The Best Books of 2021 (In Our Opinion)

Renee and Natalia get together to record their first episode together so it’s fitting that it’s the last one of the year.  Each gives their top five books of the year along with their reasoning and, honestly? You’re probably going to end up adding *something* to your TBR at the end of the episode. Thanks for joining us in 2021, and we can’t wait to see you next year.

Books Mentioned: 

Renee’s Top Five

1. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
2. Do Better by Rachel Ricketts (interview here)

• Also mentioned: Mindfulness Won’t Cure Racism by Tayler Simon

3. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
4. Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
5. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Renee’s Honorable Mentions

1. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar
2. The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard
3. We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper

Natalia’s Top Five

1. Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins (interview here)
2. Disasterology: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis by Samantha Montano (interview here)
3. Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
4. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
5. Fifty Words for Rain by Ashe Lemmie

Natalia’s Honorable Mentions

1. The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
2. The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne 
3. The Power of Knitting: Stitching Together our Lives in a Fractured World by Loretta Napoleoni (Book Review)

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Follow Natalia: Twitter | Instagram

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This episode was edited by Phalin Oliver and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.

Original music by @iam.onyxrose
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Rah Hernandez