Top Ten Tuesday- Best reads of 2021

Join me in this weeks Top Ten Tuesday- my best reads of 2021 and of course the Lymond Chronicles is on the list.

.Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday seemed easy on the surface, but I found it really hard to narrow my choices down to ten but I couldn’t ( so there are now eleven books on the list). I started book blogging in July and for some reason, the books I read before my first post seem less vivid and clear. So, in no particular order at all, here are my top ten reads of 2021.

The Bone Shard Emperor Daughter ( review ) and The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart.

I loved this epic fantasy influenced by the far east which has action, romance, intrigue and magic by the bucketful. The magic system of using shards of bone from people to create artificial life that can be controlled is original and creepy. The characters are memorable and include my favourite smuggler and accidental hero, Jovis The books also explore deeper themes of belonging, love and complicated relationships between terrible parents and the children who want to be better.

The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett( series review)

This has to be the best historical fiction series that I have read and it still blows my mind each time I reread these books. Lymond remains one of the most intriguing and tortured heroes I have come across( and much imitated. Each book has an intricate plot, political intrigue, action and romance but Dunnett manages to sustain the mystery surrounding Lymond’s ancestry through the entire series. I think I may have to reread the series again in 2022.

Dead at False Creek by Sarah M Stephen (review)

This book combines my two favourite genres, historical fiction and time slip with an underlying mystery with the perfect number of red herrings. In 1897, Jack Winston, a new Detective, in Vancouver is stuck solving the disappearance of a young man from a prominent family. He keeps a journal with his thoughts about his work. In 2017, Riley, an archivist, is fascinated with his journal when she discovers it in a box of files. They soon realise the pair can communicate via the journal through time. Can Riley help Jack solve this crime?

Leviathan Falls by James S.A Corey ( review)

This is the final book of The Expanse series. I love the fact we see our heroes grow old but are still brave, adventurous, optimistic, stupid and sexy. And it is this realism that makes this one of the best series I have read. This is how an epic series should be written.

Fortune’s Fool by Angela Boord ( review)

I was hooked in by the cover- I mean how could I not read a book where a woman holding a sword in a metal arm. This fantasy about a woman plotting revenge against the man she loved who betrayed her does not use sexual violence against a woman as a plot device and is more interesting because of this.

The Boy with Fire by Aparna Verma (review)

I was really impressed with this science fiction fantasy with a unique South-East Asian inspired world, lush descriptions and memorable characters with more than a hint of dubious morality. I will definitely be buying book two of the Ravence Trilogy.

Mannequin House by R.N Morris ( review )

A historical crime fiction featuring Silas Quinn, a detective with a dark side, who has to solve a strange locked room murder but the chief suspect happens to be a monkey.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri ( review)

This Epic fantasy, influenced by Medieval India, has not one but three complicated, morally grey women fighting and plotting to overthrow the patriarchy with no guilt or regret.

Forging a Nightmare by Patricia Jackson ( review)

 I loved this fresh urban fantasy featuring a unique hero, a biblical theme and a fierce, Nightmare, a human soul forged in hell. The main characters were black, and a lot of the secondary characters were people of colour and I liked the fact that this was seen as ordinary. 

Black Drop by Leonora Natrass ( review)

I couldn’t put this book down. A historical thriller set in 1794 featuring Laurence Jago, a reluctant spy addicted to Black Drop, trying to survive in London on the edge of violence. This book has it all- a murder mystery, political intrigue, history and a doomed romance.

The Last Sun and The Hanged Man by K D Edwards(series review)

I had lost interest in urban fantasy, as many of the books followed the same old pattern but while The Tarot Sequence series still has a snarky main character but there is so much more – a different magical system, romance, lots of action, intrigue and lots of humour. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Are any of these books on your list? Please leave a link to your Top Ten list in the comments, so I can check out your list ( and add books to my 2022 list).

Thanks for visiting