Top Books of 2021

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Happy 2022, all! I wanted to go over my top books from 2021. Like last year, I'm having a little bit of a hard time focusing on what stood out; fortunately looking over my read list on Goodreads helped me select titles. I hope you enjoy my list!

Fiction:

It was difficult to pick my favorite fiction from this year. I have a lot of titles that I rated highly at the time but didn't necessarily stick in my mind. These are the ones that did.

• Iron Widow/Xiran Jay Zhao---Iron Widow is the perfect read if you like monstrous/vengeful girls or need a book where the protagonists try to destroy the system. The worldbuilding is great--it has a bit of a Pacific Rim vibe with a dose of Chinese culture. I loved the characters; both Zetian and Shimin make awful choices, but their decisions make sense in context, and their struggles to connect make for nuanced, flawed characters.

• Harlem Shuffle/Colson Whitehead-I really enjoyed Colson Whitehead's latest book. The characters are really fun, and the story mixes a heist plot with powerful social commentary. Whitehead is really good at setting the context and characters' personalities, and he does it in such a way that's both subtle and detail packed. I savored Harlem Shuffle, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

• Firekeeper's Daughter/Angeline Boulley-This story about a teen trying to solve a murder only to uncover corruption in her community completely gripped me. It's a very dark book in some ways, but the protagonist Daunis and the nuanced portrayal of her Ojibwe community carried a lot of light and balanced out the story. 

Non-Fiction:

I did a better job of reading nonfiction this year; I was able to find more titles that engaged me but didn't completely overtask my poor stressed brain. Here are the ones I especially enjoyed.

• Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex/Angela Chen--This was an excellent collection of essays that explore asexuals navigating societal pressures and conventions. Chen draws on her own experiences and others to explore these topics and demonstrate the impact these conventions have on different individuals. If queer sexuality is your jam or you're interested in expanding your knowledge of asexuality, check Ace out.

• Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations/John Tateishi-This was a fascinating look at the Japanese American community's journey to get a government apology and reparations for the World War II internments camps. Tateishi, who was a key player in the process, describes the incredible legal and political journey to achieve this along with the community's own reckoning with the experience. Because of the conversations around justice and reparations for other communities, this was a fascinating and timely read.

• The Art of Slow Writing: Reflections on Time, Craft, and Creativity/Louise DeSalvo--I found this book on writing, time management, creativity, and more to be a thoughtful and engaging read. While not all of DeSalvo's ruminations resonated, I still found a fair bit that was both comforting and inspiring. I definitely love the idea of a journal/notes place for current projects, for example, as well as the idea that what you write can be potentially useful to you later on.

Graphic Novels:

I contributed to a feature with No Flying, No Tights about our favorite graphic novels that came out this year. I'll link to that post here once it goes up. I did want to share a couple of titles that I couldn't include for various reasons.

• Himawari House/Harmony Becker--This heartwarming graphic novel about four girls on exchange in Japan. The characterization is wonderful, and I felt nostalgic for my own study abroad experience. I really like how Becker riffs on manga and American comic conventions to create a way of telling and illustrating the story that's all her own.

• Dancing After TEN/Vivian Chong and Georgia Webber-This gripping graphic memoir tells the story of Vivian Chong's experience with TEN, a skin condition that eventually left her blind. The story is honest--portraying both the good and bad. The powerful visuals--which are a mix of Chong's and collaborator Georgia Webber's own work--are unique and suit the story.