It’s time for the “Best Books of the Year” featuring books that have been on our Worthwhile Reads blog this year. I have some definite favorites and will also let you know which books were top-rated from other publications. Two novels stood out by appearing on almost every list – The Lincoln Highway by Towles and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Doerr. Everyone has different tastes, so you might have some different favorites. Let us know which books you enjoyed best this year!!
Book Page and Amazon both voted The Lincoln Highway as #1 Book of the Year!
It also made Barnes & Noble’s “Top Ten,” Time’s “Top 100” and Goodreads “24 Most Popular” and “#4 in Historical Fiction.” It is a road trip novel featuring the adventures of four boys. Towles is a terrific storyteller! I really enjoyed this novel! Even though it is long, it reads fairly quickly.
Cloud Cuckoo Land was #3 in Fiction/Goodreads and on the New York Times’ Top 5 Fiction books list. It was also on Book Page’s “Top 20 Fiction,” Barnes & Noble’s “Top 10,” Good Housekeeping’s “Top 55,” Time’s “Top 100.” It is an epic story about the power of the written word and all of the feelings it can bring. I think this is my favorite novel of 2021 – lots to think about with this book!
Silverview by Le Carre is on Barnes & Noble’s “Top 10 Mystery/Suspense” list, as well as The Washington Post’s “Top 10 Thriller/Mysteries,” Book Page’s “Top 20 Mysteries” and Time’s “Top 100.” This spy novel is the last book written by Le Carre.
The Four Winds by Hannah is #2 in Goodreads’ Historical Fiction and #5 on Amazon’s “Top 20 Books” of the year. It is a novel about life in the dust bowl years and was loved by everyone on the WPL staff who read it! One of my favorites of the year!!!
Project Hail Mary by Weir is #1 on Goodreads’ Science Fiction and #9 on Amazon’s “Top 20 Books of 2021.” It is a science fiction novel about a mission to outer space. This novel is hopeful, humorous and quite interesting! Another of my favorites – even though I rarely read science fiction.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Dave is Goodreads’ #1 Mystery/Thriller. It is #18 on Amazon’s “Top 20 Books of 2021.”. This novel is being made into a Netflix project featuring Jennifer Garner. A definite page turner and a quick read!
Other books which appeared on Good Housekeeping’s “Top 55” list were The Wife Upstairs by Hawkins and The Kitchen Front by Ryan. Hawkins’ novel is a mystery and The Kitchen Front is about two sisters and rationing effects in Britain during/after WWII. Barnes & Noble put The Maidens by Michaelides on its “Top 10 Mystery/Suspense” list and it was Goodreads’ #2 Mystery/Thriller.
A few favorite books of mine didn’t make any of the top lists, but I would recommend them! The Rose Code by Quinn is a terrific historical fiction/mystery novel. One Two Three by Frankel and Apples Never Fall by Moriarty are really engaging realistic fiction novels. (Apples Never Fall was #7 in Goodreads’ Mystery/Thriller category.) Once Upon A Wardrobe by Callahan is a really touching and delightful novel that would be great for anyone who loves the book/movie “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
I can’t believe I have written about 70 different books on our Worthwhile Reads blog in the past year and a half! Time sure flies! I can’t wait to see what new reads I can find in 2022 . . .
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