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As you all may have noticed, every now and again, I do venture outside of romance and read from other genres. So I am excited to present to you in this post my top ten non-romance titles and a few honorable mentions from 2021 reads!

Honorable Mentions

• Untamed by Glennon Doyle
• Feelings: A Story in Seasons by Manjit Thap
• You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union
• Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
• The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds
• Today, Tonight, Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

10. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

Why I Loved This Book: Honestly, I mostly loved this book for Nesta’s mental health journey, even more than the romance. Nesta and Cassian are cute, but I’m not sure anything compares to the women’s repeated phrase of “I am the rock against which the surf crashes. Nothing can break me.”

9. One by One by Ruth Ware

Why I Loved This Book: Ruth Ware can write a mystery that just pulls me in so well. This one felt sort of in the vein of The Guest List, in that it was a small cast of characters in a relatively small space. Anyway, this book was atmospheric and I was FREAKING out. I vividly remember texting Kristina from the drive thru line at Taco Bell even though I was coming right back to work and we could have talked about it in person. But I couldn’t wait!

8. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Why I Loved This Book: This YA romance was absolutely darling and I loved everything about it. Lord’s writing style, the You’ve Got Mail inspired plot line, the grilled cheese sandwich descriptions… Just brilliant.

7. A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

Why I Loved This Book: Someone needs to explain to me how Susanna Kearsley manages to make me tear up EVERY time. Mary’s story (the historical one) is definitely the more engaging of the two, but I really love the way Kearsley does a dual timeline so regardless, I loved every bit of this one.

6. The Wheel of Time books 1-4 by Robert Jordan

Why I Loved This Series: Um, cannot explain. All vibes no thoughts, I’m obsessed. The characters are so intricate for the most part and I love that about them. Especially at this stage in the journey.

5. The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

Why I Loved This Book: I am obsessed with this history that Susanna Kearsley has brought to life. She is so impossibly talented and I am continuously amazed every time I read or listen to one of her novels.

4. Passing by Nella Larsen

Why I Loved This Book: This short book is absolutely captivating. The character work, the intrigue, the way it builds… I just really loved the writing and everything about it.

3. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deeshaw Philyaw

Why I Loved This Book: This collection of short stories absolutely blew me away. I’m not usually a short story person, but Philyaw’s talent shines and she had me attached to these characters I was meeting for just short moments of time. I loved it.

2. Broken by Jenny Lawson

Why I Loved This Book: Lawson’s stories are wild and ridiculous and hilarious and sometimes so heart wrenching. I literally experienced all of the emotions listening to this book and I loved it.

1. Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosiamo

Why I Loved This Book: Just in case you’ve somehow missed me absolutely raving about this book, I loved it SO MUCH. It’s atmospheric and you can visualize this going down like a movie even when your brain doesn’t usually work that way. (Or at least, that was my experience.) I loved the humor and the over the top-ness and really, honestly, everything about it. I was texting Kristina in all caps toward the end because I was NOT coping well. So good!

What were your favorite non-romance reads from 2021? Any that you think I should definitely add to my TBR? Let me know!

xx