Books I Read in 2021

Perception does not always reflect reality.  I would have guessed that I read more books this year than the year before, but not so.  I ended up, instead, with the exact same total books read as last year at 33 books.  They were:

January

The Book of Mormon - Various

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien

The First Part of King Henry the Sixth - William Shakespeare

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

February

The Elements of Style - William Strunk & E.B. White

March

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era - James McPherson

The Morgawr - Terry Brooks

April

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

May

Jarka Ruus - Terry Brooks

June

The Lost World - Michael Crichton

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien

Empire by Default: The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century - Ivan Musicant

The Old Testament - Various

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

July

The Book of Mormon - Various

Tanequil - Terry Brooks

Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice - Sidney Powell

August

The First World War: A Complete History - Martin Gilbert

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien

September

The Color Purple - Alice Walker

The Book of Mormon - Various

Straken - Terry Brooks

The Second Part of King Henry the Sixth - William Shakespeare

October

Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy - Tui Sutherland

Life in the Law: Answering God's Interrogatories - Edited by Galen Fletcher & Jane Wise

November

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis

The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War - Andrew Roberts

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling

December

Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks

The Book of Mormon - Various

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle

Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir - Tui Sutherland

Some thoughts.  Usually I list some books that I dislike.  But this year I think I will start with books that I loathe . . . I don't often loathe books, but there were two of them this year.  I loathed both Slaughterhouse Five and The Catcher in the Rye.  I suppose anyone that knows me well would guess that I would hate them.  But I mean really hate.  The former is bizarre almost beyond endurance and does a poor job, in my estimation, of conveying the point.  The latter is just awful.  I fail to understand why anyone would desire to read a book from the perspective of a teenager in the midst of a frenetic mental health breakdown.  Incidentally both of these books came through my read-classic-works program; blech.  

I also disliked The Color Purple, although I thought the writing was admirable and skillful.  Similarly, I disliked Licensed to Lie, which I read on the recommendation of a neighbor, and I did not think the writing was skillful, nor was it admirable.  Reading it as an attorney (and a prosecutor, no less, which may have colored my perception of the work) I also couldn't help but raise eyebrows at her repeated insistence that she obviously should have won and that the trial judge, 5th Circuit Court, and U.S. Supreme Court were just clowns not to see it.  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.  Which is not to say that some deplorable skullduggery did not take place.  I think it very likely did with respect to withholding exculpatory evidence.  But her indignance at losing comes off as little more than sour grapes, to me.

I think it's worth noting here how much I enjoy my re-reading schedule.  I am often frustrated by lack of time to read all that I wish to read, but reading something I know and love is one of the foremost pleasures of life to me.  It is, of course, reserved for those books that have my truest and deepest affection.

I have been working on the Shannara series for some time, and I think Brooks just gets better and better as he ages.  About midway through the series I am totally loving them now.  Armageddon's Children in particular was fantastic--his prequel series really seem to elevate the writing.  I have started the Wings of Fire series at the request of my daughter, somewhat grudgingly.  Who could refuse their daughter?  But I have been pleasantly surprised.  Two in, they are excellent.  Very well done.

I should also mention Life in the Law.  That book has been on my bookshelf for many years.  I am grateful that I finally pulled it out and read it.  Moving, inspiring, and uplifting.

To close on a juxtaposition.  I don't hate all the classic works; usually I like or love them.  Somehow I made it to 42 years old without reading A Wrinkle in Time, so I finally read it toward the end of the year.  It deserves its high reputation.  Absolutely wonderful.

Here's to surpassing 33 in 2022.

Thank you for reading to the end, very best friend.