Top Ten-ish Favorite Books of 2021

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. More information here.

I am not mad that I struggle to pick a top ten favorite books. This year, I tried to keep tabs throughout the year of my favorite reads and had every intention of picking one each month. But then I couldn't pick between my two January favorites...and then April happened. There are a LOT of runner ups.

1. The Toll by Neal Shusterman (January)
2. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (January)
3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (February)*
4. A Promised Land by Barack Obama (March)*
5. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (April)*
6. Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson (April)*
7. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (May)*
8. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (June)
9. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (July)*
10. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (August)*
11. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (September)*
12. The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang (November)
13. Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong (December)
14. A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria (December)
    

Honorable mentions: You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria (February), SLAY by Brittney Morris (February), Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (March), The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (April), A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas (April), City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab (April), Daughter of the Siren Queen by Trisha Levenseller (April), Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (April), Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (April), Mirage by Somaiya Daud (May), A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (July), Game Changer by Neal Shusterman (August), The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (September)

Top Ten Books on My Winter 2021/2022 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. More information here.

I'm a little behind on my seasonal TBRs again, but we'll see how far I can get in the next three months before my next seasonal TBR. It's sooo weird to see 2022 in the title as well. But here we go:

1. A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria: Leftover from my Summer & Fall TBRs - Netgalley book.
2. Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart: Leftover from my Summer & Fall TBRs - library book.
3. The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen - Leftover from my Fall TBR - Netgalley book.
   
4. You Have a Match by Emma Lord - Leftover from my Fall TBR - Netgalley book.
5. Lore by Alexandra Bracken: Leftover from my Fall TBR - Netgalley & Owlcrate book.
6. The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury - Leftover from my Fall TBR.
7. A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer - Leftover from my Fall TBR.
8. Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey - The sequel to It Happened One Summer, I have this one from Netgalley and it follows the main character from the first book's sister. I'm so excited to read another Tessa Bailey romance. They are always such a good time.
9. It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland - I watched an author chat and really loved the author and I believe this is their debut. I love the cover and it's a YA with lots of queer characters, so I'm super excited to read this one.
   
10. Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries - I really do not know much about this story but I've heard so many good things about it and the artwork is beautiful AND Nick got it for me for an early anniversary present.
    

November 2021 Book Haul

Hello again and hello to what looks like a really large haul. I have 15 books hauled for the month of November - however, I only have 5 left to read - 2 of which I'm in the middle of and should finish this week. My favorite thing at the moment is to haul a bunch of audiobooks from my library and binge listen to them while I work. It's been pretty wonderful. I've even been able to do some fantasy audiobooks lately!

Top Ten Five Star Predictions Part 3

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. More information here.

So any time there is a freebie, I want to make five star predictions because it's really fun to see what I think I will like and then turn around and see if it's 5 stars or a "what the heck was I thinking?!" kind of thing. My first predictions post was in February 2020 and I have 4 books left on it. Of the six, 4 were 5-star reads, 2 were not. My second predictions post was in June 2021 and I have 6 books left on it - not really doing my best getting around to these haha. Of the four, 2 were 5-star reads. 

Books I Read in November

I read 12 books in November.

• The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (Audio, 9 hr 19 min, 2021, Adult Thriller, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge
• Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Audio, 14 hr 27 min, 2020, MG Fantasy, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• The Night Country by Melissa Albert (Audio, 10 hr 23 min, 2020, YA Fantasy, Library) - 3 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang (Audio, 9 hr 30 min, 2021, Adult Romance, Library) - 5 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Audio, 14 hr 4 min, 2019, YA Sci Fi, Library) - 3 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge
• All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (Audio, 7 hr 19 min, 2021, YA Thriller, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge
• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin (Audio, 14 hr 13 min, 2019, YA Fantasy, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• Reverie by Ryan La Sala (Audio, 11 hr 17 min, 2019, YA Fantasy, Library) - 3 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge
• Pumpkin by Julie Murphy (Audio, 7 hr 20 min, 2021, YA Contemporary, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano (Audio, 6 hr 22 min, 2018, MG Fantasy, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Owlcrate challenge, Series challenge
• The Young Elites by Marie Lu (Audio, 10 hr 3 min, 2014, YA Fantasy/Dystopia, Library) - 4 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
• The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Audio, 10 hr 24 min, 2021, YA Mystery, Library) - 3.5 stars | My Review - Counted towards Goodreads challenge, Series challenge
  

Pages read: 114 hr 38 min
Pages DNF: 0

READING STATS
BY FORMAT

• Kindle: 0 (2021 Total: 30)
  
• Physical: 0 (2021 Total: 13)
• Audio: 12 (2021 Total: 67)

BY PAGE COUNT

• Under 250 pages: 0 (2021 Total: 6)
• 250 to 400 pages: 8 (2021 Total: 71)
  
• 400 to 700 pages: 4 (2021 Total: 28)
• 700+ pages: 0 (2021 Total: 5)

BY METHOD OF OBTAINING

• Purchased: 0 (2021 Total: 25)
• Borrowed: 12 (2021 Total: 73)
• For Review: 0 (2021 Total: 12)
• Gifted: 0 (2021 Total: 0)

BY RATING

• 1 star: 0 (2021 Total: 1)
• 2 stars: 0 (2021 Total: 6)
• 3 stars: 4 (2021 Total: 32)
• 4 stars: 7 (2021 Total: 40)
• 5 stars: 1 (2021 Total: 31)

BY AUDIENCE

• MG: 2 (2021 Total: 8)
• YA: 8 (2021 Total: 58)
• Adult: 2 (2021 Total: 44)

BY YEAR

• Before 2000s: 0 (2021 Total: 0)
  
• 2000 to 2010: 0 (2021 Total: 1)
• 2010 to 2015: 1 (2021 Total: 10)
• 2016 to 2018: 1 (2021 Total: 25)
• 2019: 3 (2021 Total: 19)
• 2020: 2 (2021 Total: 25)
• 2021: 5 (2021 Total: 28)

BY GENRE

• Classic/Historical Fiction: 0 (2021 Total: 3)
• Contemporary: 1 (2021 Total: 18)
• Dystopia/Horror: 0 (2021 Total: 1)
• Fantasy: 7 (2021 Total: 30)
• Nonfiction: 0 (2021 Total: 6)
• Paranormal: 0 (2021 Total: 4)
• Romance/Smut: 1 (2021 Total: 23)
• Sci Fi: 0 (2021 Total: 13)
  
• Thriller/Mystery: 2 (2021 Total: 10)

December 2021 TBR & Challenge Update

In 2021, I'm participating in Words & Whimsy Reading Challenge (new challenge each month - December is "The Starfall" theme).

November was a lot better compared to September and October. Band is slowing down a bit. And despite it being busy because of the holidays, it's still less busy than the August through October time period. I read 12 books - totaling 114 hr 38 min of audiobook time. I have fewer audiobooks planned for this month, so hopefully I'll get through them!

I have 8 criteria prompts for Words & Whimsy and only 7 books on my TBR so I have a little room in case I want to read something else.

My TBR for December:

• A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria (Kindle - Netgalley)
• Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart (Kindle - Library)
• The Year Shakespeare Ruined Me by Dani Jensen (Kindle - Netgalley)
• You Have a Match by Emma Lord (Kindle - Netgalley)
• Lore by Alexandra Bracken (Audio - Library)
• The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury (Hardcover)
• A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer (Hardcover)
  

2021 READING CHALLENGES: should be at 91%  

Goodreads Challenge: 110/50 books - 220% COMPLETED 5/8
Series Challenge: 15/10 series - 150% COMPLETED 6/22
Netgalley Challenge: 12/12 books - 100% COMPLETED 9/28
Owlcrate Challenge: 14/12 books - 117%  COMPLETED 10/28

My 2021 Series Tracker 

  What are you planning on reading in December?