WHAT I READ IN 2021 AND MY TOP 20 BOOKS
With the lockdown rendering normal life impossible, I got stuck into some serious reading this year and had originally hoped to consume an unprecedented 100 books by 2022. In the event, I managed that by July. And so I went on, and on, and on … and by the end of December I’d somehow read 208 books! I assure you that this will never be repeated. Anyway, in the spirit of literary collegiality, I thought I’d post up my 20 favourite reads of the year, along with the reasons why I consider them thus. There is no rank of merit; this is just the order in which I read them. I’ve split them into three groups: novels; autobiography; and nonfiction. At the end of the post there is a comprehensive list of all the books I read in 2021. NOVELS Somebody’s Voice , Ramsey Campbell Another magnificent prose masterclass. Nobody writes in such a tricksy, sinuous and artful way. Totally exhilarating. And the story here is gripping from start to end. Solar , Ian McEwan Hilarious, cruel