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Last year I read 156 books. So I think I might not even be a bookworm anymore, but a very hungry caterpillar. As I mentioned before, 2021 wasn’t an easy year for me, so I spent a lot of time reading. It simply is the activity that instantly brings me down the most. Also, I read every night to fall asleep – and since the pregnancy often a bit during the night to fall asleep again.
While I hadn’t planned on reading that much, I am also not sad that I did. I am sure I could waste my time in far worse ways. But delving into other worlds and times isn’t one of them.
Mostly I use these 3 sources for new books: the public library (I use the app ‘Overdrive’ on my tablet to download ebooks), my Kindle Unlimited subscription, and my Book of the Month subscription. That gives me a good mix of different genres. Besides, I document my reading journey on Goodreads and like it as a means of keeping an overview. And if you want to buy books and support local bookstores, I also regularly update my reading lists on bookshop.org.
After all, my favorite literary genre in 2021 continued to be cozy mysteries. And I (re-)discovered German crime novels. When I find a series I really like, I binge-read all volumes. Funnily enough though my absolute favorite books of the year were not mysteries. My top 3 books of 2021 (in alphabetical order because I really can’t make up my mind) were:
- Elif Shafak: “10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World”
- Kristin Hannah: “The Four Winds”
- Naomi Alderman: “The Power”
Other Statistics from my Year in Books 2021
Total pages: 38,155
Longest book: Dune with 688 pages
Shortest book: Some Days with 24 pages
Best reading month: 30 books in September
Least reading month: 5 books in November
And here is an overview of all the 156 books I read last year. I am not sure that I can or necessarily want to repeat that, but we’ll see how this year turns out – I can imagine lots and lots of children’s books in my future, haha:
