Olive’s Top 5 Reads in 2021

It was down to the wire. With two nights remaining until 2021 was over, I parked myself on the couch after the kids went to bed and got to work. I had a deadline to meet. I wanted to be able to say that I finished 40 books in the year that I turned 40. And I did it. (Yay!) Of the 40 books I read, some of them were older books that I’d had on my to-read list for years, others were re-reads of books I had loved and wanted to read again. 14 of them were audiobooks that I borrowed through our library and listened to while painting, knitting, or puttering around the kitchen.

In keeping with our tradition of posting a Top 5 List (in case you missed it, here’s my list and Tim’s list for 2020), I’ve chosen books that were new to me this year. Since they’re difficult to rank, I’m listing them by category. I’m also including an Honourable Mentions list as well as a list of top books that my kids enjoyed listening to me read at bedtime.

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Tim’s Top 5 Reads from 2020

Just as I did 2017, 2018, and 2019, I made it one of my goals in 2020 to read one book a month. I exceeded my goal to reach 20 (the extra time during this COVID year and my digital detox both helped). Here’s a list of my top 5 books from 2020:

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Olive’s Top 5 Reads in 2020

For 2019, my reading goal was two books a month. This year, my goal was 3 books a month. I exceeded my goal this year by completing 38 books (with a few more partially read). This doesn’t include all the books I read aloud to my kids at bedtime. (Hello, Next Best Junior Chef Books 1, 2, and 3, and Unusual Chickens books 1 and 2 – all of which I read out loud twice…!)

Looking back, what surprised me is that 16 of them were audiobooks. I never thought I would enjoy audiobooks but thanks to our library’s audiobook system, I’ve been able to “read” while I paint. A win-win.

Now at year’s end, I’ve compiled my top 5 picks for 2020. Since it’s hard to rank them, I’m listing them by category:

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Olive’s Top 5 Reads for 2019

For the past few years, we’ve kept a sticky note on our fridge to track which books we’ve read throughout the year. This year, I set myself a goal of reading two books per month. Thanks to both kids being in school as well as discovering audio books from our local library, I managed to exceed my goal and read 30 books! Here are my top 5 picks, listed in the order of which I read them:

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