The Best of 2021 – Caroline’s List
I wrote a Best of 2021 So Far post that ran a month or so ago, and since then I’ve been reading frantically to see what would fill out my final post. (Every year, I delude myself that I’ll be able to have read EVERYTHING, and thus will have THE PERFECT LIST. I never learn).
A few books have stayed on the list since my early draft:
In Not Here To Be LIked by Michelle Quach, an eminently qualified young woman running for high school newspaper editor loses to the last-minute candidacy of a newbie male jock, prompting our heroine and the entire school to confront systemic misogyny and what feminism really means. It’s nuanced, compelling, important, and well worth an adult read. This book is my top new release of 2021.
Buy it at Amazon, Audible or your local independent retailer
Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer is a fast-paced tech thriller about a girl on the run from her father and the AI helping to keep her safe. It has an f/f romance subplot and a happy ending for those characters.
Buy it at Amazon, Audible or your local independent retailer
A Marriage of Equals by Elizabeth Rolls takes on a Regency interracial couple in the midst of a suspense plot as they try to help a young woman on the run from an exploitative forced marriage.
Buy it at: Amazon or your local independent retailer
And here are the newbies to the list!
Rachel Smythe’s Lore Olympus, the flagship webcomic of Webtoon, won its first print release this year. Hades and Persephone are a popular archetype to riff on. Not only are these my favorite versions of the characters; they’ve become what I picture now for every version (and, spoiler, nobody lives up to them). With gorgeous art and luxurious print quality, the only downside to this edition is that we have to wait for more.
Buy it at Amazon or your local independent retailer
I wasn’t sure Float Plan by Trish Doller could live up to the buzz, but it did. Anna hires Keane to help her sail her late fiance’s boat around the Caribbean, and the resulting story is a tribute to the islands, to facing grief and loss, to love, and to new beginnings.
Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent retailer
This was the year I finally read K.J. Charles, and yikes, what took me so long? The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting was both moving and delightful as an impoverished trickster meets his match in the man whose niece he’s trying to marry. This book set me on a binge of Charles’s backlist I’m still in the throes of, and I have zero regrets.
Buy it at: Amazon, Audible or your local independent retailer
There are more I should be adding! There are more I haven’t read yet! But it’s the holidays and I have a deadline and this is the best I can do!
Since I’m in complete agreement on Not Here to Be Liked, I’m going to try Float Plan next!
Yay! I haven’t heard from anybody else who read Not Here To Be Liked, so I’m so happy you loved it, too.
Oh that’s a shame because it’s a smart and funny book. Do you think people don’t read YA books? I’ve read so many this year, mainly because the range of diverse heroines is so excellent.
I definitely think there are people who think YA is exclusively for young adults. There are also people I know on here who say they don’t read anything below Warm sensuality, which rules out most YA automatically.
I think you and I have talked about Asian/Asian American stories before. While South Asian (and diaspora) stories are easy to find at Harlequin and other adult pubs, I tend to find a LOT more East Asian diaspora stories in YA than in adult romance. I don’t know why! Is it my search process, or is it actually the case in publication?
Some good picks, Float Plan and A Marriage of Equals bubbled under for me.
Hahaha, another fan reeled in by K.J. Charles. Though the romance has a bit of a preposterous setup, and I can pick at some things I didn’t like, overall I enjoyed The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting. Especially relative to most other books I read this past year. (And again, I’m waiting for someone to point us to a picture of what Hartlebury might look like.) I hope you enjoy the Society of Gentlemen series.
Like you, I loved Gentle Art compared to other things I read this year, but once I read Society of Gentleman, it’s definitely not Charles’s best. How talented is she when one of her lesser efforts tops the board???
I just got FLOAT PLAN from the library yesterday and I was hooked from the first page. I have several other books checked out which have closer due dates, so I’m not sure if I’ll finish FLOAT PLAN by December 31–or, even if I do, if it will make my 2021 Favorites list, but there’s a reason I always keep two lists—one for books published and read in the current year and one for books read in the current year but published in a prior year.
In the past we’ve done a “Best book I read this year that wasn’t published this year” post aka Best Belated Reads. We’re hoping to do another one in January, so watch this space!
Just finished FLOAT PLAN and I loved it. It has become the tenth (and final) book on my Favorite Books of 2021 list. Everything about it—from the elegant writing to the technical detail to the emotionally-bracing story—was excellent. I get seasick riding on the ferry, but this book made me want to get on a sailboat and island-hop through the Caribbean. Fantastic!
Hi DDD – so glad you also loved Float Plan! For me is is a shining example of how to do it when writing CR. I can’t think of anything in the last 4-5 years I’ve enjoyed more.
OK, this has moved WAY up on my TBR.
I’m delighted that you managed to squeeze it in and that you enjoyed it so much. And stay tuned for the BBR (Best Belated Reads!) column!
So thrilled Float Plan made your list! It was the best CR I have read in a very long time. The Suite Spot is on pre-order.