2021 was a year, for sure. It had its ups and downs, but there’s no doubt that as far as books go, 2021 was a pretty amazing year. This year, I read less fantasy and more horror, and I see that trend continuing in 2022. I ended up meeting my goal of 95 books read, and to be honest I was hoping to hit 100, but I stalled out in December and just couldn’t make that number. No worries, though! I had plenty of awesome books to choose from. I’m breaking my list up by genre, so I can highlight as many favorites as possible, and I’m starting with my Top Five Books of 2021. Here we go!
Top Five Books of 2021
It was very hard to narrow down my top five this year. I had six or seven books that should be on this list, but a top six or seven just doesn’t have the same impact, so here we are! Come With Me was my discovery of the year and probably my number one book of 2021, to be honest. I was grateful to read two amazing series conclusions with The Fall of Koli and The Bone Ship’s Wake. My first Catriona Ward book, The Last House on Needless Street, has cemented her as a “must read” author, and Chuck Wendig never fails to amaze me, and his 2021 release The Book of Accidents was mind blowing.
Come With Me by Ronald Malfi. The nitty-gritty: Careful plotting, creeping suspense and raw emotion make Come With Me the standout, can’t miss thriller of 2021.
The Fall of Koli by M.R. Carey. The nitty-gritty: A thrilling, heartbreaking and satisfying end to one of my favorite series, The Fall of Koli is one of the best books of 2021.
The Bone Ship’s Wake by R.J. Barker. The nitty-gritty: Loyalty, betrayal, secrets and lies, sea dragons, prophecies and much much more, The Bone Ship’s Wake is a fitting end to a brilliant fantasy series.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. The nitty-gritty: A creepy, disturbing tale perfect for fans of twisty, psychological horror. I couldn’t put it down!
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig. The nitty-gritty: A dark, twisty tale full of surprising connections, unexpected horrors and nuanced characters, The Book of Accidents is a must read.
Below are all the other books I loved this year, divided up by genre (click on the titles to read my reviews):
Best Fantasy of 2021
Best Horror of 2021
Best Science Fiction of 2021
Best Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal of 2021
Best Novellas of 2021
What were some of your favorite books of the year? Do we have any in common?
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Posted December 28, 2021 by Tammy in Best Books of the Year / 70 Comments
I loved Whisper Down the lane and The Strange Thing We Become. 2022 looks to be another great year for horror and SFF
I agree, I can’t wait!
Ooh that’s a lot of books!
It is a lot, ha ha.
Well, this wasn’t published this year, but I did read the original NIGHTMARE ALLEY by William Lindsay Gresham and found it fascinating!
Next year I’m hoping to read more older books too, so hopefully some will make my end of year 2022 list:-)
We do have some in common.:-) In the Garden of Spite, The Strange Thing We Become, and The Last House on Needless Street. You’ve reminded me that I haven’t gotten around to some I meant to! SOOO many great books out there!
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…Among the Headstones Author Interview: Zachary Ashford
I know, I wish I could read faster so I can read even more:-)
I love your lists, Tammy! And if I don’t read The Bone Ships in 2022 you can go ahead and smack me LOL
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read In 2021
LOL I will!
I loved Later too – I haven’t seen all that much about it surprisingly. Great list!
Thanks Lauren!
With the exception of Horror, I share many of your best reads for this year, and SF takes the lion’s share with 5 shared books in 7 (and I have Project Hail Mary on my TBR so…) 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…FINDERS KEEPERS (Bill Hodges Trilogy #2), by Stephen King
I’m glad we both had such good reading years:-)
I love seeing these lists, so many great books on here, ones I’ve read and ones I very much want to read. Elder Race was one of my favorites this quarter, just loved it. And I also thoroughly enjoyed Come With Me, Dead Space, and These Silent Woods. It has been a good year for reading. Here’s to hoping for more in 2022!
todd recently posted…Quarterly Look Back – 4th Quarter 2021
It really has! I think 2022 is going to be great too:-)
Seriously Tammy? I’ve read TWO of these lol—and I can’t believe you somehow managed to limit yourself to 5 in each category. I couldn’t even stop at 10!
Two??? WTF? Yeah, I read a lot of great books, I wanted to highlight as many as possible.
oh I can’t believe I haven’t read any of them! I had an awful reading year and miss so many good books! Time to catch up! Thank you for all the good ideas!
Thanks for visiting, Mar! I hope you find some good books in 2022:-)
Nice to see Hall of Smoke & The Blacktongue Thief there… And you’ve reminded me I need to catch up with The Bone Ship.
King’s LATER is coming up on a bunch of year end lists. I need to give that a read.
I’ve seen Later on a few lists too, I really enjoyed it:-)
It warms my heart to see Dead Space on this list. It’s so underrated!
Happy new year, and here’s to more awesome spec fic/horror books!
Roberta R. recently posted…2021 Wrap-Up: In Which I Keep My Pace (And Deal With Anything Under the Sun)
I agree! It almost made my top five, that’s how much I loved it. Happy New Year Roberta!
I love how you broke this down into genres.
Thanks! It makes it easier:-)
My favorite time of year. 🙂 You always read the best books, Tammy. Many of these are already on my TBR pile or wish list so there’s hope yet that I’ll read them! In the Garden of Spite and The Last Watch are on that list among others. I hope you have a wonderful 2022 in reading too!
Literary Feline recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Read in 2021 [well, 15 if you are counting . . .]
Thanks Wendy! I had so many good books to choose from:-)
I’ve seen Project Hail Mary on countless lists now, I have the Audible audiobook and can’t wait to start it ASAP in 2022! I need to see what the hype is about!
Missy recently posted…Top 10 of 2021 ~ Missy’s Picks
Yes, read it! The hype is real:-)
I’ve never read Adrian Tchaikovsky’s work before. Think I’ll start with Elder Race as it’s a novella (and has a gorgeous cover to boot!). I’m also bookmarking this page for some great suggestions on what to read next — I can never have enough of those! 😉 Hope 2022 brings awesome books for you.
Lex @ Lexlingua recently posted…Favorite Books of 2021
Thanks Lex! I hope you love Elder Race:-)
I’m looking forward to reading The Book of Accidents.
Ellie Warren recently posted…Best of 2021
It was so good! Hope you enjoy it.
It’s an interesting view by genre. I’m on board for the scifi, fantasy and mystery thriller.
I like to highlight as many as possible so I figure I can get away with it by separating the genres.
Yesss, another “not just ten” rulebreaker like me, love to see it. I also love a good horror novel, but didn’t actually read that many this year as opposed to thrillers (I definitely haven’t read any of yours), so I’m happy settling in to this post for some good recs.
P.S. Dang that’s a cool header graphic.
RS recently posted…Top Ten (Percent Of My) 2021 Reads
Ha ha thanks! I could never just pick ten. It was so hard picking my top five even!
The Shadow of the Gods was amazing!
I agree, I can’t wait for the sequel:-)
I always find myself making different categories for my favorites, there’s just too many usually, haha! I really loved THe Last House on Needless Street as well. The Shadow of the Gods, Jade City, and The Last Watch are also amazing, and I think your horror section is reminding me of all the horror books I’ve been wanting to read still! What a great list of books, looks like you had some wonderful books to read this year. 🙂
My ratings were pretty high overall this year, so I consider it a fantastic year for new books:-)
Included Fall of Koli and Project Hail Mary in my “best of” list this week as well, and I see so many others here that I loved. The Album of Dr. Moreau was so weird and wonderful!!
It was weird and wonderful, that’s a great way to describe it:-)
A couple of your favorites was in my least favorites…lol. 🙂 You read some pretty interesting looking books by the cover. 🙂
LOL oh well!
We have quite a few in common, actually! And quite a few more that I am really hoping to get to ASAP! AND the ones I have read and didn’t add to my list (looking at you, Adrift) were JUST misses, you know? Like- they were 5 stars but they just didn’t quite make the cut. I NEED to get to Light Chaser, Dead Space, Day Zero, and Book of Accidents like, asap. And The Past is Red, The Last Watch, and Hail Mary all made my list too!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Tremendous Tales of ‘Twenty-One
It doesn’t surprise me that we have a lot in common:-)
I think Project Hail Mary is the only one we have in common, but I think at least half of your list is on my TBR so I’m looking forward to them even more than I already was seeing that they’re your favorites.
I’ve seen Project Hail Mary on a lot of lists today:-)
I am way behind on 2021 releases… I haven’t read any of these but I have Comfort Me With Apples ready to pick up at the library so I should get to it soon! I might have to check out The Last House on Needless Street.
Jenna @ Falling Letters recently posted…24 Books from Past TBR Posts That I Haven’t Read Yet [Unread November]
I hope you get to try them both:-)
I find myself being drawn to more horror lately as well, or at least more suspenseful/ tense reads. I loved Dead Space and I need to get that Gear series.
Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #433
You’d love the Gear series, it’s soo tense!!
I really enjoyed Later by Stephen King too, and there are a few here that I’ll hopefully get around to reading next year.
Pages and Tea recently posted…Beat The Backlist 2022
I’d like to read more Stephen King next year, maybe some backlist titles I’ve missed.
We share many favorites! Needless Street, Feral Creatures, Day Zero, Project Hail Mary, Later! Such a great year.
Jennifer | Book Den recently posted…On My Wishlist | Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
It really was a great year:-)
None in common, but I saw Ladies of the secret circus at the bookshop today and was wondering if it was any good.
https://seriesbooklover.wordpress.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-tuesday-best-reads-of-2021/
It’s so good! Thanks for visiting:-)
I see myself trending towards more horror and thriller too, and looks like my sci-fi took a dip this year while my fantasy stayed about the same. A lot of great books on this list though and I see we share a lot of the same favorites!
I’m definitely going to read more thrillers next year:-)
Great list here, and of course, In the Garden of Spite will be on mine… when I get around to posting it.
Also, it seems that many of us got worn out in these last months of 2021 and we lost some reading/blogging steam.
You keep making me really want to pick up The Last Watch 😀
I just ordered The Last House on Needless Street. I’m also curious about The Book of Accidents and In the Garden of Spite.
-Lauren
I still haven’t read any of these even though so many are on my TBR! But at least I know to keep them there because you thought they were so good! Thanks for sharing!
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Top 10 of 2021: Best of the Best (Favorite Books)
Come With Me and Project Hail Mary were my favourites too!
Well, it really seems like 2021 was pretty good, bookswise!!
The Last Watch is in my lost of favorites too!! And maybe 2022 would be the year in ehich I finally start The Boneship’s series!!
I’m so happy that we have such a lot of books in common. I’ve read quite a few of these and will definitely be reading These Silent Woods very soon.
Lynn 😀
wow, great list! I think I only read Project Hail Mary, which I did enjoy a lot as well.
But I had to choose Ishiguro for my favorite scifi of the year, with Klara and the Sun