Holiday Post 2021: Books and reading

Welcome to the third post in my holiday post series. Today I am looking at books and reading. I'd like to use this post to highlight some good book lists and also have a look to see if I have read anything that the "experts" say I should have read. The odds are I have not, and I am perfectly at peace with that. Another reason I do this is that it may be a small resource for reader's advisory, i.e. help others out there find something they like to read. By the way, I am doing my best to avoid articles behind paywalls because I am fully aware not everyone has access to everything (I sure do not), so if you do not see a list from some hoity toity publication, I probably skipped it because it was paywalled. You can always try to get access through your local library (or mooch off someone who does subscribe).

 

Let me remind my three readers also that I will be posting my own 2021 end of year reading report later on, so stay tuned for that. In addition, once we get into 2022 I will post my lists of best books I read and reviewed in fiction, nonfiction, plus Tarot and esoterica, so make sure you come back and check those out too.

Big Lists

 

These are the lists from the usual big places. I do not try to highlight all of them nor a large amount, but  a few that caught my eye. 

 

•  NPR has their books they loved in 2021. I do like the layout of their page with the book covers like a gallery that you then click on an image to learn more. Easy to look at. From the list, I have not read a single one, but I did have the following in the TBR (to be read) list: 
• The Secret History of Home Economics. 
• Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America. 
• The New York Post has a list of 35 books to give for the holidays. 
• Here's the Boston Globe's list.  List includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature.
• The Chicago Tribune has their list of 10 best for the year. From their list: 
• I started but then dropped Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America. While I thought overall the book was pretty good and an important read, it is also a seriously depressing book that at times leaves you hopeless when it comes to the corruption and exploitation that goes on in the United States. I broke my politics/social issues/activist topics moratorium to read this. It reminded me why I have that moratorium in place.
  
• Library Journal has their portal with various lists in fiction and nonfiction.
• From their horror list, I just picked up Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Horror from my local public library. I will review it here on the blog after I finish it.
  

Specific Lists

Not quite as big as the ones above, these lists may be from specific publications or sites. I aiming to provide a sampling of what is out there.

• The Chicago Public Library has a very good best of the best books website worth a look. Nice things about a site like this is you get a list from librarians and library staff. Site features selections for adults, teens, and children. 
• The New York Public Library has their best books for adults list plus other categories. 
  
• Foreign Affairs has their list of the best books they reviewed in 2021. If you are interested in politics and current affairs, this may be for you. 
• GQ has a list of 50 best literary journalism of the 21st century books. 
• History Extra, from the BBC, has their best books for history lovers. From the list:
  
• I recently saw Cuba: an American History at my public library. I may pick it up.
• Here is Book Riot's best books of the year list.  
• Food Network has a list of cookbooks. 
• Audiofile has their annual list of best books on audio.
• Smithsonian has a list of best science books. 
• If you like sports, the Cleveland Plain Dealer has a pretty good list for the year of sports books.
  

Genre lists   

 Lists for reading genres, again, this is just a small sampling.

• Literary Hub has their list of their best reviewed science fiction, fantasy, and horror books for 2021.
• Lit Reactor has the 10 scariest horror books of 2021, well, according to them.
• Variety has a list of best comic books for the year. 
• Space.com has a list of best Star Wars books for 2021. 
• The Washington Post has a few genre lists including, among others, one for graphic novels and another for romance novels.
  

By the way, a great resource some of us use to identify reading lists is this big compendium from Largehearted Boy. If you can think of the topic, he has a list for it.