Book #51 of the year was When the World Fell Silent, by Donna Jones Alward. It's a historical novel about the Halifax Explosion of 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. This was a book club read, and while it wasn't one of our very favorites, we did enjoy it.
Book #52 was The Birds that Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness, by Kenn Kaufman. I knew Kaufman was a great writer, after reading his classic Kingbird Highway. (I wrote some "found haiku" from that book here.) When I heard about this one on a podcast, I had to read it too. It's about Audubon, the discovery of new-to-us species, and illustration. I read it on my Kindle, which doesn't have color, so I wasn't fully able to appreciate Kaufman's art, but another aspect of the book is his project to do bird paintings in the style of Audubon. At some point I hope to see a hard copy and get a closer look at his art. I recommend this, and it's on deep discount for Kindle right now.
Book #53 was Safe All Along: Trading Our Fears and Anxieties for God's Unshakable Peace, by Katie Davis Majors. I wanted to read this because I had just read and enjoyed the author's first book, Kisses from Katie. This one is about dealing with stress and anxiety, particularly when it involves worrying about people we love. I thought it was well done.
Book #54 was Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger. This is a murder mystery set in Minnesota in 1961. It was very well-written. One of the reviews on Amazon compared it with To Kill a Mockingbird, and I think that is a good comparison.
Book #55 was Expiration Dates, by Rebecca Serle. This has a very rom-com premise, but it soon reveals itself to be a little deeper than that.
Book #56 was Babel: An Arcane History, by R. F. Kuang. This book is fantasy/alternative history. It's set in a somewhat mystical version of Oxford in the 19th century, and focuses on foreigners who have been brought in for their language abilities to do work that keeps the empire afloat. I found it very readable and entertaining. I had read some reviews that called it preachy and didactic, and that wasn't my experience of it at all.
Book #57 was Ina Garten's memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. I've never watched her show, and I didn't really love this book, but it was interesting to follow her journey.
Book #58 was Warlight, by Michael Ondaadjte. I learned about this book from a comment left by a reader of my blog. I had posted an A.E. Housman poem (here) and the commenter pointed out that Ondaadjte quotes the poem in this book. I found the book a little hard to follow, but it could have been because I was reading it during travel and not giving it the attention it deserved. I almost didn't finish it, but really wanted to know how it would end; ultimately I wasn't all that satisfied.
Book #59 was All that Life Can Afford, by Emily Everett. I found it stressful reading because the main character is keeping secrets and it's so obvious this will be her downfall. It is, but there's a happy ending and all is well.
Book #60 was The Wedding People, by Alison Espach. I didn't like the premise (content warning: suicide), and I didn't find the story believable, but it was well-written and there was a lot going on, so I kept reading.
Book #61 was the third book by Raynor Winn, Landlines: The Remarkable Story of a Thousand-Mile Journey Across Britain. While I was reading it, the controversy about Winn broke (you can Google it), leading me to wonder how much it mattered. I think it was worth reading this series even if some of the facts were presented a bit differently from the way they actually happened. My main takeaway from the three books is that life is hard, particularly for homeless people, and that walking and being outdoors are always good things. I'm glad I read them, and I hope Winn's fourth book ends up getting published after all.
