2021 on Goodreads

Short and sweet this year. Some made up categories, and my favourite book for each (plus a few honourable mentions), then some statistics, and my list of 5 star books from 2021.
Thanks all those who read and comment on my reviews, keeps me motivated to keep writing them. Happy 2022 everyone.

So first to the “Best of the Year” books I have read:

Best Travel - Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan, by Will Ferguson

Best History - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing

Best Military - The Soccer War, by Ryszard Kapuściński. Not technically military, but conflict is the central theme.

Best Biography - Dare to Dream: The John Britten Story, by Felicity Price. Close second Nemarluk, by Ion L. Idriess

Best Science - Mammoth: The Resurrection Of An Ice Age Giant, by Richard Stone

Best Nautical - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing

Best Mountaineering - The Land of the Sherpas, by Ella Maillart (Ok not strictly mountaineering, but great book).

Best Photography - Changi photographer: George Aspinall's Record of Captivity, by Tim Bowden

Best Penguin P60 - To War in Spain, by Laurie Lee

Best Published by The Travel Book Club - Islands of the Marigold Sun, by Suresh Vaidya. Close second: Forbidden Sands, by Richard Trench

Best New Zealand Authored - Road through Kurdistan , by AM Hamilton

Best Non-fiction Short Story Collection - Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia, by Tony Horwitz

Best Fiction - 1984, by George Orwell. Hard on the competitors this year. Empire of the Sun and No Country for Old Men

Best Fiction Short Story Collection - Foreign Devils on the Silk Road

Best digital read - The Button Man and the Murder Tree, by Cherie Priest

And downer of the year:

Biggest Disappointment - Gun Island, by Amitav Ghosh. A favourite author of mine, but his book stinks.

Some Statistics - Read 108 books this year, at a touch over 23,500 pages.

My average rating for books is a healthy 3.8 stars.

Longest book: The City of Joy, by Dominique Lapierre at 528 pages.

Of the 108 Books I rated:
20 books 5 stars
51 books 4 stars
32 books 3 stars
5 books 2 stars

Given the 3.8 average rating, and the high proportion of 4 stared books, 4 stars for the year it seems is most appropriate, once again.

So these are the five star books from the year (in order read):
Empire of the Sun, by J.G. Ballard
Fortunes in Minerals, by Ion Idriess
Islands of the Marigold Sun, by Suresh Vaidya
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss
The Land of the Sherpas, by Ella Maillart
Forbidden Sands, by Richard Trench
1984, by George Orwell
Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia, by Tony Horwitz
This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, by Adam Kay
Nemarluk, by Ion L. Idriess
Dare to Dream: The John Britten Story, by Felicity Price
Year One, by Marianne Faithfull
To War in Spain, by Laurie Lee
Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey, by multiple authors
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing
Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya, by Bruce Kirkby
No Country for Old Men , by Cormac McCarthy
Road through Kurdistan, by AM Hamilton
Changi photographer: George Aspinall's Record of Captivity, by Tim Bowden
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan, by Will Ferguson

My goal list from - 2021 - science x2 <2>Empire of the SunThe Forest People - Colin TurnbullFrom Emperor to CitizenOracle Bones - Peter HesslerImmeasurable DesertWilliam Wills - An angel on Each ShoulderLand of the Sherpas - Ella MaillartGods of the Stones - Peter RiordanHigh Adventure - StannageElephant Kingdom - MarshallShe - H Rider HaggardDark Emu - Bruce PascoeHorwitz - Baghdad Without a Map1x Olaf Ruhen - Minerva ReefOccupation Adventure - Jim Thorne1x Kapuscinski - The Soccer Wars1x Richard Pape1x Gustav BollinderDervla Murphy - Tibetan Foothold1x Ed Hillary1x Hans HassJohn BrittanSimon Winchester - OutpostsHokkaido Highway BluesStonedogsFlashman #11x van der Post1x Norman LewisProfessor Challenger #21x Graham Greene1x Penguin Orange1x Penguin Purple3x P60s < 3 >1x Re-read - Perfume?3x Idriess < 3 >2x Clune < 2 >3 on Circumnavigator books < 6 >12 TBC < 13 >12 From Travel shelf < 12 >Carried over from 2020* Finish Orwell Omnibus (1984)* Another John Man -Genghis - didn't get there* 1 x wells from omnibus* Another Mathiesson - I am 1/3 through one, it is still looking at me...