My Favorite Books of 2021 & My New Reading Challenges for 2022

Happy new year!

Unlike previous years, I didn’t post my favorite books of 2021 on the blog and I didn’t post my reading challenges. That’s because I did podcast episodes about both those things and didn’t want to spoil things! But the episodes have been out for a little while now, so I thought I’d post things here for those of you who aren’t listening. You can get details on my favorites and on the challenges in the episodes below. However, if you just want the nitty-gritty list, I still wanted to share those things here because it’s tradition! :)

RAD Reading podcast episodes:

The Best of the Best: Our Top Reads of 2021

Let’s Get Nerdy: Setting Reading Challenges and Goals for 2022

My Fave Reads of 2021 (in no particular order)

• In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashely Winstead

• Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan

• Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

• The Roommate by Rosie Danan

• The Wallflower series by Lisa Kleypas

• When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (

• My Life In France by Julia Child

• Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First by Laura Tremaine

• Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

• Vicious by V.E. Schwab

• I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

• Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaeffer

• Joyland by Stephen King

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

My 2022 Reading Challenges

• Roni’s Bookish Subscription challenge - read 12 books from bookish subscriptions

• Roni’s Indie Author challenge - read at least 10 indie-published books

• Roni’s Romance Roots challenge - read 12 foundational romances

Here are the pages in my journal for each…

Feel free to join in with me! And if those aren’t a fit for you, check out my previous challenges:

Roni’s Read Wide challenge

Roni’s TBR Backlog challenge

I finished both this year! Don’t the pages look pretty all filled in? :)

What were some of your favorite reads of 2021? And what (if any) bookish challenges are you tackling in 2022?

Introducing the RAD Reading Podcast!

Did you know I now have a bookish podcast?

Y’all know I love talking all things reading and giving book (and movie/TV) recommendations. I’ve been doing it on this blog for many years. But a few months ago, I got the urge to do something a little different with that kind of content.

I love a bookish podcast and I listen to a number of them every week, so that got me to thinking, what if I did one of these? There’s nothing I love more than talking about reading or passing along a great book, so why not do it over the virtual airwaves?

I was a little (a lot!) intimidated to learn the how-to’s of podcasting, and I’m definitely still learning, but I decided to take the leap. I teamed up with indie editor Dawn Alexander and we’ve launched RAD Reading, a bookish podcast where the R stands for refresh and the D stands for discover and where we help you do those two things for your reading life.

We have had so much fun this first month of episodes, and we have lots more to come! If you’d like to give us a listen (and we’d love it if you would!), links to the first five episodes are below. You can listen to the episodes on this website, through Apple podcasts, or you can add it to whichever podcast player you prefer.

How to Listen:

• On our website

• Apple podcasts

• Audible

• Spotify

• Acast  

• Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading

This month’s episodes:

The Life-Changing Magic of the DNF

Our first episode! Join us as we talk about our vision for the podcast, preview our weekly bookish themes, and then jump into our topic of the week--the life-changing magic of not finishing a book you’re not enjoying. And make sure you stay until the end to get our RAD Reading Book Recommendations of the week!

Feeling All the Fall Feels: Seasonal Book Recs

Fall is here! This week we’re talking about whether or not we’re seasonal readers and how to enhance those autumnal vibes with your reading choices. We’re also bringing you a big stack of book recommendations! Roni’s got a pile of recs from one of her very favorite micro-genres: dark academia & campus novels. And Dawn is bringing the heat with sexy football-themed romances and some fun seasonal rom-coms. Come feel all the Fall feels with us!

Making Your Own Reading Journal (AKA Fun with Office Supplies)

We love upgrading our reading lives, so this week we’re talking about one of our favorite ways to enhance the reading experience--creating our own reading journals! Plus, as always, we’re giving our RAD Reading Recs of the week.

October’s Read/Watch/Listen Recs

This week we’re giving you all of our favorites of the month! Join us as we share the books, audiobooks, TV shows, and movies that have gotten our highest marks.

They All Float: Our Best Halloween Recs

Happy Halloween! This week Roni freaks out Dawn with her scary book and movie picks (and episode title) and Dawn offers recommendations for those who prefer their Halloween on the gentler side. It’s a long one, y’all! We’ve got a pile of recs for you, including suspense, horror, true crime, and paranormal romance. Grab a bag of Halloween candy and join us!

That’s a wrap on our first month! Next month we’ll be tackling things like taming distractions so you can get more reading time and giving our best comfort reads.

My Favorite Bookish Podcasts (AKA My Happy Listening Place)

Reading has always been my go-to stress reliever. When I want to escape from the noise and stress of the world, I can curl up and lose myself in a great book. Stories are magical that way, and that will always be my first respite when I need some quiet space.

However, there are times and places where reading isn't convenient, like when I'm driving or doing dishes or walking to pick up my son. Yes, I could listen to audiobooks, but I've never gotten into listening to a book. It's just not something my brain processes well. Maybe that will change one day, but for now, audiobooks aren't my jam. However, over the last year, I've discovered the perfect alternative for me for those times and places I can't read: podcasts ABOUT reading. :)

I blogged a while back about how I'd recently discovered the joy of podcasts and listed some of my favorites. But at the time of that post, I hadn't yet discovered the full world of podcasts about books. Now I'm totally and completely hooked.

Somehow, listening to people talk about and recommend books is wildly soothing--even when they may be talking about a book I'm not interested in reading. And in many cases, books I would've never thought about picking up suddenly become my next must have. (So fair warning: book podcasts can be a hit to your wallet because you're going to want to buy ALL THE BOOKS. But it's so worth it.)

Now, there are many different types of podcasts about books. Ones that discuss a book at length. Others that focus on author interviews. But my particular favorites are ones that recommend books to specific readers because a) I love hearing what readers are seeking in their reading life and b) I love the idea of tailored book recommendations. It's like going into a great local bookstore and having someone in the know personally shop with you for the books that fit exactly what you're seeking. How great is that?

And because the focus is totally on books, you can kind of escape from everything else while you're listening. There are no news breaks to distract you, no arguing, no stress. It's just this happy little place where you can listen to people describe books and get excited about them. It's the best. And did I mention podcasts are free? Bonus. :)

So, I thought I'd pass along my very favorites if you think you could use your own happy nerdy listening place.

My Top 3 Bookish Podcasts

 

What Should I Read Next with Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy 

This one is my absolute favorite of all. I've listened to every episode in the backlist and look forward to new episodes every Tuesday. For each episode, Anne hosts a reader guest and has them list three books they loved and one book they hated and then asks the guest what they're looking to change in their reading life. Based on all that, Anne then recommends three books for them. 

I love this one so much because it just feels cozy and warm to listen to. Anne is a welcoming host with a soothing voice and her love of books comes through. I can also listen to this one with my kiddo in the room without worry, so that's nice. And though this podcast focuses on mainstream fiction, literary fiction, and non-fiction for the most part (in other words, no romance recommendations), I have gotten SO many great recommendations from this podcast. In fact, I found my favorite read of the year so far, One True Loves, from one of the episodes. And inevitably, you'll also find yourself thinking about how you'd answer the "three books you love and one book you hate" question if you were a guest. Highly recommended.

Get Booked by Book Riot

Get Booked is hosted by Amanda and Jenn over at Book Riot and has a really energetic, fun vibe to it. This is also a show where the hosts recommend books to specific reader requests, but instead of having the reader on the show, readers write in and their questions are read on air. And though this seems similar in style to What Should I Read Next in concept, it's completely different and pairs nicely with the podcast above because they recommend books in a much wider variety of genres. So you'll get your romance, YA, sci-fi, graphic novels, non-fiction along with some mainstream and lit fic. I often hear recs on this show of books I've never, ever heard of, which is a plus. Plus, the titles of their episodes (Intergalactic Trailer Park, Sunburn Up Your Nose, It Sucks to Be a Princess) are the BEST.

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books with Sarah Wendell

This show is more of an interview style show with authors, readers, and bloggers. However, it is all about the romance genre, so you know it has a special place in my heart. Romance novels are often left out of book discussions and I love that this podcast (and the website from which is came: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books) gives romance a place in the bookish spotlight. Smart ladies talking about sexy books is always a win.

So, those are my top three favorites. If you give them a try, let me know what you think!

New to podcasts?

If you're new to podcasting, do not fret, your next addiction is easy to access. :) 

If you have an iPhone, you have the Podcasts app already. Just search for these podcasts from within the app and subscribe. You'll be able to access old episodes and it will alert you when new episodes are available. Then just hit play and listen. (You can also download episodes to listen to when you're offline, which I took advantage of on the flights I took this week.)

There are also many apps you can use. I prefer the Overcast app because it has a few more features than the native Apple one, but there are many to choose from. For a detailed guide on how to listen to podcasts from all different kinds of devices and some of the apps available, check out this post at Digital Trends.

That's all I've got for your today. Do you listen to any bookish podcasts?