Play Book Tag discussion
Footnotes
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Time to Vote for PBT's Top Ten of 2021
The Garden of Evening Mists - Twan Eng
The Turtle of Oman - Shihab Nye
Crippled - Ryan
The Ravenmaster - Skaife
Memoirs of a Geisha - Golden
The Wahhabi Code - Ward
Cosmic Flow - Strange
The Great Alone - Hannah
The Red Tent - Diamant
Hamnet - O'Farrell
The Turtle of Oman - Shihab Nye
Crippled - Ryan
The Ravenmaster - Skaife
Memoirs of a Geisha - Golden
The Wahhabi Code - Ward
Cosmic Flow - Strange
The Great Alone - Hannah
The Red Tent - Diamant
Hamnet - O'Farrell
The Missing - Tim GautreauxDarktown - Thomas Mullen
Love is the Way - Michael P. Curry
The Secrets We Kept - Lara Prescott
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Shadows in Time - Julie McElwain
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Karaguchi
A Gracious Plenty - Sheri Reynolds
The Long Wallk - Stephen King
Least Favorite and DNF: Angelica by Arthur Philips
Lincoln On the Verge - WidmerThe Day The Falls Stood Still - Buchanan
The Last Green Valley - Sullivan
Ridgeline - Punke
Empire of Pain - Keefe
The Last Graduate - Novik
Columbine - Cullen
The Last Brother - Appanah
What The Wind Knows-Harmon
The Guns at Last Light - Atkinson
Project Hail Mary - WeirBel Canto - Patchett
Once and Future Witches - Harrow
The Missing American - Quartey
Where the Wild Ladies Are - Matsuda
Exhalation: Stories - Chiang
The 57 Bus - Slater
Who Gets in and Why - Selingo
A Girl Returned - Di Pietrantonio
The Thursday Murder Club - Osman
Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs- CotterThe Boston Girl-Diamant
Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever-Rosser
Deadly Trust-Adams
The Black Cat Sees His Shadow-Finch
Simple Joys: Discovering Wonder in the Everyday-Payne
Gods of Jade and Shadow- Moreno-Garcia
Laugh It Up! Embrace Freedom and Experience Defiant Joy-Payne
Open Season-Box
Least favorite title
Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls-- One Flying Disc at a Time
- Gorant
EDITED: 12/23/21, changed Crossing the: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever-Rosser to I'd Rather Be Reading- Bogel
The Best Land Under Heaven=WallisWonder-Palacio
Malibu Rising-Reid
Empire of Pain-Keefe
Educated-Westover
Four Winds-Hannah
This is me-Metz
The Children's Blizzard-Benjamin
Anxious People-Backman
Yellow Wife-Johnson
Klara and the Sun - IshiguroProject Hail Mary - Weir
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Doerr
The Girl with the Louding Voice - Dare
Raft of Stars - Graff
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Tocarczuk
Miss Benson's Beetle - Joyce
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Chabon
Ordinary Grace - Krueger
Sea of Poppies - Ghosh
Least Favorite - Cast Under an Alien Sun - Thorensen
The Sundial - JacksonThunderhead - Preston
The Final Girls Support Group - Hendrix
The Red Tree - Kiernan
The House in the Dark of the Woods - Hunt
The Year of the Witching - Henderson
Plain Bad Heroines - Danforth
Homegoing - Gyasi
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power - Doyle
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - Wilkerson
Deacon King Kong - James McBrideA Brief History of Seven Killings - Marlon James
The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen
The House by the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
Slade House - David Mitchell
My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell
Such A Fun Age - Kiley Reid
The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix
Disappearing Earth - Julia Phillips
Daisy Jones & The Six - ReidHamnet - O'Farrell
The Dutch House - Patchett
The Silent Patient - Michaelides
Sister - Lupton
Normal People - Rooney
I read the first 3 because of the top ten list here last year and they were fantastic. My personal favorites though, because of my personal life experiences, are The Dutch House and Sister.
Abigail - SzaboThe Arsonists' City - Halyan
Morningside Heights - Henkin
Margreete's Harbor - Morse
Saints for All Occasions - Sullivan
Dominicana - Cruz
Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Hooper
Perestroika in Paris - Smiley
A Girl is a Body of Water - Makumbi
Greenwood - Christie
Two are tied for Honorable Mention:
Mary Jane - Blau
Brown Girl Dreaming - Woodson
Least Favorite Book:
Olympus, Texas - Swann (Edited on 12-17-21. Changed from "Our Country Friends" to this one.)
It's been a great reading year. There are so many more favorite books I can mention.
I always do my top ten at the very end of the year, so I don't need to make changes. so, either Dec 31 or Jan 1 is likely. Of the above, I think I noticed two that made my favourites in previous years: "Columbine" by Dave Cullen and "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson.
Migrations - McConaghyAll My Puny Sorrows - Toews
The Sunne in Splendour - Penman
Secret Life of Cee Cee Wikkes - Chamberlain
All Systems Red - Wells
The Splendid and the Vile - Larson
Hard Cash Valley -Panowich
Murder in Old Bombay - March
Recursion - Crouch
600 Hours of Edward - Lancaster
I am reading a book that is going to shake upmy top 10. Thus I like LibraryCin will not post until very end.
Meli wrote: "Deacon King Kong - James McBrideA Brief History of Seven Killings - Marlon James
The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen
The House by the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
Slade House - David Mitchell
My Dark V..."
Meli - the Marlon James is on mone for sure! Loved reading that with you!
Cora wrote: "Project Hail Mary - WeirBel Canto - Patchett
Once and Future Witches - Harrow
The Missing American - Quartey
Where the Wild Ladies Are - Matsuda
Exhalation: Stories - Chiang
The 57 Bus - Slater
Wh..."
Bel Canto is a lifetime top 10 for me. I also loved The Missing American and The Thursday Murder Club.
I'm done editing. I corrected the spelling of Erdrich.I had a lot of 5 and 4.5 star books this year, so it was hard to select just 10. It's always hard.
Migrations - McConaghy
A Tale for the Time Being - Ozeki
Home - Robinson
Mrs Dalloway - Woolf
Euphoria - King
The Sentence - Erdrich
Bewilderment - Powers
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead -Tokarczuk
Firekeeper's Daughter - Boulley
Klara and the Sun - Ishiguro
More:
Hamnet - O'Farrell
Bel Canto - Patchett
The Sympathizer - Nguyen
The Book of Magic - Hoffman
The Songbook of Benny Lament - Harmon
The Splendid and the Vile - Larsen
Disappearing Earth
Remember - Genova (Nonfiction)
Atonement - McEwan
Golem and the Jinni (reread)
Least favorites:
Food Rules by Pollan (finished)
Mouthful of Birds (DNF) (With that title, I should have known it wasn't for me.)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - TokarczukThe Last House on Needless Street - Ward
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Murakami
Hamnet - O'Farrell
What the Wind Knows - Harmon
Stories of Your Life and Others - Chiang
Anxious People - Backman
Butter Honey Pig Bread - Ekwuyasi
Animal's People - Sinha
Ring Shout - Clark
I rated 36 books as 5 stars this year, which isn't typical for me (usually 7 or 8).
Sue wrote: " I rated 36 books as 5 stars this year, which isn't typical for me (usually 7 or 8). ..."It was all those studly men and hunky dogs!
Theresa wrote: "Meli - the Marlon James is on mone for sure! Loved reading that with you!"I enjoyed reading with you too :)
One of the highlights of my literary year!
Pleased to see Hamnet on a few lists, my book club is reading it next month.
Even as we Breathe – ClapsaddleDune – Herbert
The Language of Flowers – Diffenbaugh
This Tender Land – Krueger
Exhalation – Chiang
Rules of Civility – Towles
Caste: The Origins of our Discontent – Wilkerson
Us Against You – Backman
The Sympathizer – Nguyen
The House of the Spirits – Allende
Least fav
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories – O’Connor
This year I joined a F2F bookclub, and 2 of these top 10 came from there: This Tender Land and the Language of Flowers. And 4 more were choices for Fly the Skies: House of the Spirits, The Sympathizer, Rules of Civility and Even as we Breathe.
Theresa wrote: "It was all those studly men and hunky dogs!"Haha - I really do LOVE those covers!
Matterhorn - Karl MarlantesThe Dog Stars - Peter Heller
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Hot Zone - Richard Preston
Far from the Tree - Andrew Solomon
Roots - Alex Haley
The Tsar of Love and Techno - Anthony Marra
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
The Undying - Anne Boyer
The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
Nicole wrote: "Matterhorn - Karl MarlantesThe Dog Stars - Peter Heller
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Hot Zone - Richard Preston
Far from the Tree - Andrew Solomon
Roots - Alex Haley
The Tsa..."
Some modern classics there - I remember reading Roots from Book of the Month or a similar program back in the late 1970's - can still picture my apartment living room - and then the miniseries that was a huge cultural event.
Shelly wrote: "Even as we Breathe – ClapsaddleDune – Herbert
The Language of Flowers – Diffenbaugh
This Tender Land – Krueger
Exhalation – Chiang
Rules of Civility – Towles
Caste: The Origins of our Discontent –..."
I loved most of those books too, so maybe I should read Dune. I didn't like the Flannery O'Connor book either, but I dnf'd it pretty quickly.
Sue wrote: "I rated 36 books as 5 stars this year, which isn't typical for me (usually 7 or 8)...."Wow! I think I've had a decent rating year, too, but haven't looked really close yet. Not sure there are all that many 5 stars (never are), but I think there are a number of 4.5s in there, as well.
And I'm always happy to see a Canadian book on people's lists. :-) (That's "Butter Honey Pig Bread".) There was another one further up that I noticed: "The Day the Falls Stood Still", I think was mentioned.
The Reading List – AdamsFlorence Adler Swims Forever – Beanland
Cloud Cuckoo Land – Doerr
The Pull of the Stars – Donoghue
Wild – Strayed
The Sweetness of Water – Harris
The Yield – Winch
The Performance – Thomas
Crow Lake – Lawson
The Mercies – Millwood Hargrave
Honorable mention –
The Nine – Strauss
For Rouenna – Nunez
The Missing American – Quartey
Worst Read
Dark Mother Earth - Novak
The Golden Age - Joan LondonSomewhere in the Unknown World - Kao Kalia Yang
Voyager - Diana Gabaldon
Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Dutch House - Ann Patchett
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
I joined a friend (who is a middle school teacher) for group reads of several children's / young adult classics this year. Watership Down - even though "just" a story about rabbits per the author - turned out to be one of the most meaningful stories that I have ever read and is now in my top 10 of all time. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn also rated 5* IMO. However, Anne of Green Gables didn't get a good review from me.
Some might be surprised that the most recent Outlander book (Go Tell the Bees that I Am Gone aka Outlander #9) is not on my list. That's because even though I loved it, I recognize that it has flaws - and Voyager and Echo in the Bone are technically better.
The Golden Age is by an award winning Australian author who isn't well known in the US, but I totally loved this coming of age novel set in 1950's Perth, Australia.
My worst book of 2021? - That would be a novella called Death on the Rhine that I got to read while on my Rhine cruise (because it was set on a Rhine cruise). It was sooooo bad. Some day I'll get around to writing a review of it so others know to avoid it LOL.
Not ready to post my list yet but I loved, loved loved Migrations.
Sallys wrote: "Not ready to post my list yet but I loved, loved loved Migrations."Me too! It was the first book I read in 2021 and it hasn't left my #1 spot yet.
I really hated to cut a few out of the top ten! I read such beautiful books this year, and as always, I fear some have gotten cut out, merely because I read them so early in the year. It was an excruciating cut. But here are my top ten, and then I have to blather on about a few more that deserve my mention:Have You Seen Luis Velez – Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rising Out of Hatred – Eli Saslow
The World That We Knew – Alice Hoffman
Nothing to See Here – Kevin Wilson
The Book of Two Ways – Jodi Piccoult
The Paper Palace – Melinda Crowley Heller
Miss Benson’s Beetle – Rachel Joyce
Anxious People – Frederick Backman
In Five Years – Rebecca Serle
The Rose Code – Kate Quinn
First of all Have You Seen Luis Valez, was such a beautiful and worthy read.
Second, too early in the year but were stunning included the Black Swan of Paris, And They Called It Camelot, and Exile Music
Winners in my book, but that just didn't make the cut include:
The Henna Artist, The Four Winds, the Stationary Shop, and the Time in Between.
And finally, who knows if I made the cut right, because there a few of them that could have been swapped for:
Malibu Rising, and Mary Jane*
Those two actually belonged on the list. I just didn't know who they would replace. In Five Years? The Rose Code? But I guess the above list is it. I made it a week ago, and there we are. It somehow didn't move when I went to post it.
Some of you have beautiful books on there that made my Top Ten in other years. Ordinary Grace, and this Tender Land for two. I was really pleased to see everyone's lists. I did notice Morningside Heights is on Holly's list, and I am actually starting today. But committed to the idea, that even if I love it, its too late for Top Ten. Maybe it will go with Malibu Rising, and Mary Jane, but first I have to open it up. Excruciating and super fun thread every year!
Piranesi - ClarkeThe Garden of Evening Mists - Tan
Unless - Shields
Hell of a Book - Mott
Assembly - Brown
The Colour - Tremain
A Passage North - Arudpragasam
Klara and the Sun - Ishiguro
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943) - Atkinson
The Sea, The Sea - Murdoch
Honorable Mention:
The Hungry Tide - Ghosh
A Man - Hirano
The Secrets Between Us - Umrigar
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Doerr
White Noise - DeLillo
Least Favorite:
Fight Club - Palahniuk
Note: The Garden of Evening Mists is by Tan Twan Eng. As is customary for Malaysian, Chinese and many other Asian names, the last name is listed first.
A Suitable Boy - SethA Brief History of Seven Killings - James
Mexican Gothic - Moreno-Garcia
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Schwab
The Lacuna - Kingsolver
Notes on Grief - Adichie
She Who Became the Sun - Parker-Chan
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line - Anappara
Rebecca - DuMaurier
The City We Became - Jemisen
I haven't finished A Suitable Boy yet but absolutely it will be finished this year and is in my top 10.
Least favorite, worst read:
The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin
This was harder than I thought it would be:Book of Night Women - James
Strange Beasts of China - Yan
In Search of Lost Time - Proust
Assembly - Brown
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone - Baldwin
Cursed Bunny - Chung
Brood - Polzan
Lonesome Dove - McMurtry
Bolla - Statovci
Learwife- Thorpe
Honorable mentions that were just so good:
Glorious Heresies by McInerney
Unsettled Ground by Fuller
Chouette by Oshetsky
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi
Nightbitch by Yoder
Surprise Loves:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Clarke
Magic Mountain by Mann
My Family and Other Animals by Durrell
The Absolute Worst:
The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House - Anderson
(as in Melissa Sue Anderson, aka Mary Ingalls)
My top tenFour Winds – Kristin Hannah
Astrid and Veronika – Linda Olsson
Throne of Jade – Naomi Novik
Hear – Jacqueline Abelson
Bitterburn – Ann Aguirre
Eleanor and Park – Rainbow Rowell
Ordinary Grace – William Kent Krueger
Daisy and the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Disappearing Earth – Julia Phillips
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Least favorite/most disappointing:
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
Tracy wrote: "This was harder than I thought it would be:Book of Night Women - James
Strange Beasts of China - Yan
In Search of Lost Time - Proust
Assembly - Brown
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone - Bald..."
You have no idea how glad I am to see Proust on that list! That was on mine in 2020.
I’ve told my adult kids they should listen to it- it’s free on audible right now, and they prefer audio. I keep thinking about parts of Proust’s prose and almost want to read it again!
Tracy wrote: "I’ve told my adult kids they should listen to it- it’s free on audible right now, and they prefer audio. I keep thinking about parts of Proust’s prose and almost want to read it again!"I know just what you mean! I could see dipping back into it randomly now and then. My beat up paperback copies with all the tabs and notes are still stacked on the floor next to my couch.
Mine is probably different from most because the list is so history-heavy, but here they are in no particular order!Spinning Silver - Novak
The Decameron - Boccaccio
The Blazing World and Other Stories - Cavendish
Royal Women and Dynastic Loyalty - Dunn
Instruments of Magic: Witchcraft in Early Modern England - Sharpe
Domestic Dangers: Women, Words, and Sex in Early Modern London - Gowing
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies - Astell
The King's Other Body: Maria of Castile and the Crown of Aragon - Earenfight
Meanings of Manhood in Early Modern England - Shepard
River Marked - Briggs
I'm noticing a real range in choices, which demonstrates our diversity.
Mindy aka serenity wrote: "Mine is probably different from most because the list is so history-heavy, but here they are in no particular order!The King's Other Body: Maria of Castile and the Crown of Aragon looks right in my wheel house Mindy! I have added it to my TBR and am going on a hunt through my inter-library system to see if I can come up with a copy of it!
Booknblues wrote: "I'm noticing a real range in choices, which demonstrates our diversity."Yes, this year's list is much more diverse than usual . . .so interesting!
Dune - HerbertHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling
The Flatshare - O'Leary
A Company of Swans - Ibbotson
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood - Noah
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Acho
They Called Us Enemy - Takei
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudices that Shape What We See, Think, and Do - Eberhardt
Ninth House - Bardugo
Dune: the Graphic Novel, Book 1 - Herbert & Anderson
I've only read 11 books this year. I'm very close to finishing my 12th and it's my all-time favorite book so I added it to my list. The other 2 books were meh, so I have exactly 10 books that I really enjoyed reading this year, lol. I even gained a new favorite book--The Flatshare.
The other two books were:
Shades of Milk and Honey - Kowal
The Wife Upstairs - Hawkins (least favorite read)
Mindy aka serenity wrote: "Mine is probably different from most because the list is so history-heavy, but here they are in no particular order!Spinning Silver - Novak
The Decameron - Boccaccio
The Blazing World and Other S..."
The Decameron is high on my want to read list- hopefully it will be on my favorites next year!
The year's not over .... so I'm holding off. But of the relatively few 5-star reads this year, the majority were re-reads!I don't think anything I have on deck in the immediately future will get 5 stars, but I'll wait to the last minute just in case.
My best books of 2021, in reverse order of reading:Paladin of Souls - Bujold
The Curse of Chalion - Bujold
Lightning Strike - Krueger
The Last Graduate - Novik
A Deadly Education - Novik
The Hidden Palace - Wecker
Project Hail Mary - Weir
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - Chambers
The Gravity of Us - Stamper
Troubled Blood - Galbraith
My worst book of the year - well, I had five 2-star ratings, here they are in reverse order of reading:
Snowballed: A Moo U Hockey Romance - Melanie Ting
Studfinder (Busy Bean) - L.B. Dunbar
Flipcup (Vino & Veritas) - Kim Hartfield
Blindsided: A Moo U Hockey Romance - Victoria Denault
Peril in Paperback - Kate Carlisle
It's hard to remember which might be the worst, but if pressed I'd probably say Blindsided by Victoria Denault. If I remember right, it was the one I skimmed the most.
The year may not be over, but I don't think anything I have lined up for the rest of December will rate 5 stars.
annapi wrote: "My best books of 2021, in reverse order of reading:Paladin of Souls - Bujold
The Curse of Chalion - Bujold
Lightning Strike - Krueger
The Last Graduate - Novik
A Deadly Education - Novik
The Hid..."
I also love Novik, Bujold, Krueger & Weir!
I can't help wondering why you read more than one Moo U Hockey Romance after one was bad? It looks like they are different authors though. It's not a genre I'm familiar with!
The Vanishing Half - BennettFaithful - Hoffman
Malibu Rising - Jenkins Reid
The Last Thing He Told Me - Dave
The Lincoln Highway - Towles
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Jenkins Reid
The Thirteenth Tale - Setterfield
The Paper Palace - Heller
The Silent Patient - Michaelides
The Last Flight - Clark
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wedding (other topics)Cannery Row (other topics)
A Gathering of Shadows (other topics)
The King's Other Body: María of Castile and the Crown of Aragon (other topics)
Cutting for Stone (other topics)
More...
If you would copy the format I use in my example below, that would be great.
You do not need to post your top ten in any specific order, but you are certainly free to do so, but please don't include numbers in your list.
We'd love to hear your comments on your top 10. Please post them below your list.
If you must make a change to your list after it is posted, please just note it by editing your existing post at the bottom to read:
EDITED: date, changed Title A to Title B
For fun, please post your least favorite title of the year at the bottom of your message.
****EXAMPLE ONLY**** Please post your choices using this exact same format.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies of a Silicon Valley Startup - Carreyou
Born a Crime - Noah
The Heart's Invisible Furies - Boyne
A Ladder to the Sky - Boyne
Educated - Westover
The Collector - Fowles
Blood Meridian - McCarthy
Do Not Say We Have Nothing - Thien
Three Little Words - Rhodes-Courter
From a Low and Quiet Sea - Ryan