I’ve read over 35 books in 2021 so far, and I’ve read some really great books as well, so I decided it was time to whittle down my reads to some of the best in 2021 thus far.
Let’s get started!
one | It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Lilly didn’t have an easy childhood. From saving homeless boys from themselves to protecting her mother from her abusive father, she didn’t really get to be a kid. But, she moves to Boston once she graduates from college, and life couldn’t be better. She opens her own flower shop, falls in love with a neurosurgeon, and makes an amazing new best friend. Everything seems perfect, but one day, just 15 seconds, changes everything. When the boy from her past comes back into her life, Lilly doesn’t know what she should do. A beautiful story about love, loss, and second chances, Colleen Hoover is sure to drag you between the covers and leave you wanting more.
two | How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang
Lucy and Sam only have each other now. After their father, Ba, passes away, they must trek across the western dessert that promised gold to bury him. Told across three timelines, How Much of These Hills is Gold is a gripping story about Asian America immigrants during the gold rush, family, and adventure. Sure to break your heart in unexpected ways, this book is one of a kind.
three | Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Rick Deckard has a license to kill — kill androids that is. It’s 2021 (or 2048 depending on the version of the book you read), and San Fransisco lies under a radioactive cloud of dust. The world experienced World War III making it uninhabitable, and while most people have escaped to live on Mars with androids serving them, some have stayed on Earth. Rick makes a living by hunting androids that have escaped enslavement on Mars for a better life on Earth. He is tasked with killing six androids in one day, which is unheard of, and he’s about to experience a life-changing mission. Like most of Dick’s work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? leaves readers guessing far past the last page.
four | Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
A new automatic recommendation from me, Crucial Conversations should be on everyone’s TBR list. This book is full of helpful information on how to lead conversations in all areas of your life — from the boardroom to the kitchen table. This book serves as a reminder, or an informer, on how to hold the toughest conversations we may face in life. With helpful examples and applicable skills, this book will revolutionize how your approach any conversation after you read it.
five | The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett
Mallard is a quirky town. Despite being a Black town, the residents value the lightest skin possible, and when Stella Vignes discovers she can pass as a white woman, she grabs at the opportunity. Unlike Stella, Desiree, the other half of the Vignes twins, marries the darkest man she can find and has his baby. When the twins run away from Mallard, the town thinks they’ll never see them again, but when Desiree returns with her Black child, everything begins to unfold in remarkable ways. Bennett has a way with crafting stories, and The Vanishing Half is no different. A heartbreaking story about family, destiny, and race that is sure to leave you thinking.
Happy reading,
Kimberly
