It’s that time of year where everywhere you look, there’s another Top 10 list! Those lists are my favorite posts and I look forward to them every year, but they also have a tendancy to give me anxiety as I see all the books being pushed that I missed and need to read ASAP.
While these aren’t books that will make my personal Top 10 list this year, I have five books listed that are worthy of reading…and a list of five books you can absolutely skip without any guilt!
I would love to hear about your personal underrated and overrated books from 2021! Drop a comment below!
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
This book is full of secrets, drama, and dysfunction! It’s a deep dive into relationships – familial and romantic – and what it means to find one’s home amongst those complicated and nuanced connections made over the course of one’s life. The writing is excellent and gave off The Most Fun We Ever Had; Olympus, Texas; and Ask Again, Yes vibes!
Read my review here.
Things We Lost To the Water by Eric Nguyen
This debut book reads like a memoir and has lots for the reader to unpack: themes of racism, immigration, grief, and a mother’s love. It starts off slow, but the reader quickly becomes swept up in this incredible saga!
Read my review here.
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
This book is an absolute masterpiece! Set during the times of slavery, this book deals with themes of love, racism, class, slavery, and white privilege. In adddition, at the heart of the story is the relationship between two enslaved Black men – Isaiah and Samuel. I loved the religious undertones and absolutely fell for the cast of secondary characters. This book will stick with me for a long time!
Read my review here.
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Through metaphoric and lyrical prose, Hashimi proves she can write! I became totally invested in this story set in 1978 Kabul when Afghani militants formed a coup and killed the President and all of his closest advisors. The pages turn themselves throughout this fictional account of a country that has seemingly only known turmoil since its first existence.
Read my review here.
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World by Chanel Cleeton
This one is set during the Gilded Age – a time where things glittered on the surface but was totally corrupt underneath. Cuba was in a major crises for independence from Spain, so when “the most beautiful girl in Cuba” is unjustly imprisoned, America must decide if they’re willing to intervene on Cuba’s behalf to help them fight for their independence.
Read my review here.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Everything about this book should have worked for me – memoir, grief, loss of a mother – but it just didn’t. I never connected with the writing and I kind of felt bored by the whole thing.
Read my review here.
Landslide by Susan Conley
A few of my trusted sources really enjoyed this one, so I thought it’d be a homerun for me too. Unfortunately, it was another book that bored me, and while many have said Conley nailed what it’s like to be a mom to boys, I didn’t feel any connection to this aspect of the story at all.
Read my review here.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
I’m a big giant fan of Kristin Hannah and I was geared up to love this story, but it ultimately got bogged down in repetitive details and led up to a sensational ending that completely missed the mark for me.
Read my review here.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
This was my second attempt to read a book by Ishiguro, and I believe it will be my last. His writing is too ambiguous for me.
Read my review here.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Nothing about this one worked for me…
Read my review here.
Happiest When Reading 
Well… there you go then… Let’s hope 2022 has more of the former and fewer of the latter!
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A great idea! It’s a shame about Klara but a few people have been a bit let down by it.
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