Total Books Read = 122
Average Books Read Per Month = 10
Best Reading Month = July 15 or April 14
Worst Reading Month = Jan or Nov
Total Pages Read = 29,419
Average Pages Per Book = 241
Average Pages Read Per Day = 81
Total Chunksters (400+ pages) Read = 14
Genres
Total Adult Fiction Books Read = 36
Lighter Contemporary Fic = 5
Total YA Fiction Books Read = 6
Children’s = 4
Total Memoir Books Read = 12
Total Nonfiction Books Read = 24
Short Story Collection = 1
Poetry = 8
Mystery/Thriller = 2
Translated = 5
Fantasy = 5
SciFi = 9
Historical Fiction = 8
Cookbooks = 2
Adventure = 1
Business = 2
Graphical = 1
Formats
Total Audio Books “Read” = 29
Total Ebooks Read = 28
Total Hardcover Books = 26
Tradeback/Paperback = 39
Ratings
★★★★★ = 37
★★★★ = 57
★★★ = 21
★★ = 6
★ =
Authors
Total Books By Women = 77
Total Books By Men = 45
Total Books by New-to-Me Authors = 72
Repeat Authors = 26
Total Books by Authors of Color = 33
Miscellaneous
Total Graphic Novels Read = 0
Total Books Reread = 0
Total “Classics” Read = 15
Total Books Read for Book Club = 6
Oldest book: The Epic Gilgamesh
Longest book: 856 JS&MN
Shortest book: 18 Pumpkin Pie
Longest book title: 
A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland
Shortest book title: Jack
Debuts: 17
On List of Books to Read Before You Die: 4
Book to Movie: 3, Book to Play: 1, Book to TV Miniseries: 1
Books with Pie: 58
Care’s 2021 Pie in Lit Award goes to…. The Resisters! 
I read more books than I ever have in one calendar year. Yet, I didn’t have any standout amazing reading experiences. BUT WAIT! I do NOT mean to say I didn’t have a great reading year because I did! I had many tremendous 4 & 5 star reads and if I were to really look at the list, some of those fives would drop to 4 and some of those 4s would elevate to a 5 and so I’m NOT going to look.
I’m going with what I set when I recorded in my spreadsheet and blog. I did pretty good on blogging reviews this year, though that last few months were a disappointment. That’s OK, it’ll be OK. Get back up if you fall down; no need to dither/dather over spilt milk and attempt to go back in time to fix. Nope.
I can’t think of how to do a top 5 or even a top 10 so I’m following Melissa’s example over at Avid Reader:
Best Books You Read In 2021
♦ Classics — One True Thing by Anna Quindlen 1994
Historical Fiction — The Cold Millions by Jess Walter and Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Mystery — Swann -or- Long Bright River
Literary Fiction — Top 3: The Promise by Damon Galgut, Luster by Raven Leilani, Oh William by Elizabeth Strout
Nonfiction —These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
Fantasy —The Spindle Splintered by Alix Harrow
Poetry – It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful – Lia Purpura and Jeanne Griggs Postcard Poems!
Science Fiction — Martha Wells Murderbot Series
YA — Alone with the Stars by David Graham
♦ Books You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki, Skippy Dies/Paul Murray and Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
♦ Most surprising (in a good way) book you read? Stephen Florida. It is a DEBUT.
♦ Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read? n/a
♦ Best series you started in 2021? Murderbot
♦ Favorite new author you discovered in 2021? Anna Quindlen and Raven Leilani
♦ Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? (I can’t think of anything to fit this…)
♦ Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? I can’t think of anything to fit this either. The most memorable “unputdownable” book that comes to mind is the opposite of action-packed! Whereabouts by Lahiri
♦ Book You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? Goodness, um NONE? Maybe These Precious Days. I rarely reread and certainly not so quick in time. (OK, that isn’t quite true… I read Milkman twice in the same year and I read Duchess Goldblatt, twice in the same year, too! #shrug)
♦ Favorite cover of a book you read in 2021? Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch or Euphoria by Lily King or The Resistors by Gish Jen
♦ Most memorable character of 2021? Narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation or Narrator in The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or Konstance in Cloud Cuckoo Land .
♦ Most beautifully written book read in 2021? The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
♦ Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2021? Did That Just Happen?!
♦ Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2021 to finally read? Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (and Anne Frank and Housekeeping and Fun Home and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) (And Alice in Wonderland.)
♦ Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2021?
♦ Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2021? You’re My Little Pumpkin Pie (18 pages) by Natalie Marshal and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (865 pages) by Susanna Clarke
♦ Book That Shocked You The Most? Effin Birds by Aaron Reynolds (LOL)
♦ Favorite Couple? Caroline & Tom Donohoe in The Radium Girls. True love.
♦ Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year? Murderbot and ART?
♦ Favorite Book You Read in 2021 From an Author You’ve Read Previously? The Green Mile by SK, These Precious Days by AP
♦ Best Book You Read In 2021 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else? Yoga Pant Nation maybe. Or… wait for it. Murderbot!
♦ Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2021? no idea. I can’t keep answering with Murderbot, can I?
♦ Best 2021 debut you read? Luster by Raven Leilani
♦ Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
♦ Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? Murderbot
♦ Book That Made You Cry in 2021? These Precious Days
♦ Hidden Gem Of The Year? The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung (probably the book that had the least chatter in my world…)
♦ Book That Crushed Your Soul? The Trees by Percival Everett
♦ Most Unique Book You Read In 2021? Several People Are Typing! by Calvin Kasulke
♦ Book That Made You the Maddest? Detransition, Baby (that so many people argued about Torrey Peters being eligible for the Womens Lit Prize)
♦ Best Audiobook? Cloud Cuckoo Land / Anthony Doerr and Black Gold by Theresa Edwards
♦ Best Book to Film Adaptation? One True Thing & Housekeeping
Copyright © 2007-2022. Care’s Online Book Club aka Care’s Books and Pie. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club aka BkClubCare. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.
Care's Books and Pie 
Wow, this was so thorough I can see why it took you all day! I enjoyed reading your summary of 2021 reading. I totally get the thing where you said some five star reads could become four and some four star reads five. There are four star reads that are sticking with me over some of my five. But I rate them right after I read them and just move on! Anyway, happy reading in 2022!
Maybe this year, I can figure out how to track what I want to summarize?! LOL
An awesome year of reading! I loved The Book of Form and Emptiness! But I get it’s not everyone’s cuppa. I do need to get on the Murderbot bandwagon though, everyone is always raving about those books. Happy New Year!
The audiobook voice for the mother was… unfortunate. Made her seem like a dingbat. Really had me considering my own compassion. I did get a kick out of the idea that the author visited Wichita KS for the book tour! (in Book of Form and Emptiness)
Oh yes, Murderbot is a salve to the anxiety of the times.
You had an awesome reading year! I’m already loving These Precious Days so much. Patchett is just the best. The Murderbot series is beyond funny. And Caroline and Tom in Radium Girls!!! Sob.
I love that you and I shared so many titles (and the feelings!)
What a year!! But is this really the first you’ve read of Anna Quindlen??? Pretty sure I’ve read almost everything she’s written. Since you loved These Precious Days as much as I did, you MUST read Quindlen’s Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. She narrates the audio (with a bad cold) herself… it made me wish we were BFFs. Happy 2022 and here’s to rediscovering read-alaongs.
**read-alongs**
YES! I know! I have no idea why it took so long but you know: Too Many Books So Little Time. I will read more by her.
Wow, that was fun to read! Congrats on a fabulous reading year!
I’m in awe of this post! I have had Murderbot on my list for so long, These Precious Days I’m saving to read with my book club later this year, but some of the essays I think were published in The New Yorker. Cloud Cuckoo Land was my #1 book of 2021 and The Lincoln Highway may be the #1 audiobook, if I ever get around to going through my (incredibly deficient, especially compared to yours) records for a year-end wrap-up.