Literature: April 2021 Books

So it is a new year, it's 2021, but we are still in lockdown which means more months of staying inside and staying away from others which also means more time to read.

As I managed 152 books in 2020, I thought would up the ante and go for 155 in 2021. Between January and March, I was able to read 50 and now April has ended I am up to 62 as I managed to read 12 books this month. So only another 93 books til I reach my target.

So what are the 12 books I read in April?

Biography

My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay

Greenlights by Matthew McConaghy

Running by Ronnie O’Sullivan

Unashamed by Lecrae Moore

Fiction

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Christian

An Ocean of Grace by Tim Chester

1 Kings: The Wisdom and the Folly by Dale Ralph Davis

2 Kings: The Power and the Fury by Dale Ralph Davis

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Children’s

Paddington Abroad by Michael Bond

Non-Fiction

Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson

Difficult Books

I had to read My Dark Vanessa for my book group his month and boy was it a difficult read. It made me feel so uncomfortable because the storyline revolved around Vanessa, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who is manipulated into having a sexual relationship with her English teacher. What made it so uncomfortable is that Vanessa still kept in touch with him after leaving the school and still believed that her teacher did nothing wrong and that he truly cared for her, despite the fact he was brought up on charges of having done the same thing to some of his other pupils. I just wanted to shout at Vanessa and tell her to stop being so naïve and to leave her teacher behind.

Literature: March 2021 Books

So it is a new year, it's 2021, but we are still in lockdown which means more months of staying inside and staying away from others which also means more time to read.

As I managed 152 books in 2020, I thought would up the ante and go for 155 in 2021. The first two months of 2021 have seen me read 35 books and now in March I have read 15 which brings me to 50 books. So only another 105 books to go till I reach my target!

So are the 15 books read in March?  

Thriller / Crime

• Lies, Lies Lies by Adele Parks
• I’ve Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clarke
• Dead Man’s Footsteps by Peter James

Biography

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Sanest Guy in the Room by Don Black

Fiction

• The Secret Seaside Escape by Heidi Swain
• The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The Next Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Christian

• 2 Samuel for You by Tim Chester
• Disappointments, Doubt and other Spiritual Gifts by Mike Yaconelli

Children’s

• White Horse of Zennor by Michael Morpurgo
• Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• Friend or Foe by Michael Morpurgo

Young Adults

• Followers by Megan Angelo

Books in a Series

In January I started to read the DS Roy Grace series by Peter James. This month I have continued with the series by reading one more “Dead Man’s Footsteps” So now have 11 more to read in the series as there are 15 books in total.

Recommended Books

It seems that every month my recommended books are biographies and this month it is no different as I really enjoyed “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson, which discussed the author’s childhood as an African American growing up in the 1960s in South Carolina where both segregation and racism exist and later on in New York where she develops a close friendship with Maria from Puerto Rico. This is a great story of family and friendship.

I also read “The Sanest Guy in the Room” by Don Black. I didn’t know much about Don Black except that is a songwriter, but heard good reviews of the book and thought it would be interesting to read and it was. Interwoven with the stories behind songs that he has written e.g. ‘Diamonds are Forever’ Don talks about his wife of 60 years Shirley who died in March 2018 and how he has coped with his grief. I just loved the way that he cited song lyrics and told stories of how these songs came about. He also talks about his friendships with other songwriters. 

I also highly recommended Mitch Albom’s books “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” and “The Next Five People You Meet in Heaven”. These books are an easy read. The first one follows the life and death of Eddie and the second one of Annie and how in heaven they start a journey where they both meet five people who had a significant impact on their lives who help them understand that their lives were not meaningless and they were not mistakes but that their lives had meaning. Something we all want to hear.

Literature: February 2021 Books

So it is a new year, it's 2021, but we are still in lockdown which means more months of staying inside and staying away from others which also means more time to read.

As I managed 152 books in 2020, I thought would up the ante and go for 155 in 2021. In January I read 21, and in total have now read 35 as in February I managed to read 14.  

So what were those 14 books?

Crime

• Not Dead Enough by Peter James
• Her Name is Rose by Clare Allan
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• Darkness Rising by A.A Dhand
• The Greenway by Jane Adams

Poetry

• History Will Remember When the World Stopped by Donna Ashworth

Biography

• An Open Book by Darren Clarke
• Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne
• Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

Fiction

• In Five Years by Rebecca Searle

Christian

• 1 Samuel for You by Tim Chester
• Harnessed for Adventure by Gordon Hickson
• The Good and Beautiful Life by James Bryan Smith

Children’s

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Books in a Series

In January I read two books in the DS Roy Grace series by Peter James and continued with the series by reading one more “Not Dead Enough”.  So now have 12 more to read in the series as there are 15 books in total.

Recommended Books

I struggled with a couple of the books this month, but there are ones I definitely did enjoy and would recommend and both of these are biographies of people. The first one is “Walking with Ghosts” by the Irish actor Gabriel Byrne. I listened to this book as an audiobook and it was so lovely listening to his gorgeous Irish accent. Unlike normally celebrity biographies Byrne does not talk about all the glitz and glamour of Holywood, instead, he tells of his early life including his parents, his childhood as well his early acting life. It is a very interesting story but harrowing at times as he tells about the abuse he suffered during his time in the Seminary when he was 13 and felt like he had a calling to Priesthood. 

The other biography I enjoyed reading was that of “Talking as Fast as I Can” by Lauren Graham. Lauren is best known as Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls who is a fast-talking character hence the name of the book. In this book, Lauren looks back on her life, sharing stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, talking about the challenges of being single in Holywood as well as telling stories of her time in Gilmore Girls and how she came to write her first book “Someday, Someday, Maybe” in her breaks between filming on Parenthood.

Literature: January 2021 Books

So it is a new year, it's 2021, but we are still in lockdown which means more months of staying inside and staying away from others which also means more time to read.

As I managed 152 books in 2020, I thought would up the ante and go for 155 in 2021. In January I managed to get a good start to that target as I read 21 books. . Not sure I will be able to do that every month though.

So what were those 21 books?

Short Stories

• A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
• Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
• How Much Land Does a Man Need by Leo Tolstoy

Crime

• Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer
• Hidden in Plain Sight by Jeffrey Archer
• Dead Simple by Peter James
• Looking Good Dead by Peter James
• Haunted by James Patterson
• Ambush by James Patterson
• Blindside by James Patterson

Children’s

• A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
• Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond
• Lost on the Amazon by R.A Montgomery

Christian

• Be Equipped by Warren Wiersbe
• Be Strong by Warren Wiersbe
• I Thought There Would be Cake by Katharine Welby-Roberts
• Genesis: Salvation Begins by Andrew Reid
• Judges for You by Timothy Keller
• Ruth for You by Tony Merida

Fiction

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Real Life

• War Doctor by David Nott

Books in a Series

As you can see I have been reading a few books by the same authors which are parts of a series. ‘Nothing ventured’ and ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ are the first two books in the William Warwick series by Jeffrey Archer. I really enjoyed these books and am looking forward to the next installment which comes out in April 2021.

‘Dead Simple’ and ‘Looking Good Dead’ are the first two books in the DS Roy Grace series by Peter James.  Currently, there are 15 books in this series so I have a few to go to complete the series but I am already on the third one of the series so am heading in the right direction.

‘Haunted’, ‘Ambush’ and ‘Blindside’ are part of the Detective Michael Bennett series by James Patterson. They are currently 13 books in this series and these are number 10, 11 & 12.  Looking forward to reading the last one but I am waiting until it comes down in price!

Recommended Books

I would recommend all the books I have read as I enjoyed them all, well apart from ‘I thought there would be cake’ as I just struggled so much with it. However, there are two outstanding books this month and these are ‘The Midnight Library’ and ‘War Doctor’.

‘The Midnight Library’ is a fiction book and I loved it from the moment I started it until the moment I finished. It centres on Nora who is in the space between life and death and finds herself in a place called the Midnight Library and within this library, the bookshelves go on forever. Every book provides Nora to try another life she could have lived and see how life would have turned out for her if she had made a different choice.

It is a novel that really brings you into the story and it really gets you thinking about things, especially how you live your own life.

And the second book ‘War Doctor’ is a non-fiction book that centres on the life and work of Dr David Nott who is a Consultant Surgeon who for the past twenty years has taken unpaid leave from his job working in the NHS to go and work as a trauma surgeon in some of the most dangerous war zones including Sarajevo, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Gaza, and Syria.

From this book, you can tell that Dr. Nott is driven by his desire to help others. However, he doesn’t always just help others, he also teachers local doctors to learn how to treat the appalling injuries that war inflicts upon its victims.  It is an extraordinary story that saw Dr. Nott live through some very harrowing events within the countries he went to serve.  

Literature: December 2020 Books

So it is the end of the year, the end of 2020, and what a year it has been – a year of staying inside and away from others. So during this time of having to stay inside, what else do you do but read – which is exactly what I have done.

My target at the beginning of the year was to read 60 books and by April I hit that target so I decided to up the target to 100 and I hit that in July. I did not increase my target, just decided to read for fun. And now at the end of December, at the end of the year, I have read 152.

During the first few months of lockdown, I read 10 books a month, but as restrictions lifted and I could go out and about, I was getting an average of 7 books a month. In December I managed to read 15 books – the most books in any month of 2020.

So what are these 15 books I have read in December?

 

Biography

 Once Upon a Tyne by Ant & Dec

Little Big Things by Henry Fraser

Christian

Be Counted by Warren Wiersbe

Ephesians for You by Richard Coekin

Praying for Your Missionary by Eddie Byun

Fiction

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Crime

Forgive me by Joy Ellis

Hysteria by L.J Ross

Cuthbert’s Way by L.J Ross

The Seagull by Ann Cleeves

Anthologies

Dear NHS by Adam Kay

Last Christmas by Greg Wise & Emma Thompson

My favourite book this month was Little Big Things by Henry Fraser. This is a very honest biography of a 29 year old guy who went on holiday to Portugal as a healthy sport-loving 17-year-old, but came home as a tetraplegic after a five into the sea went wrong.  Henry talks about the days after the accident and the weeks he spent in the hospital both in Portugal and in England and his finding his way to who he was now and coming to terms with the fact that life would be very different as he would be spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Like everyone else Henry has low times in his life, but for the most of it his outlook is positive, and with the help and support of his family and friends Henry has embraced his life and accepted his life now, and as someone who lives with a chronic illness this really spoke to me and made me assess my attitude to my life and to focus on now what I can’t do but what I can do.

Literature: November 2020 Books

November Books

Every month instead of writing individual book reviews for the books I had read, I just post a list of those books.  At the beginning of the year, I set a target of reading 60 books but due to lockdown and having more time on my hands, I actually hit that target in April so I increased my target to 100, and by end of July, I had read 102. Instead of increasing my target again, I decided I would just read for the sake of reading. 

So now it’s November and I have managed to read 10 books and these are the books I have read:

Biography

 A Grateful American by Gary Sinise

Children’s

What not to do if Turn Invisible by Ross Walford

Christian

Dirty Glory by Pete Greig

Be Holy by Warren Wiersbe

Praying the Bible by Donald S Whitney

Fiction

When Life Gives you Lemons by Fiona Gibson

The Dilemna by B A Paris

The List of my Desires by Gregoire Delacourt

Crime

The Disappeared by Joy Ellis

In the Name of Truth by Viveca Sten

 

So the best book I read this time was A Grateful American by Gary Sinise which was a biography of Gary’s life which included his childhood, his teenage years, and the start of his theatre company Steppenwolf in Chicago. Gary also talks about the relationship with his parents, his marriage, his children, and the parts he has played in theatre productions and movies and shares of the role that made the most impact on his life - Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump. 

The role in Forrest Gump was Gary’s break into the movies as well as the start of his journey of supporting the military and the formation of his band, the Lieutenant Dan Band.  This was very interesting and informative book, not just about his life but about the role of the military within the United States of America.

Literature: October Books

 

Every month instead of writing individual book reviews for the books I had read, I just post a list of those books.  At the beginning of the year, I set a target of reading 60 books but due to lockdown and having more time on my hands, I actually hit that target in April so I increased my target to 100, and by end of July, I had read 102. Instead of increasing my target again, I decided I would just read for the sake of reading.

Most months in 2020 I have been able to read 10 or more books, but in October I only managed to read 8 books.  So what books did I read?

Crime

Blue Moon by Lee Child

Little Bird by Sharon Dempsey

Christian

Idols of the Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick

Healthy Faith and the Corona Virus by Luke Cowly etc

Fiction

False Impressions by Jeffrey Archer

Short Stories

Six Foot Six by Kit De Waal

Non-Fiction

Diary of a Naturalist by Dara McAnulty

Children’s

The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley

The best book I have read in October has to be Diary of a Naturalist by Dara McAnulty. This book is brilliant in many different ways but mainly because it was written by a 14-year-old boy who is also Autistic. It is written so well and Dara’s descriptions of nature are brilliant and I had to read it with google in my hand so I could look up the birds and other things he talked about. When Dara was describing being in a place or looking at something, I actually really felt I was standing there beside him seeing or experiencing the same thing.