Book #48 of the year was The Second Mrs. Astor, by Shana Abé. This is the story of Madeleine Talmage Force, who as a teenager in 1910 is noticed by John Jacob Astor, a fabulously wealthy celebrity 29 years older than she is. It's not a spoiler to say that the couple ends up on the Titanic.
Book #49 was African Holocaust: The Story of the Uganda Martyrs, by J.F. Faupel. I became curious about this story when I saw a statue here in Kampala of a man impaled on a spear. This book tells the story of the martyrs, both Protestant and Catholic, who were killed by the Kabaka in the 1880s.
Book #50 was James, by Percival Everett. This is the story of Huckleberry Finn, but told from the point of view of Jim. There's no longer any humor in the story; it's pure horror now that we recognize the stakes for James and all enslaved people.
Book #51 was Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim, a courtroom drama that's seeking the truth of what caused an explosion at a hyperbaric chamber.
Book #52 was Sparrow Envy: Field Guide to Birds and Lesser Beasts, by J. Drew Lanham. This is a book of poetry about the natural world and what it's like to be an African-American birder.
Book #53 was Kate Bowler's Have a Beautiful, Terrible, Day: Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs, & In-Betweens. Kate Bowler really gets how hard life can be sometimes.
Book #54 was One Corpse Too Many, by Ellis Peters. This was the second murder mystery in the Brother Cadfael series.
Book #55 was My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. This is a ridiculous but fun retelling of the Lady Jane Grey story, in which people change into animals and there is no effort at realism.
Book #56 was The Women, by Kristin Hannah. This is a heartrending story of military nurses in the Vietnam War, both what they went through during the war itself, and how it shaped the rest of their lives.
Book #57 was The Expats, by Chris Pavone. Kate and her family have moved overseas to start a new life, but it seems as though there's a lot of concealment going on and Kate doesn't know whom she can trust.
Book #58 was Edwidge Danticat's new book of essays, We're Alone. Danticat does an amazing job of communicating what it's like to be connected to Haiti.
Book #59 was Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano. This novel is the story of a family of sisters over several decades. I found the characters completely believable and I couldn't put the book down.
Book #60 was Kololo Hill, by Neema Shah. This is a novel about the expulsion of the Indians from Uganda by Idi Amin in 1974. We follow the Indian family in the story through leaving Uganda and arriving in their new home with all the adjustments that brings.
