2021 Favorites from The List

We are nearing the end of 2021. Let's share our favorite books we read this year from the 1001 books list. Also feel free to share how many books you read and if you felt it was a satisfying year of reading. Least favorites welcome too!

Looking forward to using this to narrow down my reading choices for next year!

I had a quieter List year but managed 39 books for the year.

I see I rated about 10 of these as 4/5 so worthwhile reading. Some of these were striking but rather grim; in terms of lighter entertainment my best books were The Real Charlotte (Edith Somerville) and Cakes and Ale (Somerset Maugham).

My least favourite was Camus' The Rebel which I had abandoned several years ago and it didn't improve with the passage of time (too dry and intellectual for me) - 1.5/5

Still plenty on the shelf for next year!

I read 23 books from the list this year and I am currently working on one, so hopefully a total of 24. I am pleased with my average of 2 books a month.

I enjoyed a lot of the books that I read from the list this year but my two favorites would have to be The Summer Book by Tove Jansson and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre.

My least favorite book was The Blind Owl by Sadiq Hidayat.

I only read 9 books from the list this year, but I'm actually ok with that. I'd rather read fewer and still enjoy it than force myself into reading at a faster pace. I liked all the books I read this year, but my stand outs were:

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Both of these will make my list of overall favorites for 2021.

I read 32 books from the List, which seems like a lot! Not sure how I managed that. I had three absolutely 5-star reads:

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary

There were also two runners-up with 4.5 stars

The Professor's House by Willa Cather
Ancestral Voices by Etienne van Heerden

My least favorite book was Black Water.

I'm just getting back to the list, after a long hiatus, but read Things Fall Apart which I loved.
My New Year's resolution is to get back to the list... I have a pile of books already waiting for me!

I read 23 books from the list + 2 from the additional Danish list. I'm quite surprised since my reading has been really slow the last couple of months.

My favorite books this year were Persuasion, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitj, The Bell Jar and Play it as it Lays with honorable mentions to Ragtime and Glimpses of the Moon. The two Danish books Stuk and Lykke-Per were great reads as well.

I didn't read any really bad books this year, but some of the new novels were nothing special.

I managed a feeble 3, of which I enjoyed North & South the most.
I'm hoping that more sustained access to the library will improve that total somewhat in 2022. I have 2 out of the library to read, so that'll get me off to a good start.

I would say my favourite was Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris. It's nice to have an occasional light-hearted read.

I read 9 off the list in 2021.

Favs:
The Picture of Dorian Gray 4.5 stars
Half a Yellow Sun 4 stars
The Radetsky March 4.5 stars

Stinkers:
Night Circus by Djunna Barnes 2.5 stars
American Pastoral only read 40% This was a DNF
I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammanti 2.5 stars