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Quick question: can we let two characters be friends? Like just friends? There are tons of people I meet more than once every century that I do not want to fuck. So friends. As a concept. Worth a thought.

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Mini Book Haul

Der Gefangene des Himmels (The Prisoner of Heaven) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

I bought them on a website that sells used books and CDs etc.

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First Book of the Year

This about guys that get together to read romance novels, hoping that will help them fix their own relationships. What a fun and cute way to start the new reading year.

I was so happy I found the English version on Vinted. I love love love the cover design. And also please look at what the German book industry has done to this beauty:

What even is this? A graphic-design-is-my-passion kind of design!?

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After I started last year in not a very good place mentally my goal was kind of modest at 30 books. I read 45 in the end. So this year I'm feeling way better and I'm more optimistic so I decided to go for 50 books again.

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2021 Reads 🇬🇧

45. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

I expected nothing from this book but some easy, lightweight entertainment. And I got so much more! The romance was the absolute cutest, both characters were great. A thing I didn't like was that most side characters were not very deep and sometimes felt like caricature of what they were meant to be. And the narrator of the audiobook gave them the weirdest voices which was irritating at times.

I loved it nonetheless and I'm so excited for book no. 2.

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2021 Reads 📚

44. A Bookseller's Tale by Martin Latham

This book tells some great anecdotes about books and their history and it's the perfect book for huge book nerds.

I loved a lot of it but unfortunately I didn't know most of the names the author just assumed his readers would know. Maybe it's because I'm not from the UK but also maybe I'm not that big of a book nerd.

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2021 Reads 📰

43. Ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste. Wie BILD mit Angst und Hass die Gesellschaft spaltet von Mats Schönauer und Moritz Tschermak

Dazu gibt es gar nicht viel zu sagen. Die Bild-Zeitung ist der absolut letzte Dreck und erklärt sehr detailliert und eindrucksvoll warum.

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2021 Reads 👩‍👧

42. Das Kind in dir muss Heimat finden by Stefanie Stahl

I read it because I saw some therapist recommending it. The author is a psychotherapist as well so I thought it can't be that bad. And it wasn't bad. The whole concept just wasn't really for me. I didn't manage to feel this connection to my "inner child". But it was interesting and I'm sure there are a few things I kept with me after I finished.

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2021 Reads

41. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

During the first half I didn't particularly enjoy it. I can't deal with characters making obviously stupid decisions. Even though I know why she did all that and that it was the whole point but it still made me angry. The second half was way better. I was really glad Queenie took responsibility for things and actively worked on her life and her mental health. So overall I liked it.

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2021 Reads ⛺

40. Aristotle And Dante Dive Into The Waters Of The World

I read the first book only a year or so ago (I was probably the last person on earth to finally read it) and liked it very much. But this one. Not so much. I didn't really remember much from the first one and if it had the same writing style and if there as well 17 year old behaved and thought like no 17 year old on earth ever would. Maybe and apparently I didn't mind last time but this time I kind of hated it.

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2021 Reads 🤵🏻‍♀️

39. Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

I have not made an actual list yet but this will definitely be in my top 5 of the year. The concept is amazing, the setting of 1950s San Francisco felt so real, I learned so much about queer life and the life of Asian Americans back then. I dreamed of the book one night which happens very rarely and what made it feel even more personal. Also who wasn't so weirdly fascinated their first time in a gay club? I really felt that.

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2021 Reads 🌺

38. The (Un)Honeymooners by Christina Lauren

That was the first Christina Lauren book I read and I didn't really know what to expect because it didn't really sound like something I would love. But then I actually did. I loved Olive and I maybe or maybe not had a crush on Ethan and I loved how funny it was. Often written humor in books doesn't work for me but here it did. Really really well even.

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2021 Reads 🧍‍♀️

37. Body Politics by Melodie Michelberger

A very good book on how society defines the way we think about our own bodies. Many interesting facts but it felt very personal too.

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2021 Reads 🚺

36. Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit

I feel like that's an absolute feminist must-read and I guess that's why I read it. It didn't change my life but I still enjoyed it.

But one always has to keep in mind that the book is from 2008. Today we all know what "mansplaining" for example means and back then it was a fairly new concept. The author still has a good perspective on things and some good things to say.

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2021 Reads 🚃

35. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Maybe, maybe that's my favourite romance I read this year. How can you not fall in love with Su? And August? And this book? And Casey McQusiton's books in general. It was so different from Red, White and Royal Blue but the concept and characters were just as great. Maybe I liked One Last Stop even more. This was more of a quiet and private love story and not as world changing as the one in her first book. It just felt closer.

Also I love about her books that they have this cute and cosy YA feeling but the characters are a bit older and I definitely have more in common with people my age or in their early twenties than with sixteen year olds.

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2021 Reads 🚺

34. Die Letzten Tage Des Patriarchats by Margarete Stokowski

What am I supposed to say about this one. It's the author's second collection of text with mainly feminist topics and I loved the first one and I loved this one.

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2021 Reads 🏇🏻

33. Bringing Down The Duke by Evie Dunmore

This was an absolute surprise success for me. I expected some kind of cheesy historical romance. Which it was. But it was also a really great story about early feminists. Of course it was obviously written by a modern author, so I don't know about the historical accuracy, especially when it comes to the way the main character behaves and thinks. But since historical fiction sometimes tends to reflect outdated ways of thinking with the excuse of "That's just how it was back then", this approach made me like it even more. Also it was a lot steamier than I expected (aka the Bridgerton Effect)