Thread by @SpeasySpice

Alright fam THE TIME IS NIGH

for my traditional BEST BOOKS OF 2021 thread

prepare your butts

and your wallets

to shop local

to shop indie

to shun B*zos

and make your Bookish Auntie Speas proud

A quick rundown:

-First I'm gonna share the 2021 releases (if you don't see your faves, I promise it wasn't b/c I didn't like them, it was b/c I didn't read them yet, and I will bear that shame into 2022 😂)

-After that is non-2021 releases

For muting purposes: #SpeasReads

If any of these sound rad to you, please consider purchasing them from @justonemorepage, @librofm (for audio), or @kobo (for ebooks), or check them out/request them from your local library! Don't give Bezos any more dollars.

NOW HERE COME THE BOOKS BAYBEEEE

A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers (@TorDotComPub)

A traveling tea monk and a curious wild robot become friends and explore the world, not for what humans want, but what they need. A kind, perfect breath of fresh air, for anyone who has ever needed a break. #SpeasReads

THE PAST IS RED by @catvalente (@TorDotComPub)

A fierce and heart-full novella that is both darkly furious and relentlessly cheerful. Literally spins trash into treasure, and crafts magic from the dregs humanity leaves behind. Utterly wonderful. #SpeasReads

POPISHO by @leoneross (@fsgbooks)

This book is a lustrous, luscious, delicious, radical, joyous, sexy, Caribbean-flavored, bananapants magical realism delight. I want to eat it, and maybe also make out with it. 1,000/10 would recommend. #SpeasReads

FIREKEEPER’S DAUGHTER by @FineAngeline (@FierceReads)

What an AMAZING, beautiful, powerful, complicated, thrilling book. I cannot say enough good things about it, except that it is 100% worth the hype, and everyone should read it IMMEDIATELY. #SpeasReads

MATRIX by @legroff (@riverheadbooks)

Lauren Groff said “medieval historical fiction about Marie de France & Eleanor of Aquitaine,” and she had my curiosity. Lauren Groff said “prophesying Sapphic warrior nuns,” and she had my attention. This book is bananas good. #SpeasReads

CERTAIN DARK THINGS by @silviamg (@TorNightfire)

Teeechnically this was a re-release this year, but who cares it’s aMaZiNg!! It’s gritty Mexican vampire noir that is bloody and violent and beautiful and ugly and odd and hopeful and I love every page of it. #SpeasReads

NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS by @TriciaLockwood (@riverheadbooks)

ok but how is Patricia Lockwood so good at words??? Nothing about this book is what I normally look for in a book, but once I started reading I could not stop. It is gut-busting and heartbreaking. #SpeasReads

RULE OF WOLVES by @LBardugo (@FierceReads)

My husband literally did not see me for 2 days b/c I immediately isolated myself so that I could screech in peace. If you haven’t dove into the Grishaverse yet, literally why not, go do it now, I’ll wait for you here. #SpeasReads

THE SURVIVORS by @janeharperautho (@flatironbooks)

Jane Harper, my Australian Crime Queen. Her newest dives into the off-season waters of a Tasmanian beach town, oncoming storms, & long-buried small-town secrets. (PS, we have signed bookplates @justonemorepage!) #SpeasReads

THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS by @WriterJuneHur (@FierceReads)

Perfect eerie young adult thriller set in 15th-century Korea. Disappearances, old grudges, festering secrets, & the threat of a killer lurking in nearby forests…what more do you want?? READ IT NOW. #SpeasReads

BATTLE ROYAL by @_LucyParker (@avonbooks)

A ☀️ and 🌈 baking show contestant + the always-grumpy judge who eliminated her + a lucrative contract for a royal wedding = WHAT COULD GO WRONG??? A delicious confection, with top-shelf banter and rich emotional journey #SpeasReads

GARLIC & THE VAMPIRE by @breebird33 (@QuillTreeBooks)

What are veggies to do when a 🧛‍♂️ moves into the castle up the hill?! Send little Garlic to deal with him! A lovely story abt overcoming fears, looking past 1st impressions, & the joy of growing things w/ friends. #SpeasReads

SUMMERWATER by Sarah Moss (@fsgbooks)

Any Sarah Moss novel is worth celebrating, and this one, like GHOST WALL packs a mighty punch with a slim number of pages. Subtle, menacing, and a tense slow-burn. Get on this Sarah Moss train y'all, pronto. #SpeasReads

THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT by @RosieDanan (@BerkleyRomance)

A warm, sexy love story between a sex worker-turned-entrepreneur-turned-academic and a short king nontraditional hot rabbi??? LITERALLY WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME GO READ IT POSTHASTE. #SpeasReads

ORWELL’S ROSES by Rebecca Solnit (@VikingBooks)

A tasty concoction of nature writing, literary criticism, history, and philosophy, perfect for any fan of H is for Hawk or Salt on Your Tongue. This stuff is my catnip, highly recommend. #SpeasReads

THE SANATORIUM by @SarahVPearse (@PamelaDornanBks)

This thriller set in a former TB hospital isolated high in the Swiss Alps is deliciously spooky and compulsively readable, and I can’t wait for Detective Elin Warner’s next mystery in 2022 I want it NOW #SpeasReads

THE BLACKTONGUE THIEF by @Buehlmeister (@TorBooks)

If you’re looking to scratch that epic fantasy itch, this is a bloody, snarky, tattered-edge adventure with lady knights, professional thieves, dark magic, darker humor, deadly assassins, flesh-eating goblins & more. #SpeasReads

HONORABLE 2021 RELEASE MENTIONS:

MURDER UNDER HER SKIN by @playwrightsteve which I have not finished yet, but Steve and Book 1 are rad as hell, so read it.

I LOVE YOU BUT I'VE CHOSEN DARKNESS by Claire Vaye Watkins: Currently listening, and I love it so far. Dark and snarky.

AAAAAANNNNNND that is it for 2021 releases!

Now we're getting into that sweet, sweet backlist, because publishing loves its shiny new babies, so I also want to give some love to the books of years past!

FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL, MEMOIRS OF MOOMINPAPPA, & MOOMINSUMMER MADNESS by Tove Jansson (@SortOfBooks)

I love the Moomins so much I literally have a LittleMy tattoo. It has been such a joy to fall in love w/ Tove Jansson and her magical world & I can't wait for more #SpeasReads

HOLLOWPOX by @digressica (@LittleBrownYR)

This is literally my favorite middle grade series being written right now & Bk3 is just as wonderful as the first 2. I’m literally counting the days until I can get my mitts on Book 4. There will also be NINE BOOKS IN TOTAL 😱#SpeasReads

CHILDREN OF ASH AND ELM by Neil Price (@BasicBooks)

This is a masterful history of the Vikings in all of their complicated, contradictory glory. It peels back misconceptions, propaganda + myths, & it is a perfect history to fall into. Extra points for a fab audiobook #SpeasReads

THE COVENT GARDEN LADIES & THE SCANDALOUS LADY W by @HallieRubenhold

Hallie Rubenhold is one of the best historians out there, and these 2 are delicious slices of dishy 18th-century English history peopled by some of the most fascinating characters you’ll ever meet. #SpeasReads

NOTHING TO ENVY by @BarbaraDemick (@RandomHouse)

I know next to nothing about N. Korea, so when this book showed up in my library app, I figured it'd be a good way to pass some winter hours. I didn’t expect it to be so affecting, powerful, and utterly human. So good. #SpeasReads

THE HOUR OF LAND by @TempestWilliams

A gorgeous blend of memoir + nature writing that is my reading catnip. This book describes American public land with such warmth + loving attention to detail it made me want to plant it in my backyard and see what would grow. #SpeasReads

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES by @danpatrickegan (@wwnorton)

Hey everyone??? The Great Lakes are really amazing???? And also there is an ecological crisis all up in em being precipitated by global warming and invasive species???? DEF pick this one up. #SpeasReads

STRANGER IN THE SHOGUN’S CITY by
@astanley711 (@ScribnerBooks)

I adored this bio of Tsuneno, an amazing woman in 19th-century Edo on the cusp of opening up to Western influence. I wish every history book was written like this: w/ expertise, clear eyes & compassion. #SpeasReads

THE CITY OF BRASS by @SAChakrabooks (@HarperVoyagerUS)

This is such a fun, romantic, rollicking fantasy adventure through 18th-century Cairo, complete with fire-eyed djinn and politicking royals and a wily heroine who I adored. 100% recommend. #SpeasReads

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by @TJKlune (@TorBooks)

I feel like I'm the last bookseller in the world to read this, but what an utterly stellar book. It is a sweet, soft hug of a book with a spine of steel & the ultimate Found Family. I cannot recommend it enough. #SpeasReads

GIRL GONE VIRAL by @AlishaRai (@avonbooks)
Obvi this #SpeasReads book is full of delicious sexy beautiful greatness, so throwback to that time my car unpaused my audiobook in the middle of a Very Steamy scene in my hometown Bojangles’ drive thru:

THE INCONVENIENT INDIAN by Thomas King (@UMinnPress; @PenguinRandomCA)

A funny, insightful, opinionated, pull-no-punches account+analysis of what it means to be “Indian” in N.America. A bestseller in Canada, this is one that more Americans need to read like yesterday #SpeasReads

WINTERING by @_katherine_may_ (@riverheadbooks)

Ironically, I read this in the middle of a humid DC summer, but it was still a much-needed respite from a hectic, frenetic year. It is a calm, kind reminder to let yourself pause, to let yourself step away and breathe. #SpeasReads

THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY & THE TEA DRAGON FESTIVAL by @strangelykatie (@onipress)

These beautiful gorgeous warmhearted lovely graphic novels are just the best. I have the 3rd one but I have put off reading it b/c then I won’t have any new Tea Dragon books to enjoy #SpeasReads

THE RUIN & THE SCHOLAR by @DervlaMcTiernan

Twisty suspenseful mysteries set in atmospheric rainy Galway, featuring a bevy of fascinatingly flawed characters and fantastic audiobooks? SIGN ME UP, I HAVE A NEW FAVE CRIME WRITER. #SpeasReads

EMPIRE OF SAND by @tashadrinkstea (@OrbitBooks)

A fabulous fantasy inspired by Mughal India that scratches that romantic magical fantasy itch so well. I have the sequel & JASMINE THRONE taunting me on my nightstand & I can’t wait until I have the time to savor them. #SpeasReads

Aaaannnnnnnd those are my 2021 reads!!!

Obviously, this year was tOuGh for a lot of different reasons, & over the past two (?!) years of the pandemic, reading has become incredibly difficult for me to devote my focus and energy to. There are some truly wonderful books...(cont.)

...in this list that have helped me get through some truly abyssmal times. I hope you all find something in here that sparks your interest or soothes your heart like it did mine.

Remember: shop local (shouting out @justonemorepage, @librofm & @kobo again!) and be safe! (cont.)

And so, chickadees, thus ends my Best Books of 2021 thread. Tell me what your favorite reads were this year please! Be safe! Get vaxxed! Get boosted! Keep your blood on the inside! Free yourself from the confines of a capitalistic society that doesn't care about you!