Every year, I make a reading goal in GoodReads.  This year, it was 45, but I came in a couple shy at 43.  I'm still counting that as a good year, though! 2021 was another wild ride, & I'm glad to have these books as entertainment/ an escape. I've written little notes on many of these to help you decide if you'd like them.  I've added a link to my favorites to encourage you to read them!  Here's what I read in 2021:

-Fiction: 
Squeeze Me- Carl Hiassen
All Adults Here- Emma Straub
​Canceled Out- Jack Beale
Brewed Awakening- Cleo Coyle
Life's Too Short- Abby Jimenez-- she's quickly become one of my favorite authors-- highly recommend!
​The Vacationers- Emma Straub
All the Ways We Said Good-bye- Beatriz Williams- my favorite writer of historical fiction
A Good Marriage- Kimberly McKreight
Eliza Starts a Rumor- Jane L. Rosen
Say You're Sorry- Michael Robotham
Star Island- Carl Hiassen
The President's Daughter- Bill Clinton & James Patterson
​The Palm Beach Murders- James Patterson
Title Wave- Lauren Barrett
​People We Meet on Vacation- Emily Henry
56 Days- Catherine Ryan Howard
The Personal Librarian- Marie Benedict- probably my second favorite historical fiction writer :)
​Murder in the First Edition- Lauren Elliott
Rock, Paper, Scissors- Alice Feeney-- so creepy-- & so hard to put down!!

"Romance"/ "Click Lit"/ Light Fiction:
Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses- Jenny Hale
Simply Irresistible- Jill Shalvis
The Sweetest Thing- Jill Shalvis
Shipped- Angie Hockman
Paris is Always a Good Idea- Jenn McKinley-- nice jaunt through Europe!
About a Dog- Jenn McKinley
​The Hating Game- Sally Thorne
Rescue You- Elysia Whistler
Anchored Hearts- Priscilla Oliveras - this is actually book 2 in this series.  You might want to start with Island Affair
Passion on Park Avenue- Lauren Layne
Title Wave- Lauren Barrett
​Life's a Beach- Portia MacIntosh
There's Always a Catch- Stephanie Taylor
No Judgments- Meg Cabot
Mom Jeans & Other Mistakes- Alexa Martin
​Santa Cruise- Fern Michaels
Pride, Prejudice, & Mistletoe- Melissa de la Cruz

Middle Grade/ Young Adult Lit:
The Westing Game- Ellen Raskin
Spring According to Humphrey- Betty G. Birney
Nat Enough- Maria Scrivan
The Twits- Roald Dahl- Roald Dahl is always a good idea with kids-- we've listened to this on Audible twice
​Sideways Story from Wayside School- Louis Sachar- Same as above-- listened twice, loved twice!
Walt Disney: The Magical Inventor!- Mark Shulman
The Kids of Cattywumpus Street- Lisa Jahn Clough- my kids loved these characters & making connections between them

Wow- Only 1 Non-fiction Book This Year!
Palm Beach Babylon- Murray Weiss & William Hoffmann

Fun fact about me: I studied writing in college, & I concentrated on children's literature.  I love reading it & I loved writing it.  I took another children's lit course a few years into my teaching career and wrote a story called No TV for Me! that I got a lot of positive feedback about from my classmates. I workshopped it with other people & looked into getting an agent, but nothing panned out & I got busy with life. 
Fast-forward about 8 years, & I really wanted to give that story life.  I found an artist through Fivrr, worked with her remotely for months, & then spent a good deal of time formatting & putting it all together.  Now, I've published it!  I'm so excited to have it out there in the world, & I how it came out.  I'm so excited to share it with you, & I'd love to hear what you think.  You can grab it here.
If you do read it, please add a review on Amazon.  It will hopefully help others find it. Thanks so much for your support!