my favourite 2021 reads
Up until a couple of years ago, I’ve been doing annual “Marineko Book Awards” posts at the end of each year. In these posts, I select the “best” book I’ve read that year in various genres, as well as share my reading statistics. I skipped last year - and maybe the one before that, I don’t remember - because I haven’t been blogging for a long while. But I do want to share some sort of list of favourites.
I figured I would share it through work, because each of us in the buying team had been asked to come up with a short list of the best books we’ve read in 2021. It’s different from my own personal lists, because this time we were asked to only choose books that were also published this year. That helped me narrow things down by a lot, because I did quite a lot of rereading this year.
After choosing my list, though, I was asked to change some of the titles due to “LGBT content”. Naturally, since I was already not happy with our selection process in the first place (which I won’t bore you with), I just decided to withdraw every single title I chose. Especially since the book I was asked to change happened to be my absolute favourite read of the year, even including rereads.
So, I decided to share my favourites here instead. They’re listed in no particular order:
Take Me With You When You Go by David Levithan and Jennifer Niven
David Levithan is a hit-or-miss author for me, but when his books work, they really work. I particularly love his collaborations - maybe this is connected to his work as an editor, or he’s just a great collaborator, but it feels like he just elevates the writing of his partners, every time. My favourite works by him are the books he wrote with Rachel Cohn, and with Nina Lacour. (Unfortunately, his collab with John Green doesn’t work for me.) Anyway, I never know if I’m going to love or be less-than-impressed with a book by Levithan, but I’m always happy to try anything by him.
Jennifer Niven wrote All the Bright Places, a book that is experiencing a new surge of popularity right now because of BookTok. I read it back when it was first published in 2015, and used it as a staff pick back then. I don’t know if I could say that I enjoyed the book, but I did think it was a very good, and very difficult read. The way it handled depression was too real, so it was probably not a good fit for someone who was already dealing with suicidal ideation back then. Seeing her name attached to this book gave me a pause, because I didn’t know if I was ready for another harrowing read.
But I was offered an ARC, and I did feel safe with David Levithan, so I took the plunge. And Take Me With You When You Go ended up being the only YA book I read this year that I felt deserving to be in my “best of” list. Well, there’s the next book, but some may place the Soman Chainani as MG instead. Anyway, I wrote about Take Me With You When You Go in an earlier newsletter, here.
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani
I’ve got to be honest - I went into this book not expecting more than a fun, fluffy read. Because Soman Chainani is the writer of the School of Good and Evil books, which is basically a better version of Disney’s The Descendants, right? I probably shouldn’t judge, but I guess after I DNF-ed Chris Colfer’s first Land of Stories book, I kind of put all of these MG books in the same category in my head.
But I do like fairy tale retellings, so I was always going to read this one anyway. And it really took me by surprise. It’s so much darker than I expected. The twists aren’t subtle at all, but they’re extremely satisfying. And I think they suit modern readers more - with a Rapunzel who questions why she has to marry a prince and live out the rest of her life in a castle that’s just another prison, or an orphan boy who is well-versed in his Bluebeard’s rules, enough to use them to his advantage.
I’ve chosen this book to be my staff pick for January 2022, so if you’re interested to check it out, get it while it’s on discount :D
Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki
I read this book in early 2021, and it stayed with me throughout the year. I used it as my April staff pick, and it’s one of the books that’s been pretty hard to keep in stock since. At the moment of writing, we only have one copy left!
This was what I wrote for our staff picks table:
A chance meeting and an art class project leads 12-year-old Nozomi and her friends to ask questions about circumstances around the Hiroshima bombing, and discovering the hidden stories about their families, teacher, and neighbours. This book is a beautiful and honest exploration of history, and learning about others’ lived experience is so important.
Lore Olympus Volume One by Rachel Smythe
This long-awaited print version of the Webtoon is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. I’m super invested in these two characters, but this comic doesn’t just tell their story - other bits from Greek myth are also woven in here and there, and despite knowing most of these stories already, I’m always desperate for the next update. I love how this comic modernises the whole “the gods are just as messy and stupid as the rest of us!” thing, and the art is oh so gorgeous.
Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal
Between this and Woman World, I think Aminder Dhaliwal is an auto-buy creator for me. (Not that I’ve bought this yet, because er I can’t afford it… yet.) This book takes the mutant metaphor, makes it about Cyclops (the race/species, not Scott Summers) and runs with it. Xenophobia, fetishization, being stereotyped in the media, microaggressions, internalised hate… the Cyclops in this comic navigate through all of this while just trying to live their lives. I love, love, LOVE this book.
If the Cat Faces West by Urushibara Yuki
Technically, only the latest volume is a 2021 publication (I think) but oh well. This is a manga by the creator of Mushishi, and while I do think it’s one of the best comics out this year, I also think that ymmv with this one. Because Mushishi fans might prefer that over If the Cat Faces West, and/or think they’re too similar. It doesn’t matter to me, because a well-written & well-illustrated story is a well-written & well-illustrated story no matter what.
I did write about it in a previous newsletter, if you want to read more.
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
T.J. Klune’s House in the Cerulean Sea was one of the best books I’ve read, ever, so I was really excited to read Under the Whispering Door when it was first announced. Then I read some interviews and articles that say that the vibe of these two books are COMPLETELY different, and that Whispering Door is a darker book, and I got a little apprehensive.
It is a darker book - it’s about death, and grief, after all. But I don’t know if I would say it’s completely different from Cerulean Sea, because to me it’s just as wholesome, and (weirdly) comforting.
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
Ngl, I still feel haunted by the Black Water Sister sometimes. I’m not a horror fan, and my overactive imagination is why. But this quiet, chilly sort of horror that just slowly fills you with dread and fear of the unknown is also my favourite sort of horror - no, I lie. I do enjoy these but I also like gory horror comics. I guess it depends on the medium!
(Side note: I can enjoy horror fiction on the rare occasion, but most of the time you’ll have a hard time getting me to even try. Except maybe if it’s a comic like Harrow County or Something Is Killing the Children, because I may not be able to resist the art.)
Anyway, what I love the most about Black Water Sister is the relatability. In an interview with NPR, Zen Cho said of Jess (the main character): “Jess is diaspora and queer, and both those things are a bit like being a ghost among the living, or living among ghosts.” And even without the supernatural elements, I would want to read a Jess-as-ghost-girl coming-of-age story.
Soulstar by C.L. Polk
I was going to add this to my non-2021 publications mentions below, but then I realised that this book was published IN FEBRUARY. It felt like so many years ago!
If we talked at all sometime while/after I read this book, I probably have talked your ear off about it. The entire Kingston Cycle is just excellent, and I love how it escalated from being so wholesome and sweet and addictive like fanfic (WItchmark), to a story about the costs and consequences of revolution (Stormsong), and now, in Soulstar, it deals with reparation work and the struggle of trying to make real change when you’re stuck in a system that refuses to let you. Which is something we all are probably too familiar with ((T_T)
special mentions
Favourite 2021 picture books: New Year by Mei Zihan & Qin Leng (English version out this year), and Negative Cat by Sophie Blackall
Favourite rereads this year: The Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, and Greenwitch by Susan Cooper
Favourite books I read for the first time this year, but aren’t 2021 publications: Our Dreams at Dusk series by Yuhki Kamatani, and all the October Daye books I read this year!
2021 books I was highly anticipating, but have yet to read: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, Colorful by Eto Mori (the English translation), A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, and Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison.
Favourite Marvel comic/run: while I’ve been more obsessed with all the X-Men stuff in general, I think the comic that I haven’t been able to shut up about is Kelly Thompson (and various artists)’s Captain Marvel run. I keep screenshooting/taking pics of panels to share with friends who probably couldn’t care less. Sorry?
I think that concludes this year’s wrap-up. Happy holidays, and Happy New Year!
STAY SAFE <3