My 2021 reading goal was 40 books. Between my books and the read aloud chapter books with the kids, I ended the year at 45. Woo hoo! I made my goal.
Top 5 Favorite Books:
(So hard to choose as I read A LOT of really good books this year!)
The Flatshare- Beth O'Leary
(This one was so fun, laughed out loud quite a few times).
The Four Winds- Kristin Hannah
(Hard to not love a book by Kristin Hannah, especially when the audiobook is narrated by Julia Whelan. Just so good.)
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle- Emily Nagoski
(Such a therapeutic, entertaining, knowledgeable science-based book that I should probably just own so that I can highlight it all).
The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down- Haemin Sunim
(So many amazing little nuggets of wisdom to ponder in this book. It really spoke to me).
Other books that I read (and thoroughly enjoyed!):
With the Fire on High- Elizabeth Acevedo
Sourdough- Robin Sloan
The Jane Austin Society- Natalie Jenner
The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way- Amanda Ripley (Still think about this one all. the. time.)
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know- Malcom Gladwell
The Fountains of Silence- Ruta Sepetys
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whitness- Austin Channing Brown
You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism- Amber Ruffin
The Giver of Stars- Jojo Moyes
The Testaments- Margaret Atwood
Malibu Rising- Taylor Jenkins Reid
Evvie Drake Starts Over- Linda Holmes
I Am A Mother- Jane Clayson Johnson
The Lions of Fifth Avenue- Fiona Davis
The Midnight Library- Matt Haig
The Switch- Beth O'Leary
Big Little Lies- Lianne Moriarty
The Vanishing Half- Brit Bennett
The Kitchen Front-Jennifer Ryan
The Mother-In-Law- Sally Hepworth
A Court of Thorns and Roses- Sarah Maas (Went outside my comfort zone reading this one, fantasy is not my genre of choice, but I ended up really liking it!)
Favorite Kid Read Alouds:
The Terrible Two- Mac Barnett (This book is just so funny and the audio is great. We all laughed our way through this on the way to Cooperstown last Spring).
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstilskin- Liesel Shurtliff (Big fans of a good fairy-tale retelling over here).
The Vanderbeekers of 141st street- Karina Yan Glaser (Perfect for Christmastime)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- J.K. Rowling (Of course! So fun to read HP with the kids, finally!)
Matilda- Roald Dahl (Roald Dahl is the best, so fun to watch the movie after we read this).
Other Read-Alouds:
The Fairy-Tale Detectives- Michael Buckley
Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery- David Adler
Lulu and the Brontosaurus- Judith Viorst
Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business- Lyla Lee
The One Thing You'd Save- Linda Sue Park
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Things- Lenore Look
What Are the Summer Olympics- Gail Herman
The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet (Secrets of Droon)- Tony Abbott
Invisible Inkling- Emily Jenkins
The Girl and the Galdurian- Tim Probert
Monster & Boy- Hannah Barnaby
May B- Caroline Starr Rose
Thanksgiving on Thursday- Mary Pope Osbourne
Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret- Wanda Coven (Belen is really loving this series so I have a feeling we'll be reading quite a few of these together this next year, and I'm totally okay with it! Love seeing her find confidence in her reading).
Heidi Heckelbeck Casts a Spell- Wanda Coven
