For 2021, I set a goal for myself that I would actually enjoy: read more.

I haven’t told very many people this, but in 2020 I started a novel and I finished it in November 2021. One of the most consistent pieces of advice for writing a book was to read more books. But how much is more? So, I set a quantified reading goal that I would track:  18 books in 2021, and I wrote down each book in the order that I read them in a notes page in my iPhone. I crushed my goal and read 22 books last year.

Because I think and write and basically do everything chronologically, my first inclination was to list the books in the order I read them. But when I read other book reviews, I don’t care one bit about the order someone read a book; rather, I like to know which books they liked best. So, here are all my books of 2021 (categorized by fiction and nonfiction) from favorite to least favorite.

Fiction

By my long list of fiction and meager list of nonfiction, clearly, I have a type. I prefer historical fiction. In general, I like for books to have some sort of truth to them. The book I wrote is historical fiction, and I started a second book that’s HF.

The Four Winds – Kristin Hannah

I hesitated to put this one first because the end was sad. However, this book brings attention to my little part of the world. The things that people went through during the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains was horrible, and Kristin gives us a look into the grit and determination of one family. If you have not supported this book yet and you live on the High Plains, please do so. This was one of the best pieces of historical fiction I have read in a long time. From the stories I know from this area, the research is accurate, the characters are relatable, the plot is excellent. Just read it, okay.

The Last Picture Show – Larry McMurtry

I don’t know how I have gotten through life without reading this book. I read this the week after Larry McMurtry died, and I would say this is his second-best book (behind Lonesome Dove, of course). McMurtry is a phenomenal storyteller, I was emotionally invested in the characters, his dialogue is excellent. I’ll be reading the second book in this series, Texasville, early in 2022.  Also, watching the movie doesn’t count here. The book was way better!

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop – Fannie Flagg

In a word, delightful. I loved this book. If you’ve read or seen Fried Green Tomatoes, you’ll like this, and you don’t need to read the prequel to understand this book (I would at least watch the movie, though). This story follows Buddy, the little boy in Fried Green Tomatoes. He’s an old man now, and he goes back to Whistle Stop and runs into a beloved character from the original story.

The Push – Ashley Audrain

Smack me in the face! A page turner. So much of a page turner, that I would read this book on my phone at any free moment I had – grocery store, red lights, anything. Super suspenseful, great – but different – writing. This isn’t the type of book I would normally pick up, but the GMA Book Club raved about it, so I downloaded the sample from Apple Books and couldn’t put it down. I think it took me four days to get through, and I’m a slow reader, it was that good.  

News of the World – Paulette Jiles

Great storytelling, but I don’t care for Paulette Jiles’ writing. Please Ms. Jiles, consider using quotation marks. However, her storytelling abilities far surpass my opinions about her writing mechanics. I had no idea about this little slice of history, but I may start using this bit of information in some of my agricultural communications classes. I finished the book, then watched the movie the next day. Both were excellent in their own way, the movie deviates from the book quite a bit, but it was still wonderful. Read the book and watch the movie.

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

Another one of those “why did I wait until now to read this” books. This is a timeless classic. If you saw the movie and haven’t read the book, go ahead and read the book.

Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng

This book was good, but it wasn’t as awesome as I thought it would be. The story moves quickly and kept me captivated, though. Worth a read.

Bridgerton – Julia Quinn

I caved to the hype following the Netflix show. It was a fun little read, but not quite as steamy as the show. I think I read it after I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz, so it was something easy and fun following something heavy.

The Edge of Nowhere – C.H. Armstrong

You probably have not heard of this book, nor this writer, but this book was really good. C.H. Armstrong is also a literary agent, and I learned about her during a writers’ conference I attended. The book is set during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma, so she hits two of my interests: history and my home state. It reminded me a little of The Four Winds. Great writing, nice story telling. I found it through Apple Books.

Memory Man – David Baldacci

I have not read anything by David Baldacci until this book. He is a great storyteller, and this is the first in a series about a character named Amos Decker, a man that suffered a football injury and then can’t forget anything. I’ll be reading more by this author. Also, I subscribe to Master Class and have taken both Baldacci’s and James Patterson’s classes, so now maybe I can say that I am trained by these two guys?

The Beach House – James Patterson

I’ve read James Patterson off and on through the years, mostly Alex Cross stories. This was the first thing I’ve read outside of one of his series. It kept my interest, the story moved quickly, and it surprised me a few times.

Lost Girls of Paris – Pam Jenoff

I have purposefully tried to get away from World War II era books this year. I kind of overloaded myself on that genre in previous years. This story is about a group of women who are spies for the British during the war. It was well researched, but for some reason, I wasn’t as captivated by it as I had hoped to be. But, I’ll give this author another try.

The Divide – Nicholas Evans

Nicholas Evans wrote The Horse Whisperer. I have liked some of his other books, and I liked this book, but I can’t say that I loved it. Even so, it was good storytelling, good characters, and the plot moved nicely.

The Guest Book – Sarah Blake

I got this recommendation from the Costco Connection magazine. It was a good story, but I just couldn’t relate to the characters well. It’s about a family that owns an island off the East Coast and vacations there every year. The family has a big secret.  Vacation islands, big family secrets…I got nothing in common with that. But the story kept me interested, so I finished it.

Peacock Emporium – Jojo Moyes

I normally love Jojo Moyes. Her book The Giver of Stars is one of the best books I have read in years, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I finished it, just didn’t love it.

Ashes in the Wind – Kathleen Woodiwiss

My mom has always said this was one of her favorites. I saw it at the Lubbock Friends of the Library Half Price Sale years ago and let it sit on the shelf until a few months ago. I finally picked it up this year, but I didn’t really like it. It was okay enough to finish though. I can see why lots of people like it, it just wasn’t my type of story.

Nonfiction

I really enjoyed all my nonfiction books this year. Tattooist of Auschwitz was by far the best, but it was really hard for me to rank the others. I would recommend any of them.

Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris

Wow. Everyone should read this book. What an incredible piece of history. Ms. Morris has written at least two other books that I know of on similar topics, and I will be reading them this year. So well written, such an incredible story, and I’m so glad someone told this story.

Bad Smoke, Good Smoke – John Erickson

We know John Erickson as the Hank the Cowdog author. Did you know that he’s also a rancher in the Texas Panhandle and several years ago, he lost everything other than his laptops to a wildfire? His story is heartbreaking but compelling and is a testament to the Panhandle spirit.

Open Book – Jessica Simpson

I like Jessica Simpson, but I wouldn’t call myself a super fan. However, I loved reading her story. It took me four or five days to finish it. Once I started, I was hooked. She has had such an interesting life, and I must say, I took her at face value until I read her book. She goes into teenage stardom, addiction, recovery, parenting, it was a great read.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer

I love Amy Schumer. I think she’s hilarious, I love the way she’s an advocate for working women, for moms, and for doing your own thing. I also want to be best friends with her. If you read this, Amy, PM me! I’ll fly to New York, and we’ll go to happy hour. Seriously, though, if you like Amy’s comedy, you’ll love the book.

Home Work – Julie Andrews

Since Julie Andrews is my hero and mentor, it’s only appropriate that I read her autobiography. This is the follow up to her first biography, Home, that chronicles her early life. Home Work picks up when she was working on Sound of Music. I found her first book more interesting, but this one was enjoyable to read as well.

Dangerous Prayers – Craig Groschel

This was part of an all-church book study our church did, and for once, I finished the book. My sister goes to Craig’s church, I listen to his podcast, Craig worked with my parents’ former preacher – I feel like I know this guy, but we’ve never met (but this confirms there are probably only three degrees of separation to anyone from Oklahoma). Anyway, this book encourages you to go beyond the daily niceties of prayer and push for bigger things. It was a big wake up call for me and I think it made a difference.

You’ll notice I didn’t complain too much about many of these books, because this is a list of the books I finished. There were several that I started and put down because I didn’t like them. I’m not going to list them because I think books are so subjective and personal. What I didn’t like might be your favorite book ever. Plus, as someone that just finished writing a book, I don’t want someone saying negative things about my story, so I won’t do that to another author.

I’m not going to set a higher goal for this year, simply because I like the sound of 22 in ’22. Also this year, I’m going to read more nonfiction, and I’m going to review as I go in Good Reads (follow me: Erica Irlbeck).  Some of these books I read a year ago were not that memorable, so writing about them now was more difficult than I thought it would be.

I have always enjoyed reading, and setting the goal this year made it even more of a delight for me. Happy reading to all of you!