What I Read and Watched in 2021

Happy New Year! I wish you and yours the best of health and happiness for 2022. 

 

This post contains my annual list of books I read and movies I watched over the course of the year. Last year's list is here; it's interesting to compare the two. This year came in a number of different parts for me, which makes looking back on my reading an especially odd experience--some things feel like they were very long ago indeed.

 

In 2021 I read 132 books...

 

But before you brave the full list, allow me to share a few highlights.

My Recommendations

1. For fans of short fiction...I'd heard my sister, a writer, rave about Ted Chiang awhile ago, and I had the enormous pleasure of reading his stories for the first time this year. You shouldn't wait as long as I did.
   
2. For historical fiction fans...Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series is compelling, dense, and delightfully different from her famous Lymond Chronicles. I began reading the series late in the year and am currently savouring book four.
3. For fans of history books...Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power by Pekka Hamalainen is something I am still thinking about nearly a year later. 
4. For fantasy fans...each book of N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth triology won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, the first time this had ever happened for a series. They are unsettling, inventive, and like nothing else I've ever read.
   
5. For romance fans....Chloe Liese's Bergman Brothers series. I can't explain why this grabbed me so hard--even from the most commercially successfuly writers of the genre, I usually find a series of books about the love lives of the members of a family uneven, but every one of these delighted me in a different way. (It's an ongoing series, so be aware of that if you don't like to wait for new books to come out). Look, each book features the sharing of snack trays as an act of affection, which is something I can fully get behind.
6. For science fiction fans...I collect novels in which the premise is 'historian travels through space and time for research purposes.' Hard to Be a God does brilliant things with this trope. I loved it so much.
   
7. If you're wondering whether you should bother...having finally caught up to the end of the Outlander series, I preordered Go Tell the Bees I Am Gone. Despite eagerly looking forward to finding out what happened next in the series, I found this book equal parts baffling and frustrating. Your time might be better spent elsewhere--at least until book ten finally comes out and we find out how the heck it all ends.
8. For your viewing pleasure....Black Sails, Black Sails, Black Sails! I have not yet finished season 1, but I am a huge fan of this show.
   
9.  For further viewing pleasure...I am absolutely loving the Expanse, which is doing a cracking job filling my need for a smart, watchable sci-fi television show. Really hoping there will be as much Camina Drummer as possible in Season 6.

What did you read or watch in 2021? What would you recommend?

And now, without further ado, my list!

Reading

 

Anthologies (5)

1. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
   
2. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
3. Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway
   
4. What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi 
   
5. Queer: A Collection of LGTBQ Writings from Ancient Times to Yesterday edited by Frank Wynne
   

Autobiography, Biography, and Memoir (2)

1. Survive and Advance by Tiana Bartoletta 
2. The Art of Tasha Tudor by Harry Davis
   

Cookbooks (8)

1. Cadbury Creme Egg Cookbook 
2. Malaysia by Ping Coombes
   
3. Flavours of Azerbaijan: the family cooking collection by Khabiba Kashkay
4. The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook
   
5. 30 Herbs for Your Kitchen Garden by Maureen Little 
6. Cooking on a Bookstrap by Jack Monroe 
7. Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi
   
8. Broke Vegan by Saskia Sidey 

Fiction and Historical Fiction (6)

1. The Ringed Castle by Dorothy Dunnett
2. Checkmate by Dorothy Dunnett
   
3. Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett 
4. The Spring of the Ram by Dorothy Dunnett
5. Race of Scorpions by Dorothy Dunnett
6. Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
   

History (2)

1. Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power by Pekka Hamalainen 
   
2. Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby Dick by Richard King 

Letters and Diaries (2)

1. Tolstoy’s Diaries Volume I: 1847–1894  ed by R.F. Christian
2. The House by the Sea by May Sarton
   

Mystery (2)

1. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers 
2. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
   

Nonfiction (10)

1. Irish red and white setter by Nona Kilgore Bauer 
2. Constructive Wallowing by Tina Gilbertson 
3. Crops in Tight Spots by Alex Mitchell 
4. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant by Veronica Peerless
   
5. Big Plants by Emma Sibley
   
6. The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel
7. The Container Garden by Frances Tophill
8. The body keeps the score by Bessel A. Van der Kolk 
9. The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells 
10. Forever Christmas: Tasha Tudor by Harry Davis
    

Poetry (7)

1. Contemporary Kazakh Literature: Poetry
2. After Callimachus: Poems by Stephanie Burt  
3. Seductive Harmonies: the Poetry of Music edited by Deborah Gaye
4. Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Gluck
5. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Throught, edited by Joy Harjo
   
6. Swift, Lord, You Are Not by Kilian McDonnell
7. The Zoo of the New: Poems to Read Now edited by Don Patterson and Nick Laird
   

Romance (55)

1. Isn't it Bromantic by Lyssa Kay Adams 
2. Dump and Chase by Tony Aleo
   
3. Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley
4. The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
   
5. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade 
6. All the Feels by Olivia Dade
7. The Roommate by Rosie Danan
8. The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
   
9. The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
   
10. The Singles Table by Sarah Desai
11. The Dating Plan by Sarah Desai
12. The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory 
13. While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
    
14. The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
15. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
16. Only When It's Us by Sarah Hogle
17. Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle 
18. Pucked Off by Helena Hunting
    
19. Say Yes to the Duke by Eloisa James
20. Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James
21. Your Wicked Ways by Eloisa James
22. Duchess in Love by Eloisa James 
23. This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James
24. The Taming of the Duke by Eloisa James
25. Much Ado About You by Eloisa James
26. A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James
27. Three Weeks with Lady X by Eloisa James
28. Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James
29. Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James
30. Born to be Wilde by Eloisa James
31. My Last Duchess by Eloisa James
32. How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Eloisa James
33. With You Forever by Chloe Liese
34. Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
35. Always Only You by Chloe Liese
36.  Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese
37. Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean 
38. A Duke Worth Falling For by Sarah MacLean 
39. Bombshell by Sarah MacLean 
40. I Hate You by Isla Madden-Mills
41. I Promise You by Isla Madden-Mills
42. I Bet You by Isla Madden-Mills
43. I Dare You by Isla Madden-Mills
44. The Devil You Know by Kit Rocha
    
45. The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian
46. Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian
47. A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian
48. It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian 
49. High Risk Rookie by Odette Stone
50. Home Game by Odette Stone
51. Penalty Box by Odette Stone
52. Puck Me Secretly by Odette Stone
53. The Layover by Lacey Waldon 
54. To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters
55. Cinnamon Roll by Anna Zabo
    

Science Fiction and Fantasy (35)

1. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
   
2. Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs 
3. Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs
4. Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
5. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
6. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
7. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
9. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold
11. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdich 
12. The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
13. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green 
14. The All Soul's Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
    
15. The Inheritance by Robin Hobb
    
16. The Shadowed Sun  by N.K. Jemisin
17. The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
18. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
19. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
20. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
21. Provenance by Ann Leckie
    
22. The Birthday of the World by Ursula K. Le Guin 
23. Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin 
24. A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
    
25. Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
    
26. Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
27. Moving Target by Elizabeth Moon 
28. Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
29. Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon
    
30. Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
31. Time of contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
32. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
33. Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
34. Hard to be a god by Arkady Strugatsky
35. The Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner 

Viewing

Movies 

1. Arrival
   
2. Athlete A 
3. Avengers Assemble
4. Avengers Endgame
5. Avengers Infinity War
6. Avengers Age of Ultron
7. Black Widow
   
8. Captain America: the Winter Soldier
   
9. Single All the Way
10. The Martian
    
11. The Old Guard 
12. Thor
13. Thor the Dark World
14. Thor Ragnarok
    

Podcasts

1. Ali on the Run
2. The Anthropocene Reviewed  
3. Citius Mag Podcast 
4. Glittership
   
5. Keeping Track
6. The Morning Shakeout 
7. No Meat Athlete
   

TV Shows

1. Alien Worlds 
2. A Discovery of Witches (Season 1)
   
3. Black Sails (ongoing)
   
4. The Expanse (Seasons 1-5)
5. Lost in Space (almost all)
   
6. Stranger Things (Seasons 1-3) 
7. Teen Wolf (Seasons 1-5)
   
8. Wheel of Time (in part)
   
9. The Witcher (Season 1)
   

Youtube

1. MyKayla Skinner
   
2. Vlogbrothers
3. Yoga with Lena