If last year was weird, this one is even weirder. I completely missed the beginning of the #20BooksofSummer2021 challenge and joined mid-course, with some books already under my belt, thankfully it was not a stressful thing. Now I am late for the closing party. I decided to aim for 20 books this year since last year was such a breeze. Now there’s ambition and there’s arrogance, I think I slipped a bit to the wrong side on this one.

I barely managed to read my 20 books, but am still behind on the reviews, so that’s going to take another couple of weeks for sure. On one hand, it does feel like a success, especially that since I started knitting and crocheting I am reading a bit less, the charm of only having one pair of eyes and hands. On the other, I did get a bit lazy on writing, for the past few weeks it felt like a chore and I couldn’t bring myself to it. Hopefully, this post will turn the tide.

As each year the reading was varied, though this time a bit lighter on the non-fiction, with only Free Will, Lajla Znaczy Noc, The Artist and the Eternal City and Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. I focused a lot more on the fiction area. With some great reads and one massive re-read. During my vacation in Poland, I decided to pursue complete escapism by rereading The Witcher. All the eight books. I read it probably twenty years ago, so was curious what would be my take now. I wasn’t disappointed, I think they stood the test of time, and even my judgment of the weaker points remained the same. I’m having a lot of fun, reading now The Lady of the Lake. 

I read some short stories (Siedem Grzechów Kubańskich and Jigs & Reels) , and I did enjoy them, so I think I’ll finally have to do away with my permanent disclaimer that I don’t like short stories. There was some crime fiction and thrillers with Jaime Bunda: Secret Agent, A Shadow on the Lens and Inna Dusza. And I finally finished the Three-Body Problem Trilogy, by reading Death’s End, it was well worth the read.

All in all a good year for the challenge, even if not fully meeting what I wanted.

You can find the full list of books here.

And here are the covers.