December 31, 2021
Books are a staple. I’ve always been an avid reader, library patron, book buyer, book borrower, and book scrounger. It’s an addiction. Despite my great moving purge of 2017 before relocating halfway across the country, my house is filled with shelves upon shelves of books—read, unread, and in progress. Although every genre is represented on those shelves, I must admit I’m biased toward nonfiction, with a good dose of historical fiction thrown in. History, nature, science, memoir, social issues, politics, and recently a smidgeon of poetry. I just can’t help myself!
My shelves contain many books I’ve acquired but just haven’t had time to read. Lately, with retirement finally (maybe) in sight, I’ve cranked up the intensity a notch and started picking away at them, without slowing down on acquiring new ones. Although I’ve occasionally celebrated a specific summer reading list, I’ve never bothered to keep a list of books I’ve read. In 2021 I started paying attention. This year I’ve read at least 14 books, but I might have missed counting a couple before I started tracking. What a lift it’s given me during this second year of pandemic and politics. For what it’s worth, here’s my 2021 reading list. I liked some better than others, but all were good reads.
Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. Random House, New York. 1998. Biography.
Breslin, Jimmy. How the Good Guys Finally Won: Notes from an Impeachment Summer. Viking Press, New York. 1975. Memoir.
Childs, Marquis W. Yesterday Today and Tomorrow (1980 supplement): The Farmer Takes a Hand (1952 original). National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. 1980. The history of rural electric cooperatives.
Clark, Mary Higgins. The Lost Years. Simon & Schuster, New York. 2012. Fiction (thriller).
Cook, Raymond A. Mountain Singer: Poetry and Biography of a Hill Country Genius. Cherokee Publishing Co., Atlanta, GA. 1980. Biography of Byron Herbert Reece. Tough reading.
Drury, Allen. Return to Thebes. Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, NY. 1977. Historical fiction.
Fiedler, Carl E. and Stephen F. Arno. Ponderosa: People, Fire, and the West’s Most Iconic Tree. Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana. 2015. My favorite tree: past, present, and future.
Grove, Bob. Misadventures of an Only Child: The First 80 Hilarious Years. Self-published on Amazon. 2014. Memoir by my friend in our local writers’ group.
Hunter, Ryan. Two Sharpe. Keystone Literary, Great Britain. 2019. Fiction. Local author.
Keillor, Garrison. Lake Wobegon Days. Viking. 1985. Fiction.
Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters and Screwtape Proposes a Toast. Macmillan Co., New York. 1961. Fiction.
Ricketson, Mary. Keeping in Place. Finishing Line Press, Georgetown, KY. 2021. Poetry. Local author.
Sparks, Nicholas. Every Breath. Grand Central Publishing. 2018. A novel.
Wilson, Eleanor Lambert. My Journey to Appalachia: A Year at the Folk School. Bright Mountain Books, Fairview NC. 2004. Memoir. Local author.
Wishing you all a peaceful and fulfilling 2022
2 thoughts on “Reading Lists”
Carol Smucker says: January 1, 2022 at 12:59 am
Hello Fellow Reader!
My preferences are non-fiction/historical fiction too. I have been keeping a list of books read each year since joining the Murphy Library Book Club several years ago. I read about 20 books a year. Since the pandemic I’ve been pulling books off my shelves at random to read, which has made for interesting reading.
Sandy says: January 1, 2022 at 1:22 am
Yes, Carol…pulling random books off my shelves is great fun, and creates some rather odd combinations! I’m hoping to keep up the momentum, even after the pandemic eases…thanks for your comment!
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