Scan barcode
A review by factandfables
2021 on Goodreads by
4.0
2021 was…..difficult. In many ways, this past year has been one of the more difficult years of my life, and my reading certainly showed it. While I read about the same number of books that I usually do, about 30% of these were re-reads of middle grade and YA fiction.
In 2021, instead of reading to go somewhere else and discover new things, I read and listened to books to stay sane, to focus on something other than my own thoughts, to fall asleep when I couldn’t turn my brain off.
In the process, I reread almost all of [a:Tamora Pierce|8596|Tamora Pierce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209044273p2/8596.jpg], most of the early [b:Redwall|7996|Redwall (Redwall, #1)|Brian Jacques|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327877368l/7996._SY75_.jpg|486980] series, a bunch of [b:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|236093|The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)|L. Frank Baum|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398003737l/236093._SY75_.jpg|1993810] books, and also reread the entire [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33._SX50_.jpg|3462456] series.
I spent a few months not really tracking my reading, so I honestly don't know if I got everything into Goodreads, but from what is on Goodreads, I have included a few fun highlights, authors and fun:
1.) I discovered a new sub genre of a sub genre this year: “murder mysteries involving wolverine biologists”. This niche of a niche and I had so much fun with these and read all 4 (yes, there are 4!). They are:
- [b:Trapped|13538682|Trapped|April Christofferson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344316761l/13538682._SY75_.jpg|19101031] by [a:April Christofferson|842431|April Christofferson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Trappers and gun nuts in East Glacier, but I don't remember much about the plot. This book was a sequel to [b:Alpha Female|6520487|Alpha Female|April Christofferson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312059414l/6520487._SY75_.jpg|6712365], which is set in Yellowstone and better, but still ridiculous. I would recommend not reading this until you have read the first book!
- [b:No Place for Wolverines|36652592|No Place for Wolverines (A Jenny Willson Mystery #2)|Dave Butler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521046243l/36652592._SY75_.jpg|58426025] by [a:Dave Butler|16825811|Dave Butler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494167026p2/16825811.jpg]: A ski hill being built in Canada runs into issues with environmental assessments and a wolverine biologist is murdered. Also a sequel. Fine, although I wasn’t motivated to read any more in the series.
- [b:A Solitude of Wolverines|56197443|A Solitude of Wolverines|Alice Henderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1627323766l/56197443._SY75_.jpg|73236182] by [a:Alice Henderson|169469|Alice Henderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1513297209p2/169469.jpg]: A wolverine researcher staying in a Paradise Lodge/The Shining style hotel alone runs into some mysterious creatures on her camera traps. This is crazy, and there are ex boyfriends, high speed mountain chases and maybe even a gorilla!? Is it good? I’m not sure. Was it fun? Hell yes!
- [b:Mortal Fall|25987140|Mortal Fall (Glacier Mystery #2)|Christine Carbo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1444927142l/25987140._SY75_.jpg|45899824] by [a:Christine Carbo|8433357|Christine Carbo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1421866931p2/8433357.jpg]: Glacier again, and this time a wolverine researcher falls to his death while checking his traps. Probably the best written and quality book of the four. This is a sequel to [b:The Wild Inside|22883411|The Wild Inside (Glacier Mystery #1)|Christine Carbo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407428817l/22883411._SY75_.jpg|42452474], but it stands alone just fine and I liked it better anyway.
2.) [a:Suzanne Simard|16171272|Suzanne Simard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1607070160p2/16171272.jpg] wrote a book called [b:Finding the Mother Tree|55643843|Finding the Mother Tree Discovering How the Forest Is Wired for Intelligence and Healing|Suzanne Simard|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|85755601]! It is the best, but you should read my review of it if you want to know more. The popularity of this review was the highlight of my Goodreads this year.
3.) [a:T.J. Klune|5073330|T.J. Klune|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1546275989p2/5073330.jpg] was a surprise discovery for me this year, and both [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea|45047384|The House in the Cerulean Sea|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384._SY75_.jpg|62945242] and [b:Under the Whispering Door|53205888|Under the Whispering Door|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597281498l/53205888._SY75_.jpg|67745728] gave me all the feels. His stories manage to be cozy, hopeful and full of flawed and lovable characters without ever being saccharine or trite.
4.) I read all the [b:Miss Marple|16331|Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388386575l/16331._SX50_.jpg|2589654] books this year too, and was pretty amazed by how well [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589991473p2/123715.jpg] could both make and break the cozy mystery format! They never felt repetitive and I was always entertained.
5.) [a:Becky Chambers|8389735|Becky Chambers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1562580587p2/8389735.jpg] deserves a shout-out here too! I discovered her books late in 2019 and ended up rereading them all this year because I loved them so much the first time. In a world that is increasingly at odds and so often hopeless, her version of humanity is so hopeful and compassionate, and I needed that.
Here’s to a 2022 where I can read for pleasure instead of sanity!!!
In 2021, instead of reading to go somewhere else and discover new things, I read and listened to books to stay sane, to focus on something other than my own thoughts, to fall asleep when I couldn’t turn my brain off.
In the process, I reread almost all of [a:Tamora Pierce|8596|Tamora Pierce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1209044273p2/8596.jpg], most of the early [b:Redwall|7996|Redwall (Redwall, #1)|Brian Jacques|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327877368l/7996._SY75_.jpg|486980] series, a bunch of [b:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|236093|The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)|L. Frank Baum|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398003737l/236093._SY75_.jpg|1993810] books, and also reread the entire [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33._SX50_.jpg|3462456] series.
I spent a few months not really tracking my reading, so I honestly don't know if I got everything into Goodreads, but from what is on Goodreads, I have included a few fun highlights, authors and fun:
1.) I discovered a new sub genre of a sub genre this year: “murder mysteries involving wolverine biologists”. This niche of a niche and I had so much fun with these and read all 4 (yes, there are 4!). They are:
- [b:Trapped|13538682|Trapped|April Christofferson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344316761l/13538682._SY75_.jpg|19101031] by [a:April Christofferson|842431|April Christofferson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Trappers and gun nuts in East Glacier, but I don't remember much about the plot. This book was a sequel to [b:Alpha Female|6520487|Alpha Female|April Christofferson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312059414l/6520487._SY75_.jpg|6712365], which is set in Yellowstone and better, but still ridiculous. I would recommend not reading this until you have read the first book!
- [b:No Place for Wolverines|36652592|No Place for Wolverines (A Jenny Willson Mystery #2)|Dave Butler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521046243l/36652592._SY75_.jpg|58426025] by [a:Dave Butler|16825811|Dave Butler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494167026p2/16825811.jpg]: A ski hill being built in Canada runs into issues with environmental assessments and a wolverine biologist is murdered. Also a sequel. Fine, although I wasn’t motivated to read any more in the series.
- [b:A Solitude of Wolverines|56197443|A Solitude of Wolverines|Alice Henderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1627323766l/56197443._SY75_.jpg|73236182] by [a:Alice Henderson|169469|Alice Henderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1513297209p2/169469.jpg]: A wolverine researcher staying in a Paradise Lodge/The Shining style hotel alone runs into some mysterious creatures on her camera traps. This is crazy, and there are ex boyfriends, high speed mountain chases and maybe even a gorilla!? Is it good? I’m not sure. Was it fun? Hell yes!
- [b:Mortal Fall|25987140|Mortal Fall (Glacier Mystery #2)|Christine Carbo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1444927142l/25987140._SY75_.jpg|45899824] by [a:Christine Carbo|8433357|Christine Carbo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1421866931p2/8433357.jpg]: Glacier again, and this time a wolverine researcher falls to his death while checking his traps. Probably the best written and quality book of the four. This is a sequel to [b:The Wild Inside|22883411|The Wild Inside (Glacier Mystery #1)|Christine Carbo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407428817l/22883411._SY75_.jpg|42452474], but it stands alone just fine and I liked it better anyway.
2.) [a:Suzanne Simard|16171272|Suzanne Simard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1607070160p2/16171272.jpg] wrote a book called [b:Finding the Mother Tree|55643843|Finding the Mother Tree Discovering How the Forest Is Wired for Intelligence and Healing|Suzanne Simard|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|85755601]! It is the best, but you should read my review of it if you want to know more. The popularity of this review was the highlight of my Goodreads this year.
3.) [a:T.J. Klune|5073330|T.J. Klune|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1546275989p2/5073330.jpg] was a surprise discovery for me this year, and both [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea|45047384|The House in the Cerulean Sea|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384._SY75_.jpg|62945242] and [b:Under the Whispering Door|53205888|Under the Whispering Door|T.J. Klune|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597281498l/53205888._SY75_.jpg|67745728] gave me all the feels. His stories manage to be cozy, hopeful and full of flawed and lovable characters without ever being saccharine or trite.
4.) I read all the [b:Miss Marple|16331|Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388386575l/16331._SX50_.jpg|2589654] books this year too, and was pretty amazed by how well [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589991473p2/123715.jpg] could both make and break the cozy mystery format! They never felt repetitive and I was always entertained.
5.) [a:Becky Chambers|8389735|Becky Chambers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1562580587p2/8389735.jpg] deserves a shout-out here too! I discovered her books late in 2019 and ended up rereading them all this year because I loved them so much the first time. In a world that is increasingly at odds and so often hopeless, her version of humanity is so hopeful and compassionate, and I needed that.
Here’s to a 2022 where I can read for pleasure instead of sanity!!!