Off The TBR’s Best of 2021

Hey. How are ya’ll doing? I thought I’d ask before I got into my “Best of 2021” list because this has been another crazy year and sometimes it is nice to just do a little check-in. Even more so this year since the dumpster fire that is the current world plague shows no signs of letting up anytime soon and from what I can see on social media most of us seem to be coping but it’s getting on our last nerves. So yeah, I thought I’d just do a little check-in.

Well now that we’ve got that out of the way how about something positive? It’s that time again…the time when all the book bloggers are posting their year end, best reads of the year. I like to wait for the year to finish out before posting my list just in case a last minute read squeaks its way in. 2021 (like 2020 before it) sucked in so many ways, but for me it was still a good year for reading. As usual I enjoyed the vast majority of the books I read, and there were only a very few I didn’t. I still feel like we are experiencing that new golden age of science fiction and fantasy with so many great books to choose from both in traditional publishing or from indie/self-published authors and I hope it never ends.

So here it is, my top reads of 2021. Note, this is my list of top reads of 2021, meaning it is a list of my favorite books I read during the year, not necessarily my favorite books published in 2021. I’ve intentionally left off any #SPFBO finalists I may have already read as the competition is still undeway and the judging team I’m a part of has not posted any of our scores as of yet.

I managed to read 37 books this year (exceeding my Goodreads Challenge) and this list comprises those I rated as 4.5 Stars or 5 Stars and even includes a short story. I’ve arranged them mostly in order they were read by rating.

Book Review: The Pariah by Anthony Ryan

Sometimes a book is the perfect read that comes at just the right time. Anthony Ryan’s The Pariah was such a book for me. I’d been in a reading slump for weeks. I just couldn’t bring myself to read anything at all. The book I had been reading was really, really good, but every time I sat down I just couldn’t get in the mood. I finally finished it, took a couple extra days off from reading, then picked up The Pariah because I realized the release date would be upon me soon. I was riveted from page one! I read it in a matter of days, staying up late every night to finish as much as possible. I know there are a few months left, but let me tell you, The Pariah is one of my top reads of the year!

Book Haul: May 2021

I’ve been quiet lately here on the blog. That’s mostly because I’ve been busy reading my first allotment of books for SPFBO, and I haven’t had any new reviews ready to go. I’ll be working on some SPFBO reviews you’ll be able to find over at Before We Go Blog, and may have some regular ones here as well in the near future. In the meantime I thought I’d share my latest book haul update with you.

My last Book Haul post was like two months ago for books I’d hauled in March. That’s not a big deal, I just didn’t realize that much time had passed. And unsurprisingly I’ve not yet read a single one of the books from that haul. One of them doesn’t come out until the fall so I’ve got time for it and one is a SPFBO entrant so I may end up reading it as part of the competition. We’ll see.

But adding books to my TBR and not reading them hasn’t stopped me from continuing to add more books. And if you are anything like me the same applies to you. So we can both revel in our book hauling, TBR building habits together.

Which leads me to this post and my haul for May. I’m really excited about all of the books I picked up last month and am trying to figure out how to work them into my schedule for the coming months. So what did I bring home? Well…take a look…