I used to do a books read list every year, but I haven’t done one for a while. There is nothing particularly memorable or significant about this one. I just decided to do it. A pandemic snapshot, I guess.

I spent considerable reading time on escapist and comfort books. It was that kind of year—for many of us. I usually read a handful of romance novels in a year, but this year I went through as many as in the previous three or four years combined. Nothing wrong with that. They were good fun and what I needed at the moment. But before I said to myself, “All right, I’m good on the romance front,” I’d blasted through all eight of the Bridgerton novels, plus a Bridgerton related series (the Smythe-Smiths), plus two of the four Bridgerton prequels.

I also read an exceptional non-typical romance by Sherry Thomas before stopping (Not Quite a Husband) and loved her plotting and characterization so much that I looked up what else she’d done. This led me to her Lady Sherlock series (starting with A Study In Scarlet Women), in which Sherlock Holmes is the creation of a young woman who possesses Holmes’ acumen but knows she would never be accepted in Victorian English society for her talents because she is a woman. I admit to being skeptical of this premise because—let’s face it—these things are often quite lame. But Ms. Thomas showed such deftness and verve that these books have become a real pleasure for me.

Sometime earlier in the year while searching for something to stream, I came across a BBC Scotland TV show from the late 90s starring Robert Carlyle: Hamish Macbeth. It had that really quirky 90s vibe—sort of like Northern Exposure except set in the Scottish Highlands—and I binged all three seasons. Then I got curious about the source material, a long series of novels by M. C. Beaton, the author of the Agatha Raisin series. (I understand Ms. Beaton hated the TV show.) I also blasted through several of those. Fast, easy reads, humorous, interesting mysteries and characters, and a mordant eye towards human nature. But not particularly like the TV series.

I did dip into more serious stuff, but as I said, this was a year dominated by escape and comfort (à la Diana Gabaldon and J. D. Robb). As to the number of books read, I usually finish about 50 a year, not a spectacular accomplishment. I’m always picking up and putting down books and often have 3 or 4 going at once, which does tend to hold down my completion rate. But since it isn’t a contest, who cares? The list below is roughly chronological but doesn’t reflect the books I picked up and put down in between or when I started a particular book, just when I finished.

Books read in 2021 (with brief comments):

  1. Clanlands by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish
  2. Drums of Autumn (reread) by Diana Gabaldon
  3. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  4. Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb
  5. Ring the Hill by Tom Cox
  6. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  7. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  8. Thin Places by Kerri ní Dochhartaigh
    (A searing memoir of growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, interspersed with lovely nature writing—her refuge.)
  9. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
    (Probably my second favorite book of the year. Matt Haig does a flawless female perspective, so much so that I had to check that he really was a man. Great fantasy, philosophical and wise, lovely.)
  10. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
    (Far and away my favorite book of the year. Incandescent, wondrous, indescribable. Just give yourself over to it and go along.)(I tried to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell after this and I enjoyed it but I got fatigued at the halfway point and put it down. It isn’t like Piranesi in the slightest.)
  11. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  12. To Sir Philip With Love by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  13. Tovanger by Anne Galloway (listed on Amazon as Tovangar.)
    (Research reading on the Gabrielino/Tongva/No-one-knows-their-real-name Indian tribe of Southern California.)
  1. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  2. It’s In His Kiss by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  3. Ghost Hunters by Neil Spring
  4. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton)
  5. Death of a Gossip by M. C. Beaton
  6. Death of a Cad by M. C. Beaton
  7. Death of An Outsider by M. C. Beaton
  8. Not Quit A Husband by Sherry Thomas
  9. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
  10. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton adjacent)
  11. A Night Like This by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton adjacent)
  12. Death of a Perfect Wife by M. C. Beaton
  13. Death of a Hussy by M. C. Beaton
  14. Death of a Snob by M. C. Beaton
  15. The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton adjacent)
  16. The Secrets of Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton adjacent)
  17. Death of a Prankster by M. C. Beaton
  18. Death of a Traveling Man by M. C. Beaton
  19. IBS Relief Cookbook by Karen Frazier
    (A great guide to the Low FODMAP diet which has transformed my dietary health. Also good for those with celiac disease.)
  1. Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton prequel)
  2. Death of a Glutton by M. C. Beaton
  3. A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock)
  4. The Sense of Death by Matty Dalrymple
  5. The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock)
  6. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
  7. Death of a Charming Man by M. C. Beaton
  8. Death of a Nag by M. C. Beaton
  9. Death of a Macho Man by M. C. Beaton
  10. The Exile (reread) by Diana Gabaldon
  11. Written In My Own Heart’s Blood (reread) by Diana Gabaldon
  12. The Tongva by Mary Graham
    (More on the Tongva tribe of Southern California)
  1. The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock)
  2. How To Stop Time by Matt Haig
    (I liked this one almost as much as The Midnight Library.)
  1. Olive, Mabel, and Me by Andrew Cotter
  2. Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
    (I’m already rereading it but skipping parts. I’m a grown up and can do whatever I want.)
  1. In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley
    (A brief book that takes a deep dive into the father of logic, Parmenides, and the roots of the lost Western shamanistic tradition. Recommended.)

 

Books Started/Continued Reading in 2021:

  1. Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Grey
    (I liked this one but it got shuffled around when I was doing a heavy duty cleaning in October and I haven’t found it again. This is not an uncommon scenario chez moi.)
  1. The Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale
  2. Fairies by Morgan Daimler
    (A good reference book that I often pick up and put down.)
  1. Voyages Around My Room by Xavier de Maistre
    (I’ve been picking this one up and putting it down for years. Enjoyable, but I’m shallow.)
  1. Foucault’s Pendulum (reread) by Umberto Eco
  2. Circe by Madeline Miller
  3. Fogou by Jo May
  4. The Witch Finder by Blythe Gifford
    (Ridiculous.)
  1. Portraits of Vestal Virgins by Molly Lindner
    (Another reference book.)
  1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke
  2. The Living Stones by Ithell Colquhoun
  3. The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks
  4. The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
  5. The Enchantment of the Trossachs by Louis Stott
    (Reference: Rev. Robert Kirk)
  1. The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult
    (I’m not a fan of so-called “Women’s Fiction.” And who the hell decided that it should be called Women’s Fiction anyway? Insulting.)
  1. The Sense of Reckoning by Matty Dalrymple
  2. The Brontës by Juliet Barker
  3. The Witch Elm by Tana French
  4. Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock)