Last year I read 37 books.

5 were non-fiction

14 were by Latino authors

2 were by Asian American authors

2 were by African American authors

9 were by male authors

I read 2 suspense novels, 6 historical, 5 mysteries, 2 horror, 1 romance, and 1 science fiction.

I like keeping track of the books I read every year and try to interpret trends, if any, in my reading. I’m pleased that I was able to find and read a good number of books by Latino authors. I hope this is a trend that carries into the new year.

I recently have suffered some relatively minor health issues that interfered with my self-imposed deadlines for writing my fifth novel. I have to set deadlines or I might never finish the project, or I might take way too long to finish it. Not that it really matters. I don’t answer to anyone but myself. I do, though, hold myself accountable. I expect to meet my deadlines and goals. I set a goal for number of pages completed per week, and an expected number of pages for the first draft. Because of my health setbacks, I lost a month of writing, and I’m just now getting back into the rhythm.

I’m certainly not a well-known author or even somewhat well-known. I haven’t had great success in selling my self-published books, and that is mostly my own fault. I’m not good at marketing my books. It takes time to market, and I’d much rather write than market my written work. Nevertheless, I try to stick to the deadlines I set for myself.

Writing is an outlet for my creative ideas. Developing an imaginary world is exciting and fulfilling. But t’s not always easy to find the time to write, and I don’t always “feel” like writing. In other words, I don’t always feel the “creative juices” flowing. Setting deadlines keeps me in line. I assure myself that I will write.

Okay, I’m ending this blog entry. I need to write a page for my current novel before dinner time.

It’s been a strange year. Actually, the last two and a half years have been strange, kicked off by a worldwide pandemic. My husband and I spend a lot of time at home, a habit we grew into when the Covid lockdown happened. Though it appears that everything around us is back to normal, we wonder what normal is now. I don’t like spending all this time at home, but every time we venture beyond our level of comfort and safety (a trip to Las Vegas in May, for example), a Covid surge happens and reminds us that the world is not yet “normal.”

Some things in my life have changed for the better. I’m not eating out as much, and as a result, my numbers were better at my last physical. The healthy meals I cook are keeping my husband and me healthy. I’m not reading more than usual, but I’m choosing my reading material more carefully. Before, I think I was choosing a title for the importance of its theme or because it was lauded by the critics. I tell myself now that life is too short to waste it reading something I feel I have to read as opposed to a book I want to read. Books that I recently read for sheer enjoyment are The Hacienda by Isabel Canas and The Last Chance Library by Freda Sampson. I read the latter for the second time and enjoyed it just as much as when I first read it.

I read 41 books last year. Here’s a breakdown:

10 by male authors

11 by Latino authors, 2 by Asians, 3 by Blacks, and 1 by a Native American.

8 mysteries

1 science fiction

3 romances

3 historical fiction

All the books I read were fiction but one, Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. I see that I still don’t read much science fiction despite making an effort to explore the genre a couple of years ago. In genre fiction, I will always prefer mysteries. I’m glad that I read a selection of fiction by diverse authors. We need diverse books.

Okay, here it is, my list of favorite reads of 2021, in alphabetical order by title:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck—I’d always wanted to read this and finally got around to it. Gorgeous descriptions of the Salinas Valley, strong, memorable characters (including a positive depiction of a Chinese man), and a compelling plot make this a major accomplishment in storytelling.

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade—I liked the New Mexico setting and the depiction of a Latino family, dysfunctional yet supportive of one another during tough times.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes—I enjoyed the intriguing plot, the focus on women’s rights, and, of course, that it’s about librarians and library services.

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson—Yes, another novel about librarians and libraries, and why not? it’s a subject close to my heart. Even though it’s set in a library in an English village, I related to so much of the story pertaining to budget cutbacks, patrons, literary references, and even politics.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld—I found the book fascinating and engrossing as it explored what Hillary Clinton’s life would have been like had she not married Bill.

I’ve neglected my blog for too long, but not intentionally.
Actually, I’ve neglected my writing, too. It’s been a combination of issues: obligations at home, computer/technology problems, and pandemic blues. Early in the pandemic lockdown, it was a challenge to make myself sit long enough to read a book. I don’t know why. Maybe it was fear or knowing that I couldn’t do a whole lot outside the home during the lockdown but didn’t want to just sit and read. Of course, blogging took a back seat to everything.

Today I take up my pen to blog about a novel I just finished reading, The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson. I got lucky with this one. I found it on the new book shelf at my local library. I’d never heard of the book nor the author. It was a nice surprise. It’s a story of a small library in an English village and the villagers who band together to fight the possible permanent closure of the facility. As a librarian, I related to so much of this book: the library patrons, the budget pressures, the library work itself. Beyond that, I enjoyed the humor, the wonderfully quirky characters, the literary references, the friendships, and the all around sense of the community’s love for its library. It’s a very heartwarming story.

I also wrote a novel about a library in crisis, but Silence, Please takes a more serious look at the issue. Part of me wonders if I should have taken the approach to my book that Sampson took and added more humor and warmth to my story. However, one of the first writing lessons I learned was to remain true to my own voice. A writer can’t adopt a style that doesn’t come naturally. I’m proud of Silence, Please. Though it isn’t heartwarming, I would never want to rewrite it because it’s an honest depiction of a library in crisis, and it speaks to the importance of libraries in our communities. I wish there were more novels about libraries that were as realistic and enjoyable as Sampson’s The Last Chance Library and my own Silence, Please.

Here is a breakdown of the 40 books I read in 2020:

32 Fiction

15 by male authors

6 Mysteries/Thrillers, 1 Horror

4 by Asian Americans, 5 by Latino Americans, 2 by African Americans

I had planned to read more science-fiction this year but somehow never got around to it. Instead, I seemed to have, for the most part, avoided genre fiction. I don’t usually set specific goals for a year. I choose reading material that draws my interest, such as Mary Trump’s Too Much Never Enough, or that is recommended by others, such as Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. By that standard, it was a very good year.

I read forty books in 2020, not as many as I expected to read during the pandemic stay-at-home order. Instead, I often found it difficult to sit and concentrate on a story, no matter how interesting it might be. Though I did read many good books as well as “just okay” books, few of them stand out in my memory. The following do:

Educated by Tara Westover. An inspiring true story of a young woman who overcame incredibly difficult family circumstances to live a normal life.

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. I went into this expecting light chick lit. It’s considerably more than that. It deals with the topic of infertility with sensitivity and in more depth than I would have expected.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. A fun read for those who like horror stories and spunky heroines. Very creative, with underlying issues of racism and eugenics.

These Women by Ivy Pochoda. About serial murders in South LA, this novel is not for everyone. It’s unusual in tone and style, but I found it mostly fascinating in its portrayals of women who are used, ignored, and forgotten.