Three of My Favorite Reads of 2021
by Lori Lipsky
Each new year gives me the opportunity to investigate new books and re-read old favorites. My reading goal for 2021 was to read at least fifty books. I fell far short of my plans, but I’ll put some of the blame on an illness that landed me in the hospital in September and again in October. I was unable to concentrate enough to read for a while.
With all that’s going on in the world, I shied away from suspense, conflict, and thrillers, and reached for low-stress, pleasant reads. I allowed my heart to lead (and also my book club members’ selections) more than my head in my 2021 reading selections. I relied heavily on a few of my favorite writers: Elizabeth Berg, Debbie Macomber, and Alexander McCall Smith. I could trust them to deliver gentle reads.
For the first time in my life, I authored two of the books on my list, and one is a devotional collective of which I am a contributing author. I recently read a list of “books read in 2021” by another author and she did not include her own books, but I’m so short of my goal this year that I definitely included the two books I wrote since I read and re-read them many times.
Total books read: 38
Fiction to non-fiction ratio: 26:12
Three Books I Read in 2021 that I’m most likely to re-read:
- I Stand at the Door and Knock by Corrie ten Boom
- Letters to an American Lady by C.S. Lewis
- Christy by Catherine Marshall
Right away I notice that all three have stood the test of time. None were released in the last decade. I’ve read Letters to an American Lady and Christy before. Both are excellent. I Stand at the Door and Knock made the greatest impact and I’m sure I’ll listen to the audio version again. What encouragement! Corrie Ten Boom was a great woman of faith. Her book is my number one book selection of the year.
Two fiction series I’m currently enjoying and plan to continue:
- 44 Scotland Street books by Alexander McCall Smith
- Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber
Books I Read 2021 in Alphabetical Order:
- And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
- Apple Pie and Trouble by Amber Crewesk
- Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
- Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande
- Christy by Catherine Marshall
- Dear Santa by Debbie Macomber
- Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse
- Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
- Emma, Mr. Knightly, and Chili-Slaw Dogs by Mary Jane Hathaway
- Feast. Repeat by Gin Stephens
- I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
- I Stand at the Door and Knock by Corrie ten Boom
- Indistractable by Nir Eyal
- Launch to Market: Easy Marketing for Author by Chris Fox
- Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Letters to an American Lady by C.S. Lewis
- Lifelong Writing Habit by Chris Fox
- Lizette’s List by Susan Vreeland
- Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving by Mo Rocca
- Never Change by Elizabeth Berg
- Not Becoming My Mother by Ruth Reichl
- Stop Worrying, Start Writing by Sarah Painter
- Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
- The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith
- The Means That Make Us Strangers, Christine Kindberg
- The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
- The Sentence is a Lonely Place, G. Lutz (lecture Columbia)
- The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons
- The Time of Love and Tartan by Alexander McCall Smith
- This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
- Thursday at Eight by Debbie Macomber
- Turquoise Parade by Lori Lipsky
- Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber
- Used Cookie Sheets, Lori Lipsky
- What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
- Wit, Whimsy & Wisdom by Kathy Carlton Willis (A WordGirls collective)
- Write Your Novel from the Middle, James Scott Bell