Our Favourite books from 2021

2021 was another challenging year for many. As the shop’s doors have opened, we have been thankful for the enduring power of books to comfort, uplift and bring joy to many. As this year comes to an end, we wanted to take a moment to share a couple of our favourite books from 2021.

Connecting readers with great books is one of our favourite things to do! Hopefully, you find a book or two to add to your holiday reading list from our selection below,

Non-Fiction

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. While John Green has become a household name in young adult fiction (The Fault In Our Stars, Looking For Alaska) 2021 marked the author’s first foray into nonfiction. This collection of essays attempts to review elements of the human experience on a five-star scale. The result is humorous, heartfelt and comforting in another year of global uncertainty. One I’ll definitely be rereading in years to come.

-Steph

CSI Told You Lies: Giving victims a voice through forensics by Meshel Laurie. CSI Told You Lies will challenge your assumptions about what goes on behind the scenes of tragic events and make you question everything you’ve seen from Hollywood. While the book understandably has dark moments, overall it inspires hope. It is a comfort to know remarkable people are hard at work restoring dignity and providing answers for lives lost. The vital work of the team at VIFM will stay in my mind for a long time.

-Steph

Fiction

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang. The finale in the Kiss Quotient series didn’t disappoint, delivering swoony romantic moments, diversity and an exploration of grief and identity with refreshing honesty.

-Steph

Empire of The Vampire by Jay Kristoff. Dark fantasy, with a wild and far-reaching adventure this book has certainly set our expectations high for the next instalment!

-Steph

Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down. Jennifer Down has written an absolutely remarkable novel, full of hope and beauty and grief and joy. Bodies of Light tracks Maggie’s attempts to lift herself out of the obscurity of life in Australia’s out-of-home and residential care system and Maggie’s journey takes us to so many fascinating and deftly drawn physical and emotional places. This is a deeply authentic, thoughtful, beautifully rendered novel.

-Matilda

Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson. Nardi Simpson’s expansive multi-generational family saga is sometimes devastating in how it presents the realities of colonial oppression and Indigenous dispossession, but there is nothing more affirming than following the BIllymil family through their various trials and triumphs across years of life (and afterlife) together. This is an astonishing debut novel, so joyous and lyrical – and just a ripping story that I still think about, on average, once a week.

-Matilda

The View Was Exhausting by Mikaela Clements and Onjuli Datta. Written by a wife-wife duo, The View Was Exhausting introduces us to a for-the-cameras romance between Whit, a British-Asian film star on the rise, and Leo, the lackadaisical white son of a hotel magnate. The question of the novel isn’t just will these two turn their false flirting into real romance, but also, how can a pair from vastly different experiences come together to care for each other? An absolute sun-soaked delight. 

-Matilda

Other highlights:

• Grog War by Alexis Wright (Non-fiction)
• Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker (Science fiction)
• The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (Historical fiction)

What books did you love in 2021?

Comment on this post and let us know! And if you’d like to order any of the books on this list, you can find them in-store or in our online shop.