially AU Jane Austen fanfic, but well executed; strips
Pride and Prejudice down to its chassis and builds quite a different, but successful, story on top.
15.
The Court of Mortals, AJ Lancaster. Third in the Stariel series, a solidly executed romance plot with plenty of fae and mortal politics and family drama to be faced and overcome by the principled, courageous, intelligent and determined protagonists.
14.
Ten Thousand Stitches, Olivia Atwater. Second in a series of fae Regency romances, well-paced and with an unusual focus on servants rather than gentry. The appealing, good-hearted characters work hard for their resolutions.
13.
The Wire Noose, Erik Buchanan. Fantasy police procedural, with good pacing, sound mystery writing, and a capable, determined and compassionate young female protagonist.
12.
Longshadow, Olivia Atwater. A strong mystery plot balances a strong (LGBTQ) romance plot in this third book in the Regency Faerie Tales series.
The next few books are the gold tier, not far short of five stars.
11.
Goddess of the North, Georgina Kamsika. Though let down by both its cover and its copy editing (the latter losing it a fifth star that it otherwise deserved), in all other respects a fine piece of urban fantasy writing, which deals with themes of immigration and nativism through a fantasy lens. It's not preachy or simplistic, though; it explores its themes organically, as part of a tense, high-momentum plot with rich characterization and insight into humanity.
10.
Sirena, Gideon Marcus. Sequel to
Kitra, which made #22 in last year's list. It's YA space opera with plausible-enough science and a strong, well-paced adventure plot that tests the courageous, principled, and capable young protagonists.
9.
The Case of the Dragon-Bone Engine, Galadriel Coffeen. If only all steampunk was as well-executed as this! It manages to make the mystery compelling and the characters and their setting feel real. It shows the social impact of technological change, and in general it's just competent in a way that sadly few steampunk books are.
8.
Scales and Sensibility, Stephanie Burgis. Regency romance with dragons seems to be a trend right now, and this is a good entry in the subgenre. An intelligent, capable heroine pulls off a difficult impersonation in a twisty and sometimes hilarious plot, and the Regency aspect feels more authentic than is often the case.
7.
Battle Ground, Jim Butcher. Currently the latest in the Dresden Files series, which is losing none of its considerable steam. This one is a roller-coaster ride, if a roller-coaster ride began by being shot out of a cannon and then involved getting repeatedly shot at by a cannon, and just when you think it's over they blow up the car.
6.
Comeuppance Served Cold, Marion Deeds. An excellently-executed Prohibition-era urban fantasy heist caper.
The four five-star books this year were all excellently written, with compelling plots, deeper-than-usual worldbuilding and admirable protagonists. They form the platinum tier, and they are:
5.
Mary Quirk and the Secret of Umbrum Hall, Anna St. Vincent. A sensible, capable teenage protagonist and powerful sensawunda set this apart from the many all-too-similar magic school stories that have flooded the market since Harry Potter.
4.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, H.G. Parry. A New Zealand setting (Wellington) works well for this tale of a man who can pull characters out of books into reality. Realistic family dynamics, wonderfully literate, with a compelling mystery-adventure plot.
3.
Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear. A bravura performance, which makes space opera feel fresh and a confrontation between representatives of two different political philosophies feel like a plot instead of a sock-puppet show.
2.
The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick. Richly layered, with a noblebright ensemble cast who had me cheering for them all to achieve their seemingly incompatible goals through a gripping mystery plot.
1.
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke. A beautifully crafted book that unfolds gradually into something completely unexpected, with characters that feel like real people, and a fantastic setting that nevertheless feels like a real place.
Author Gender Breakdown
I started compiling figures for author gender (based on what's on their Goodreads profiles) for my top list in 2018. Without operating a quota system of any kind, I've been slowly moving from about 50/50 male and female authors towards a skew to female authors; by my count, across the 90 books I read in 2021, the authors totalled 41 male, 49 female and 2 nonbinary. One of the books was by two authors writing under a shared pseudonym, and I have counted that as two people. I've also, obviously, counted the same author multiple times if I read multiple books by that author, though where I had an omnibus edition with several books in one, I've only counted that as one book and one author. The numbers in my top lists are also skewing increasingly female (more so than the total list), with only six men in the top list this year; the total over the past eight years is just coming close to parity, since I read more male authors in most previous years, including last year.
| M | F | N | Total |
| 2021 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 32 |
| 2020 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 32 |
| 2019 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 21 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12 | | 19 |
| 2017 | 8 | 9 | | 17 |
| 2016 | 6 | 9 | | 15 |
| 2015 | 10 | 5 | | 15 |
| 2014 | 4 | 10 | | 14 |
| Total | 80 | 82 | 3 | 165 |
| Average | 10 | 10 | 0 | 21 |
Protagonist gender is also skewed towards female, which is a conscious choice (I just find women more interesting protagonists). There are roughly 31 female protagonists and 19 male protagonists (depending how you define protagonist) in this year's top list. Some books have more than one protagonist, and a number of them have both a male and a female protagonist, since I'm reading more books with a strong romance subplot these days.
Summing Up
My liking for noblebright characters who are willing to pay the cost in order to do the right thing, and who battle to do so with courage, intelligence, determination and conviction, is no secret, and this year's books reflect that. I seem to have been in a romance mood, and particularly in a Regency romance mood, in 2021; not sure exactly why. I've been reading the occasional Regency romance for a few years now, but maybe there are just more fantasy Regency romances being written lately.
I was also pleased to find a few well-executed steampunk and urban fantasy books, two genres that feature a lot of disappointing work. This year, I didn't come across any good supers books, another genre that's often poorly executed and may be fading in popularity (or turning too dark for me to want to read what titles there are; I blame Sanderson, probably unfairly).
Whatever the genre, I will always love a book with a compelling, eventful plot; characters who struggle against the odds to do the right thing; and capable prose. I'll even forgive some other failings, if you give me that, but if you give me that plus a bit of human insight and some good worldbuilding, I will definitely be a fan. And this year, multiple authors managed to do so.
Prison of Sleep by Tim Pratt
