Best Reads of 2021

It’s an open secret that I’m a booklover. Last year, for the first time in my reading life, I prepared a list of books; books that I enjoyed reading the most in 2020. To my utmost and pleasant surprise, this list became viral.

This year I upped my reading challenge on Goodreads. From 100 books for 2020, I increased my target to 150 books for 2021. I didn’t think I could make it, but thanks to the support of the reading community and my love for books, I ended up overachieving, once again. Instead of the original goal of 150 books, I completed the challenge at 155 books!

So, continuing the tradition, here’s my list of recommended books from those that I read in 2021.

Note: The sequence of the list is random and not based on my ranking/rating or preference.

1. Silent Screams by Neenv Raju Akunuri

Genre: Fiction/Crime Thriller/Murder Mystery/Suspense

**2. Faaltugiri and Other Flashbacks by Janhavi Samant**

Genre: Nonfiction/Humour

**3. Twilight’s Temptation by Shilpa Suraj**

Genre: Fiction/Romcom

**4. Meet Me Under The Stars by Manasi Singh**

Genre: Fiction/Romcom

Read my detailed review of this book here

**5. A Mother’s Goodbye by Kasturi Patra**

Genre: Fiction/Family Drama

6. Eye on You by Kanchana Banerjee

Genre: Suspense/Crime Thriller

7. Linger, When You’re Gone by Chitra Padmana

Genre: Suspense/Murder Mystery/Crime Thriller

8. Somewhere Beyond Hope by Deepali Adhikary

Genre: Fiction/Family Drama

**9. The Ornate Clock by Vineeth Thunoli**

Genre: Suspense/Murder Mystery/Crime Thriller

**10. Five Petals by Chinmayee Gayatree Sahu**

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

11. The Ladies Compartment by Parminder Kaur Sharma

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

**12. The Camphor of Night by Samir Satam**

Genre: Fiction/Poetry

13. The Chronicler of the Hooghly & Other Stories by Shakti Ghosal

Genre: Fiction/ Short Stories Anthology

14. A Story Between the Lines by Santhosh Sivaraj

Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Romance

**15. Saini Subramanyam vs. 2020 by Avinash Matta**

Genre: Fiction/Humour

16. Shaadi ka Ladoo by Chaitali Hatiskar

Genre: Fiction/Romcom

**17. From the Heart of a Homemaker by Soumya Bharathi**

Genre: Fiction/Poetry

**18. In the Name of Religion by Ankur Chaudhry**

Genre: Historical Fiction

19. Chasing Nirvana by Rafaa Dalvi

Genre: Fiction/Flash Fiction Anthology

20. The Case of Known Unknown by Harsh Adani

Genre: Crime Thriller/Suspense/Murder Mystery

**21. it happens: Stories of Human Relationships by Bhaswar Mukherjee**

Genre: Fiction/ Short Stories Anthology

22. Walks Through Life: Stories by Santhosh K. Komaraju

Genre: Fiction/ Short Stories Anthology

23. In Search of Spring by Shreya Shively

Genre: Fiction/Romantic Drama

24. The Cinderella of Karnal by Reecha Agarwal Goyal

Genre: Fiction/Thriller

25. Shiva Origins: The Son of Ganga by Dinesh Veera

Genre: Mythological Fiction

**26. Right to Marry by Siddharthan Karunanidhi**

Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

27. Footprints: Live . Love . Lead by Santhosh Sivaraj

Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Romance

**28. Hate in the Time of Covid by Sharath C. George**

Genre: Fiction/Short Story

29. A Dangerous Affair by Rubina Ramesh

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romantic Drama

**30. One Morning by Anamika Mukharji**

Genre: Fiction/Short Story

While those were my absolute favorites and highly recommended books, I felt guilty for leaving out a few books. So here’s another one with my special mentions.

Special Mentions:

Note: The sequence of the list is random and not based on my ranking/rating or preference.

1. Beautiful Mess by Yuktha Asrani

Genre: Fiction/Romantic Drama

2. The Part I Left With You by Rahul Saini

Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Romance

3. Life in Different Colors by Pratik P. Sharda

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

**4. 23 Letters of Love by Suchita Agarwal**

Genre: Fiction/Poetry

**5. Pocket Staples by Pradipty Bhardwaj**

Genre: Fiction/Poetry

6. As I Desire You by Anna C

Genre: Fiction/Romcom

7. A Slice of Life: Every Person Has a Story by Smita Das Jain

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

**8. A Marriage, an affair and a friendship by Sabarna Roy**

Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Drama

**9. The Lemonade by Kankane Rakhi Surendra**

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

10. The Grandmaster and Other Stories by Chinmaya Desai

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories Anthology

Hope this list helps you find your next good read. Here’s me signing off with the hopes of yet another bookish year. See you all again in January 2023, with a similar list. Till then, keep reading (or writing, so I can read more)

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