What a year, eh? Just when we thought we were all going to be vaccinated and Covid was under control, along comes another strain – and another, and with them more vaccinations. 2021 hasn’t quite been the end of the pandemic that we all hoped for, sadly. I know some have been happy to work from home while others have struggled and, if you have school age children, home-schooling gets added to your daily calendar.

My husband retired in December so, in order to be able to do more things together as well as pursue some new hobbies, I intend to cut down my reading in 2022. I’ve been averaging 25 books per month overall – despite have two months of the year ‘off’ my list. So big changes ahead for me. I hope everyone else is managing to cope with what life is dealing them these days; it’s not as if we have a lot of choice, is it?

So, onto this year’s reads. Here is a list of my books of the month, and the links to my reviews:

January – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/01/07/the-last-thing-to-burn-by-will-dean

February – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/02/18/a-beautiful-spy-by-rachel-hore

March – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/03/29/girl-a-by-dan-scottow

April – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/04/28/backstories-by-simon-van-der-velde

May – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/05/12/the-missing-husband-by-natasha-boydell

June – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/06/18/jessup-by-stephen-ainley

July – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/07/30/shuggie-bain-by-douglas-stuart

August – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/08/05/the-house-of-whispers-by-anna-kent

September – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/09/09/the-hidden-child-by-louise-fein

October – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/10/22/death-in-the-woods-by-jo-allen

November – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/11/17/the-custard-corpses-by-m-j-porter

December – https://gracejreviewerlady.net/2021/12/31/tea-sympathy-by-j-new

Each and every month I grapple with selecting one outstanding novel to be my Book of the Month and so trying to choose one from that dozen becomes a much harder struggle. I always re-read my review of each book and, with each one I think ‘this has got to be it’ but – of course – it’s not that simple. Any one of these twelve books could easily be my top read. Every one of the novels on this list comes highly recommended by me.

I have given this considerable thought and one book edged in front. This isn’t the first novel I’ve read by this author and the research she does is phenomenal. Not only is this an awesome story, but there is a lot of truth in it with plenty of details that I was unaware of. I learned so much from this one and it is a subject I’ve always had a keen interest in. Louise Fein is an author I feel I can trust and with her latest novel I was not only surprised but also shocked. The Hidden Child is a novel I have recommended to many and it is a book I will not forget. I’m pleased to choose it as my Book of the Year! Congratulations Louise – so very well deserved!