Hi friends, happy Thursday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m going to doing something a little different, today I’m going to be ranking the 2021 Canada Reads longlist.

Last year I decided to read read all 15 books nominated for the 2021 Canada Reads awards in an attempt to read more Canadian content and I did it. Now, I’m going to be ranking them in order from least to best*, in my opinion.

*if a book has the same rating I went with what I read first.

Yiddish For Pirates by: Gary Barwin 2.5 ⭐️ This was the first book I read for this challenge of mine and I’m sad that this just wasn’t for me. The premise sounded so good, but I just couldn’t connect to the story or the characters. Read my review.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by: Heather O’Neill 2.5 ⭐️ I’ve seen this book floating around and I was really excited to see it on the longlist because I was excited to finally get to it. Well, unfortunately this didn’t live up the expectations I had for it. The way it started completely turned me off, and I hated the ending. Read my review.

Dirty Birds by: Morgan Murray 2.75 ⭐️ This was one of the first books I read and I again, really wanted to like this… but it felt SO long and it felt like it was going in circles. Read my review.

Tatouine by: Jean-Christophe Réhel 3 ⭐️ I really liked the concept for this and it’s a book that I think about often. This book was so short that I wish we had gotten a little more. Read my review.

All Together Now by: Alan Doyle 3.5 ⭐️ When I picked this up I didn’t realize who this person was until after I started reading this. I’ve heard of the band Great Big Sea and I’ve heard their music every once in a while. Reading his journeys being a musician and his life back home in PEI was interesting; the stories were funny at times, but there wasn’t anything too special about this. Read my review.

You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked. by: Sheung-King 3.5 ⭐️ This book was something completely different than I’ve ever read. At first it was really hard to get into because it was just a string of consciousness but this was really well written and that’s what I liked about it. Read my review.

Jonny Appleseed by: Joshua Whitehead 3.5 ⭐️ This was a compelling read but I wasn’t really a fan of the way it was told. The ending really got to me though. This is the book that ended up winning. Read my review.

Two Trees Make a Forest by: Jessica J. Lee 3.75 ⭐️ I really enjoyed this; the writing was lush and beautiful and the way the author weaved everything together was so well done. It wasn’t earth shattering, but it was really well done and I’d still really commend this non-fiction book. Read my review.

Butter Honey Pig Bread by: Francesca Ekwuyasi 4 ⭐️ This was such a hard hitting book that was so good. The way that family dynamics were written and getting over trauma was beautifully explored. Read my review.

Autopsy of a Boring Wife by: Marie-Renée Lavoie 4 ⭐️ As much as this novel dealt with pain of breaking up with someone you’ve been married to for years, this was hilarious. The author has such a witty way of getting her point across and following along with the characters’ who were such a joy to read. Read my review.

Thunder Through My Veins by: Gregory Scofield 4 ⭐️ This was very eye opening to Indigenous peoples of Canada. Even though this novel was written years ago, it’s still, sadly, relevant today and really dove deep into Scofield’s life growing up a gay Indian; this was truly worth the read. Read my review.

Hench by: Natalie Zina Walschots 4 ⭐️ THIS BOOK. I know I didn’t rate it 5 stars because it was just missing something to be amazing, but wow, it was so different from anything I’ve ever read; a book told in the point of view of the villain, super interesting. Read my review.

The Midnight Bargain by: C.L. Polk 4.5 ⭐️ The writing in this was AMAZING, like I can’t talk about it enough, gorgeous, gorgeous writing. The plot was also really intriguing too. Read my review.

Tilly and the Crazy Eights by: Monique Gray Smith 4.5 ⭐️ This was a fun adventure but it was also filled with deep rooted histories that have been taken away from them. Not only was it a story of pain, it was a story of triumph and overcoming this pain. This was such a beautiful read. Read my review.

Wendy, Master of Art by: Walter Scott 5 ⭐️ I fell in love with Wendy. I honestly didn’t think I would fall so hard, but I loved this so much. It was emotional in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Read my review.

And that’s a wrap! I enjoyed reading these books and I look forward to seeing what books are nominated in 2022. I probably will do this again next year because I had a lot of fun this year. Have you read any of these books? Let me know!