2021 Year In Review

I read and listened to a lot of books this year. 70 and counting – well beyond my goal of 57 which I put for myself on Goodreads at the beginning of the year. 2021 dragged and went by so fast I can’t believe it.

Our kids are not living in the same states that they were when we started 2021 – two of the three are in new jobs. The third just had covid and is still looking. We’ve been decluttering the house, or trying to; I’ve been making way for some of the things that were my mother’s that I have received since her death earlier this year.

When looking over the list of books that I read last year, I am struck with the variety – that had a lot to do with my Literati Book Club. It’s almost overwhelming to look at 70 titles and process that I read and listened to all that this year. I have never read/listened to that many titles in one year in my life. I always struggled with reading as a child, so it makes me proud that I have been able to become a “reader” after all these years after all .

I try to rate most every book that I finish and for the most part I am about 95% successful in that endeavor. In looking back the books I reviewed in 2021, I rated 6- 2 Stars, 14 – 3 Stars, 31- 4 stars and 13- 5 Stars.

Here’s my top fourteen in no particular order:

Most Quotable in my opinion

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read and listened to. I loved this and will revisit it again and again. So beautiful, so profound. So simple. A must read and listen!

Incredible True Story

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! I found this to be a fascinating book. Remarkable. I was on the edge of my seat plenty of times throughout the story. I highly recommend this read to anyone who is interested in history and adventures.


Must Read for Everyone

Animal Farm by George Orwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This classic withstands the test of time. Orwell is such a master of words and conveys so much in such a short succinct story. 101 pages which everyone should read.


One of her best!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Masterful Mystery
Agatha Christie is the master of mystery and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is another piece of evidence in proving that case. The narrator, Hugh Fraser is the perfect storyteller for this story. If you are a fan of a good mystery – check this one out!


Beautifully written – I’ll read again, it’s just that type of story.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book and I can see myself picking up and rereading it again and again. The relationship between the grandmother and Sophia is priceless. This book is beautifully written and the descriptions of their island will transport you to their world and put you right next to them, smelling the salty air and seeing the amazing beauty which surrounds Sophia and her grandmother. Tove Jansson’s reflections about people, relationships, and connections to nature, are ageless. There is so many levels to this book – it’s a must-read. 5 stars!

Short but sweet and powerful



Fox 8 by George Saunders

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love when I laugh out loud when I read or listen to a book. It’s a gift and I am thankful to George Saunders who had me smiling and laughing while I listened to this witty and charming story. Like the star of the story, Fox 8, Saunders is clever in presenting a humorous story with a powerful underlying message. I highly recommend this short but powerful book/listen.


Love! Another to read and reread throughout your life.

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I absolutely fell in love with this book! Ray Bradbury is master storyteller and he wrapped me up in his words and took me back to the summer of 1928, a time before I was born but a time I could imagine, thanks to his illustrative style.
If you only know Ray Bradbury through Fahrenheit 451, you should read this wonderful story about sumer, being being young, growing old and everything in between.
I can see rereading this again some summer in the future.


As always, the book is so much better than tells a much bigger story.

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow, wow, wow – How did I not read this in high-school? or college?!
EVERYBODY should read this book – required life reading. Forget the Hollywood version of this book and the “Monster”. So deep, Mary Shelley is amazing and the themes that she dives deep into – family, isolation, society, ambition, revenge, prejudice…nevermind that this was first published in 1818, EVERYTHING still holds up in the 21st century.

Adored this book!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I jut finished listening to this book and I can barely see through my tears and my nose is running and I’m a mess. I’m a sucker for a good dog story and this is a great one! Garth Stein wrote an incredible character in Enzo – what a great dog, so deep, just what I see when I look at some of my dogs – but not all of them.
Dog person or not – it’s a great story about a family – told by the dog. LOVED IT.

The one criticism I have about the audiobook version I listened to had so dramatic music every so often which I found to be weird and out of place with this production. But the narrator, Christopher Evan Welch was really good.


I want ducks and mules and goats of course now.

On Animals by Susan Orlean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed reading this book. I love animals and anyone who enjoys animals will find this to be such an interesting read. On Animals is compilation of a number of essays by Susan Orleans and her experiences with various animals she’s encountered. I can relate to her lifestyle as it is very similar to my own and now my previous desires on one day having ducks and goats with our chickens has been solidified. Add a pair of mules to the list too and perhaps some turkeys.
The writing is humorous and even if your more inclined to live in the concrete jungle- reading this book is a fun, lighthearted experience which may give you the desire to perhaps adopt a pet from a shelter.
Well done. 5 stars.


Blew my mind by taking me out of the box.

What It Is by Lynda Barry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is an incredible book, but not for everyone. I only say that since the no-traditional format and the layout of the book can be difficult for some people to get through.
I read this book as part of my Literati Book Club. I’m currently in the Austin Kleon Read Like An Artist club and this was the December Pick and I am so happy it was. At first when it arrived in the mail before opening the box, I knew something was different about the book. The size of the package was bigger than usual and when I opened it I was hit with a chaotic cover with the words WHAT IT IS on the top. What? As I turned the pages to take a look, I was hit with a myriad of the images. Collages mixed with words. I closed it and decided I needed to be able to focus on that and while opening the mail wasn’t the right time.
Later as I started the book, I immediately was hit with the impression that I was slipping down a rabbit hole where the pages reminded me of devouring books from Richard Scarry and later on I SPY – except this book is like those book on acid and with a purpose of helping to unlock your creativity whether it me visual or the written words or both.
I felt at times as if I had opened someone’s scrapbook journal and what I was reading was very private. Lynda Barry tells stories throughout which many people and it’s no matter if you are an artist or a writer. There are stories about being in school, teachers that made a huge impression on her, all of which are very relatable. Hand drawings, photographic images from magazines and newspapers and handwritten notes adorn the pages.
Surprisingly, I discovered it’s also a good resource for creative writing exercises which I plan on carrying one further and adapt to a visual medium as well. I highly recommend this book and it’s a book that I will keep on my shelf and revisit from time to time.
*But again – I will note that there were a couple of people who couldn’t finish the book in the book club, claiming it was too chaotic in presentation. It’s definitely a non-traditional format


I’m still thinking about Rocky – Love! Love! Love!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There are very few authors who are good at throwing you straight into chaotic action and not have the reader completely lost or frustrated. Andy Weir seems to clip a tether onto you and take you for the ride of your life!
I love this book. I loved the action, I loved the characters – but most of all I loved Rocky. What a fabulous character. All of the characters are multi-dimensional and believable which considering the cast of characters is crucial. Grace is the protagonist of the story and he’s someone we all can identify and sympathize with.
There’s a lot of technical stuff in the book but Weir presents it in a way that you aren’t confused or bored with it and if it were excluded wouldn’t be right since it is so much a part of who Grace is as a person. The book also includes a lot of humor. I found myself chuckling or cracking a smile several times throughout.
The narrator, Ray Porter, is excellent! The perfect choice as he handled the tricky narration of the different characters masterfully. There isa quality to his voice which reminded me of Tom Hanks.
I’m a big fan now of Andy Weir’s. I haven’t read or listened to any of his other books yet but I certainly plan to. I have seen the movie The Martian which of course is another of his popular books. Project Hail Mary was a brilliant work – fun to be aboard the Hail Mary and certainly recommend this book to fans of science fiction and anyone else who is interested in reading a book with great characters what stay with you well past when you finished the book and likes action and adventure.

2021 was quite a year and I look forward to what the new year may bring and will be curious to see what books grab my attention and which books don’t. I haven’t set my new goals for 2022 yet, but will soon. I like to set realistic exceptions. -last year I chose to try to read a book for every year of my life. So perhaps next year’s goal will be 58.

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October Reads & Listens

It’s fall and I have already reached my goal for the Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge. I started the year with hopes to read and or listen to 57 books since I will be turning 57 years old in a few weeks.

For October, I decided to continue checking some books off of my TBR list which has 900+ titles on it and the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. October is the month in which we celebrate Indigenous Americans and with the encouragement of PopSugar’s Reading Challenge of selecting a book by an indigenous author, I decided to dive into The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M, Marshall III. I decided on listening to Frankenstein since it’s October and I once gave a Halloween party where I was the Bride of Frankenstein. My physical book read for the month was a selection from my Literati book club which continues to introduce me to some wonderful books and authors with a platform for discussion. The Art of Raining in the Rain was another book that had been sitting on my TBR list for way too long and now that I have checked that off, I’m dumbfounded I waited so long. I decided to close the month out with Dracula which unfortunately fell short of my expectations.

The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marshall III

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There are many sides to every story. This is an interesting book which shed light on the part of history, told from the side of the Lakotas, the tribe of Crazy Horse and his people. Crazy Horse was a man that we have heard all sorts of stories about – whether it be from Hollywood, or other books about the Battle of the Greasy Grass a.k.a. The battle of Little Bighorn, Custard’ Last Stand.
You can hear the passion in the telling of The Journey of Crazy Horse from narrator and author Joseph M. Marshall III, historian, writer, public speaker who was born and raised in a traditional Lakota household on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He recounts in the book many of the oral stories that were passed down to him through his grandparents and the other elders which is part of the Lakota tradition.
Crazy Horse was a man of great depth and this book shares some of the oral stories about him and his family. I found this to be a fascinating book and highly recommend it.
Now that I have read this, I am curious to read more by other indigenous authors to continue learning about the people, their traditions and the land that was once theirs.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Let The Great World Spin is a complex book about a complicated city. As someone who was born and raised in New York City and was there in 1974 when the tightrope walked walked the wire across the newly built Twin Towers, I can say with certainty that Colum McCann captured the essence of New York. I read this book as part of my Literati book club selection for September. It took me a while to get through the book since each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character in the book and McCann’s writing style changes as well. The genius in this book is how well McCann pulls all the threads of all the stories into one cohesive story.
I highly recommend reading this book – it’s a masterful portrait of New York City and if you like reading about the city, you will love this book!


Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow, wow, wow – How did I not read this in high-school? or college?!
EVERYBODY should read this book – required life reading. Forget the Hollywood version of this book and the “Monster”. So deep, Mary Shelley is amazing and the themes that she dives deep into – family, isolation, society, ambition, revenge, prejudice…nevermind that this was first published in 1818, EVERYTHING still holds up in the 21st century.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I jut finished listening to this book and I can barely see through my tears and my nose is running and I’m a mess. I’m a sucker for a good dog story and this is a great one! Garth Stein wrote an incredible character in Enzo – what a great dog, so deep, just what I see when I look at some of my dogs – but not all of them.
Dog person or not – it’s a great story about a family – told by the dog. LOVED IT.

The one criticism I have about the audiobook version I listened to had so dramatic music every so often which I found to be weird and out of place with this production. But the narrator, Christopher Evan Welch was really good.



The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle is a story about family – the good, the bad and the ugly of family and unfortunately in her case there was a lot of bad and ugly. It’s obvious though how much Jeanette Walls loves her family, her parents, in spite of themselves.
I came upon listening to the story this month after looking at a list of Banned Books for Banned Book Month which is observed in October. I wanted to see if any of my TBLs – To Be Listened to books were in my audio library and found The Glass Castle. After finishing the book, I was confused as to why anyone would consider this book something that should be banned and had to do an internet search.According to the website mvorgazing.org the book is banned from “many schools and some libraries due to its strong sexual scenes and situations dealing with alcoholism and abuse.” Really??!!! I’m dumbfounded that this is the reason. Alcoholism and abuse unfortunately happen and this is one woman’s experience growing up with it. I didn’t think that the way she addressed it was overly graphic unnecessarily. It’s her story and its a story of great courage and resilience – it’s a human story that many people could probably relate to on some levels- whether it be the family struggles or frustrations of being in situations that are beyond your control. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want high school students and others to be able to read this amazing story. There are so many good lessons learned from her story , discussed and talked about.
I highly recommend this book. 4.5 stars

Dracula by Bram Stoker

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


So I decided to listen to this because I didn’t read it in high school or college, as I never had the chance. After listening to it now – thank god it wasn’t assigned in high school. BORING! Hollywood has taken the Dracula character and made him interesting. He’s barely in the book and is basically an elusive creature – much like a vampire would be. He’s certainly not scary. Nothing is scary in this book. The various points of view that the narrator pops around to made my head spin.
There are plenty of themes that could be discussed in a book group or classroom setting – the dangers of modernity, female sexuality in the Victorian era, fear of outsiders, christian salvation…I wanted to like this classic, but I found it to be just okay.



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