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Currently Reading

Season 8, Episode 21: A Look Back - Our Top 10 Reads of 2021

Currently Reading

Meredith Schwartz

Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.71.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 December 2025

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee and Meredith are taking a look back at their favorite reads of 2021. This was one of the best reading years. This was also the year we added the superlatives which everybody loved! Most of these books should be available for you to grab if any interest you after hearing us rave about them!

Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site)

2:38 - Our Top 10 Reads of 2021

12:35 - Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (Kaytee #10)

12:39 - Season 3: episode 40

14:09 - Currently Reading Patreon

16:39 - Fablehaven by Brandon Mull 

16:52 - A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (Meredith #10)

18:50 - The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (Kaytee #9)

21:25 - Furyborn by Claire Legrand

21:36 - Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 

21:56 - A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (Meredith #9)

22:21 - A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

23:01 - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

23:46 - The Day The World Came to Town by Jim DeFede (Kaytee #8)

23:50 - Season 4: Episode 14

25:32 - Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (Meredith #8)

25:41 - Season 3: Episode 41

29:03 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Kaytee #7)

29:25 - Season 3: Episode 42

31:41 - State of Terror by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny (Meredith #7)

34:22 - Intermission: Lowest Rated Books

34:58 - Roar by Cecilia Ahern (Kaytee)

35:41 - Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard (Kaytee)

36:48 - Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay (Meredith)

37:30 - Survive the Night by Riley Sager (Meredith)

38:25 - Meredith and Kaytee's Top 10 Books of the Year cont'd

38:36 - Love Lives Here by Rowan Jette Knox (Kaytee #6)
K NOTE: while I do think it's clear that I love my sister dearly here, I want to be extra super clear that when I say "love covers all manner of sins" I am referring to the ways we as her family fail at times to do the best we can. I am not in any way referring to her gender identity as a sin. My sister knows this, but I want to be sure that anyone else who hears me, hears me correctly as well.

40:25 - Pony by R.J. Palacio (Meredith #6)

40:50 - Page & Palette Bookshop

42:05 - Wonder by R.J. Palacio

43:01 - The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Kaytee #5)

43:04 - Season 3: Episode 45

44:29 - The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Meredith #5)

47:46 - Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (Kaytee #4)

47:51 - Season 3: Episode 35

47:56 - Bookshelf Thomasville

48:47 - Blackwell's

49:05 - Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

49:06 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

49:28 - 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard 

49:37 - The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard (Meredith #4)

53:14 - Intermission: The Books that Surprised Us Most in 2021

53:44 - Season 3: Episode 34

53:50 - The Black Count by Tom Reiss (Kaytee)

55:38 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Meredith)

59:25 - Meredith and Kaytee's Top 10 Books of the Year cont'd

59:50 - How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (Kaytee #3)

59:56 - Season 4: Episode 19

1:01:37 - Fabled Bookshop

1:01:39 - We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (Meredith #3)

1:04:52 - Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Kaytee #2)

1:04:56 - Season 4: Episode 2

1:07:18 - Matrix by Lauren Groff (Meredith #2)

1:07:59 - Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

1:11:14 - All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle (Kaytee #1)

1:11:22 - Season 4: Episode 12

1:11:38 - Minisode w/Mike Gayle

1:14:09 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Meredith #1)

1:15:42 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

1:22:48 - Reflections from the 2021 Reading Year

1:24:25 - Pony by R.J. Palacio

1:24:45 - Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

 

Support Us:

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Bookish Friends Receive:

  • The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. December's IPL is a recap of the year with Kaytee and Meredith.

  • Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business. 

  • All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller

  • From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry

  • The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts

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Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, readers. Welcome to the Currently Reading podcast. We are bookish best friends who spend time every week talking about the books that we've read recently, and as you know, we won't shy away

0:21.9

from having strong opinions. So get ready.

0:24.7

We are light on the chit-chat, heavy on the book talk, and our conversations will always

0:29.1

be spoiler-free. Today we have a very special episode for you.

0:33.1

I'm Meredith Mundy Schwartz. I'm both a mom and a Mimi and full-time CEO living in Austin, Texas.

0:40.0

And right now, I am snuggled into my big chair with a big cup of coffee next to me.

0:46.2

I'm Katie Cobb, a homeschooling mama for living in Arizona, and I want to be bookish friends with my past self.

0:52.7

This is episode number 21 of season eight,

0:55.2

and we are so glad you're here. Yes, our past selves have some very good books to recommend.

1:01.3

We were really good readers back then. 2025 Katie is a little jealous. Right. Do you want to talk about

1:07.9

what we've got going this week? It is a very special episode, but I love that we do this.

1:12.2

It is. Meredith, for a few years now, we have been doing these lookbacks in the week in between

1:19.1

Christmas and New Year's where we get to revisit our previous top 10 lists. And we know that y'all love

1:26.3

these because, A, all those books, A, they might be new

1:29.6

to you. And B, they're all available right now from the library or wherever you get your books. There

1:36.1

is nothing on any of these lists that is so hot, you can't find it anywhere. And that is a delightful

1:43.2

thing about reading backlist, right? We love

1:47.3

getting to revisit our past selves and we sometimes find that lists from past years are

1:52.5

not reflective of us overall. But this year, I will tell you what, 2021 Katie, was a great

1:58.7

reader. And I love all 10 books on my top 10 list from 2021. You still do.

2:04.7

I still do, which makes me so happy. Yeah. I think that I had a really good year in 2020, but

2:10.5

2021 was also really good. And my top five really has some books that to this day are some of my favorite of all time,

...

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