My Top 5 Novels of 2021 — a year in reading

 

Another year, another reading challenge. In 2020, I read 36 books (a good number for me). For 2021, my goal was 24 books.* I got through 23 and a half. (I know, I know…that’s what we call tripping at the finish line.)

Even though I’m a fantasy and sci-fi author, I made sure to include books outside my preferred genre–both in fiction and non-fiction. I’ve encountered some great reads this year. But some books, of course, stand out above the rest.

Here are my top 5 reads of 2021…

 

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

In a not-so-distant future Earth, people escape the grim reality of poverty and overpopulation by plugging into virtual reality: The Oasis. But for teenager Wade Watts, it’s more than just a realistic videogame where sci-fi and fantasy come alive. It’s his obsession.

When James Halliday (the Oasis’s creator) died, his last will and testament became breaking news: the first person to find the Easter Eggs he had hidden throughout his invented universe would become the new owner of the Oasis (and the billions of dollars that go along with it). Wade, seeing this as his only ticket out of the impoverished stacks where he lives, has dedicated his whole life to finding the eggs.

But he’s not the only one who hunts with the same fervor. The closer he gets to the prize, the more attention he draws from powerful entities who are willing to do anything to win–even kill.

Ready Player One is an adventurous love letter to nerd culture and the 80’s. The description for the setting and the action is generally flat, but the world is so unique and fun (yet eerily possible) that it had me drawn in from the beginning.

 

Draconis Memoria

by Anthony Ryan

(I know I might be cheating by some readers’ standards by having three books count as one. But since they’re a part of the same trilogy/story I think I can get away with sticking them together.)

In a steampunk world where corporations rule one half of the globe and an old dynastic empire rules the other, the powers-that-be fight for exclusive access to a most precious commodity: drake blood.

Whole economies are upheld by the hunting and harvesting of Green, Red, Blue, and Black drakes. Their blood can be distilled into a product that grants special powers to a rare number of individuals–the Blood-blessed. But as the supply goes down and the bloodlines of captive drakes weaken, the Ironship Trading Syndicate turns to desperate measures to ensure their grip on the trade.

Ryan is a great writer and storyteller. Draconis Memoria is a page-turner that’s not only exciting but also intelligent and well-crafted. The dialogue and pacing are spot-on. And many of the concluding lines in chapters are so clever and suspenseful, I couldn’t help but go on to read more.

(Click here to read the full review.)

 

The Screwtape Letters

by C.S. Lewis

Young Wormwood is learning how to be a good demon, leading his “patient” (a young man) away from heaven and towards the “father below.” Being new to his job, Wormwood gets many things wrong, which is why his uncle Screwtape has taken the young demon under his (leathery) wing.

The book is a series of letters written by Screwtape that tracks Wormwood’s progress and gives him pointers on how to tempt a human closer and closer to the fires of hell.

For example, if a human is reading and finds something touching his soul, it’s wise for a demon not to push back against this idea. That will only make the patient more curious and want to dig in further. Rather, a demon should remind the patient that they’re hungry and such heavy reading would be best tackled after having lunch. Once the patient closes the book to have a bite to eat, the demon then can keep them from returning to that revelatory thought with hundreds of other distractions.

It’s observations like these that make The Screwtape Letters so brilliant. Lewis is a genius! His look into human nature and temptation is as deep as it is frighteningly accurate. There were parts that were so profound that I just had to set the book down and say, “Woah!” (yes, just like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix). Since I’ve read it, I’ve recommended this book to my students several times, and I’m sure I’ll be returning to it again.

 

The Good Earth

by Pearl S. Buck

The Good Earth is the rags to riches story of Wang Lung, a farmer living in rural China in the early 1900s. Through hard work, wise investment, and some good fortune, Wang Lung becomes a wealthy landowner who grows to enjoy the pleasures of high society. But his rise comes at a cost. The richer he gets, the farther he gets from the source of his wealth: the land.

This is my third time reading The Good Earth. I read it when I was a high school student, then years later during my first year teaching, and now in my return to teaching in AP Literature. Surprisingly, the third time has been the best read. And I don’t know why.

It’s hard to explain why I like this book so much. The main character is frankly a loser who treats his loyal and hardworking wife like garbage. (My AP Lit students couldn’t stand him!) Normally, if I don’t like the main character, I don’t like the book. But that’s not the case here.

For some reason, I find the story fascinating. Buck’s simple style of writing (akin to the style in Genesis) fits the landscape she paints. When I read The Good Earth, I feel transported to rural China. I guess I’m a sucker for stories that take me to other places and let me experience other cultures in our world.

 

High Fidelity

by Nick Hornby

(For those of you who’ve read the book or seen the movie, I hope you get a little laugh seeing it on my top five list.)

High Fidelity, as narrated by the main character (Rob Fleming), has one of the best opening lines for a book:

My desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable splitups, in chronological order:

1. Alison Ashworth
2. Penny Hardwick
3. Jackie Allen
4. Charlie Nicholson
5. Sarah Kendrew.

These were the ones that really hurt. Can you see your name in that lot, Laura? I reckon you’d sneak into the top ten, but there’s no place for you in the top five; those places are reserved for the kind of humiliations and heartbreaks that you’re just not capable of delivering.

Rob, the owner of a semi-failing record store, could be a nice guy if he weren’t so self-centered and neurotic. He tells his story as a series of broken relationships. And of course, this is a story about Laura and how he kinda, sorta wants to win her back.

I rescued this book from the “to be recycled” pile at my school. Most of my physical books are in the US, so this dog-eared paperback sat on my shelf with little competition. (Seems, appropriate to the content, right?) Seeing it there, I thought, “Why not?” When I started to give it a read, I was pleasantly surprised.

As a married guy, I found this story laugh-out-loud funny. But it also works on a deep level as well. Rob’s voice is so raw and honest. He’s just about as critical of himself as he is of other people’s inferior record collections. Despite his faults, it’s hard not to like the guy and root for him as he gradually learns to think less of himself and more of others–even if their music taste includes Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way.”

 

What did you read this year? What are your top five novels of 2021?

Share in the comments below.

 

*I used to have a morning commute that gave me the opportunity to listen to a lot of audiobooks. Now I have no commute, so no audiobooks. Hence the smaller number than the year before.