Who does not love a good book to cuddle up with, wrapped up like a burrito while drinking a hot beverage? After the year we’ve experienced, why not sit down for a couple of hours to escape to a world that is not our own. I have put together a small list of my favourite books that I read in the last year and a half. With these books, I feel that they have not been given the attention they deserve for the quality of the stories each of these books portray. So, without further ado, here are my top five books you should read in 2021.
- The Marrow Thevies by Cherie Dimaline
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In a world that is nearly destroyed by global warming, the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for something you do not expect, their bone marrow. The bone marrow is the key to recovering something every other ethnic group lost due to some mysterious occurrence which was the ability to dream. We follow Frenchie, a young Indigenous boy trying to survive in a world that is on the hunt for something he possesses. He encounters many people along his journey in his attempt to discover which person he meets holds secrets in defeating the Marrow Thieves.
This is a book that I had to read for a class and I went into it with certain expectations and predictions. To my surprise, I discovered how wrong I was, not only with how enjoyable the story was but with the emotional depth of the characters portrayed from the first moments we see them to the last.
- The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molly
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This book takes place in modern America where a group of new moms whose babies were born in the same month meet twice a week to connect during such a stressful time for new mothers. One night, the group of moms finally decide to take some time away from their kids and go to a bar for a few drinks. On this fourth of July night, something does not feel right. It is soon discovered that a baby has been stolen under the mask of night, but no one has any clues, not even the police. People’s true identities are revealed, people’s marriages get shaken, and friendships get destroyed.
It is a heart-pounding, blood-pumping story that will have you flipping to read the next page. If you are into thrillers or mysteries as much as I am you will love this book. At times it can be slow, but the payoff is worth the wait.
- The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
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Lo Blacklock is given the job to write about a new luxury cruise that is having a test run and she must write about her experience. As the Voyage sets sail, Lo believes that this trip will be easy for her until one night she abruptly wakes to hear the cabin next door opening and is followed by a large splash. She rushes out and looks over the railing to see a body has been thrown overboard. When she tries to get help, no one believes her. All the crew and passengers are accounted for, and by the time Lo gets people to come take a look, the ocean has swept the body away. Lo slowly realizes that this trip is not all she made it out to be and she is in way over her head with no one she can trust.
Just when you think everything has been solved, Ruth Ware continues to play with your mind. If you love whodunit mysteries like Knifes Out, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, or any Agatha Christie novel, you will absolutely fall in love with this book.
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
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We meet our main character Camille Parker, a reporter who likes to drown her internal issues with her vices, makes a return to her hometown to report on the murder of two young girls. The catch is, she escaped her hometown years ago to escape the noose of her neurotic and hypochondriac mother and her overly annoying and sadistic sister. Camille finds herself falling deeper and deeper into two cases of murder that she finds herself emotionally drawn to.
Gillian Flynn has will have you second guessing everything you think you know about the story and bring something vile to surface that will send a shiver down your spine.
- The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings
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In the summer of 1986, a girl named Tamsyn finds herself watching a house on the cliff that is occupied by the rich Davenports. Tamsyn finds herself longing to get into the house her father used to talk about before he died. She soon befriends Edie Davenport who shows aspects of the high-class life she would have never imagined her mother letting her do. Tamsyn finds herself peeling back the curtain of the Davenports lives and finds herself entangled in their lives and it comes to a devasting conclusion.
Unlike the other books on this list, Amanda Jennings characters take a life of their own as they evolve into something you do not expect. This book, even though it is set decades ago, allows a modern reader to relate to universal problems the characters face in the 1980s.