Welcome one, welcome all to the yearly wrap up here at Literary Weaponry! While 2021 was certainly not my best blogging year (lets not even pretend to look at those stats) it was my most successful reading year. By successful I don’t mean only the amount of books I read (although there were a lot more than usual) but also the enjoyment factor of reading.

Let’s take a little peak back at the last 365 days, to the year that was 2021, and see what there is to see.

Prior to 2021, the most books I had read in a year was 67, I believe. I don’t know what came over me this year but I was just zipping through books. I believe part of that is because I discovered the gloriousness that is the novella. Before 2021, I hadn’t really read any novellas but there were several this year I absolutely loved. Here are a couple of them, if you are interested:

• Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology #1) by Emily Tesh
• All Systems Red (The Muderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
• A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe #0.1) by P. Djeli Clark

Looking back, my average book length is down from previous years, I’m normally closer to the low 400s. But, with my new found love of a good novella, that really isn’t a surprise.

The last several years, my longest read of the year has consistently been a Maas book so I can’t say I’m too terribly shocked about this. However, while I adored A Dead Djinn in Cairo (seriously, go read it), A Court of Silver Flames was a massive let down.

To be completely up front with you, both of these surprised me. I am fully aware that Frankenstein is one of the most popular works of fiction ever printed but just the sheer number of people who read it, just this year alone, is staggering. I personally read it for a class and can’t say I particularly enjoyed it but that is neither here nor there.

The Mummy’s Foot is a little story I read across in an anthology printed in 1904. I was feeling a little unwell and picked up one of my antique books, hoping for a bit of entertainment, and ended up reading straight through this one. Is it great? No. But it is short and mildly entertaining so I’ll take that.

Absolutely no surprise to me here. Since I started keeping track of my reading back in 2016, my yearly average has consistently been in the mid 3 area. Last year, I let it bother me and spent a considerable amount of time wondering why I wasn’t reading more books I love. At this point, I just accept it and am moving on with my life.

5 Star Reads

Here are my 5 star reads from the past year. A few of them are rereads but I feel like they still count-

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal
• A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
• For the Wolf (Wilderwood #1) by Hannah Whitten
• Silver in the Wood (The Greenhollow Duology #1) by Emily Tesh
• Iron Widow (Iron Widow #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao

Life (tw: medical, surgery)

2021 threw some real curve balls at me, both in reading and my personal life. During the summer I had a major surgery to have a tumor removed that had grown to the size of a navel orange. Luckily, it ended up being benign but that was certainly a difficult situation.

Also during the year I was able to start taking university courses again! I am thrilled to have this opportunity and am very fortunate that my employer is paying for my education. I think that many people don’t understand how completely screwed up the American higher education system is so to be able to continue my degree without taking out massive loans is a blessing.

That is all from the 2021 trenches. I hope the coming year is healthy and bright for all of us. Stay safe, stay healthy, and happy reading.

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