my top 10 favorite reads of 2021 + a paid subscriber option

I’m not giving you a gigantic intro here because good grief, you don’t need two of those from me in a single holiday weekend. I did want to hit y’all with a Top 10 Faves of 2021 and importantly, announce that Completely Booked’s paid subscriber options are here!

The first paid newsletter will go out in two weeks and in general, you should check for one mid-month. Subscribers will receive non-book recommendations, access to giveaways from time to time, and honestly me talking some shit I prob wouldn’t elsewhere. If you pay for that really high tier, I’ll send you a book in the actual mail and I’ll be available for personalized book recommendations for anyone in your life as needed.

I know you’re already subscribed (for free!) if you’re seeing this, but if you’d like upgrade your subscription, get into it at the button below. ($6 a month, $72 a year!)

Annnnd here are some book recommendations from 2021 including my Top 10!

I liked these 10 books the most in 2021

• Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
• Wintering by Katherine May
• Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
• What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
• Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
• My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
• The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
• Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
• While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

And some various recs by category for ya weirdos.

If you’re ready to try graphic novels:
The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay (et al)
Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke

If you need a lovely, romantic escape:
While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey

If you like the stories of people’s lives:
Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley Ford
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson

If you like to feel unsettled:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
Outlawed by Anna Noth
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

If you really just want to have a good time:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

If shit about families is up your alley:
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

If you only read white dead men in high school, it’s time to pick up:
All About Love by bell hooks
Passing by Nella Larsen
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

If you still give a shit about anti-racism:
Surviving the White Gaze by Rebecca Carroll
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
Women, Race, and Class by Angela Y. Davis
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

If you want to laugh a little, cry a little:
With Teeth by Kristen Arnett
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
And Now We Have Everything by Meaghan O’Connell

If you want to just laugh:
Samantha Irby’s collection of works
Shit, Actually by Lindy West, whose husband held the door open for me this year at a pastry shop

If you can’t afford therapy:
The Dance of Connection by Harriet Lerner
…What to Do When by Patricia Love
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

If you just want something fucking good:
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

Here’s to another fucking year! Don’t forget to pay me if you wanna by subscribing below!