There were times in the past year when I felt the old reading habit was flagging. There was simply too much going on to properly immerse in the beauty and peace of it all.
Yet, somehow, looking at the list, there is a good combination of old favorite authors, re-reads of a few books – like visiting old friends again, and a marvelous spattering of new idealogies, new authors etc. The good old books did manage to light up my existence throughout the year, and I am ever so grateful to have access to them.
Magic
Notable ones in the magical section include
- The Girl Who Drank the Moon – By Kelly Barnhill
- Icefall – by Michael Kirby ( loved this one for the Norse myths and the voice of the bard)
- The One and Only Ivan – by Katherine Applegate (prompting a desire to learn to use paints and explore visual arts) 🎭 .
- The Starry Skies – Grace Lin
Writing:
The art and craft of writing is a universe unto itself. Notable works in this genre in 2021:
- Destiny Thief on Writing – Richard Russo
- Conversations on Writing with Ursula K Le Guin & David Naimon
- Tiny Tales – Alexander McCall Smith
- The Tree – By John Fowler
The Wondrous Universe
- Questions Asked – Jostein Garder & Akin Duzakin
- A Pale Blue Dot – Carl Sagan
- Cosmos – Carl Sagan’s Audible Book (in the most scattered fashion possible during 15 min car pickups and drop-offs, but it still managed to seep its way in like a raindrop permeates a thick coat somehow )
Non-fiction (only mentioning notable ones that made an impression)
- Musicophilia – Oliver Sacks
- Undoing Project – Michael Lewis
- Extreme Animals
- Factfulness – 10 reasons the world is better than you think – Hans Rosling
- 100 animals to see before they die
- Forgotten Beasts – excellent illustrations – Matt Sewell
- Ikigai – the Japanese way of living – where there is no word for retire
- Wild Souls – Freedom and Flourishing in the non-human world – Emma Marris
- Ice Walker – James Raffan
- A Brief History of Earth : four billion years in eight chapters / Andrew H. Knoll
Poetry:
As Ursula K Le Guin said in her Conversations on Writing with David Naimon, fiction is from the imagination, while poetry stems from contemplation. I suppose I benefitted from the contemplative minds of many stalwarts. The favorite among them this year was The Sky Full of Bucket Lists – By Shobhana Kumar. The book makes an appearance on my bedside table often, and every dip into it leaves me marveling and admiring the empathy and contemplation of life that Shobhana’s beautiful mind brings to life. (Please read it if you haven’t already – Shobhana also happens to be a dear childhood friend.)
- A Sky Full of Bucket Lists – Shobhana Kumar
- Emily Writes – Emily Dickinson and her Poetic Beginnings – Jane Yolen, Christine Davanier
- Dreams from many rivers – Margarita Engle
- Dr Seuss books : The King’s Stilts, Horse Museum ( A post on this book is long simmering in my mind. One beautiful meditative evening with crepuscular glory is rattling inside to be written about – soon!) . Several re-reads such as Horton Hatches the Egg and many more.
Humor
This section has me revisiting all my old book friends most often. Any new suggestions in the Humor genre are most welcome.
- An Anthology – P G Wodehouse
- A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
- The River Bank and other stories from the wind in the willows – Graham Greene
- P G Wodehouse (old favorites such as Uncle Fred in the Springtime, Code of the Woosters, and some others that were short story collections that our local library has acquired)
- Miss Read (A visit to the Cotswold area in the UK is always a pleasure – in Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter)
- Birds, Beasts & Relatives – Gerald Durrell
- The Shooting Star – Herge
Children’s Books: (again – only the notable ones mentioned )
- Horse Museum – Dr Seuss
- The Perks of being a Wallflower
- Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds
- A Violin for Elva – By Mary Lyn Ray
- Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure – Naomi C Rose
- You are a beautiful beginning – Nina Laden
- We all play = kimêtawânaw – Julie Flett
- The Wanderer – Peter Van den Ende (brilliant illustrations)
- Infinity and me – written by Kate Hosford ; illustrations by Gabi Swiatkowska
The Anne Section
We moved in to our new nest, so it seems only fitting that I read Anne’s House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery twice. Also, the children made me watch Anne with an E on Netflix by touchingly creating a profile called ‘Amma’ for me, and I have all but moved into Prince Edward Island in Canada for the past few months. I joyously re-read the entire series, and then some, and have had lots of fun comparing the contrasting Moira Beckett’s version with the original ones.
- Anne of Green Gables – L M Montgomery
- Anne of Avonlea – L M Montgomery
- Anne of the Island – L M Montgomery
- Anne’s House of Dreams – L M Montgomery
- Anne of Ingleside – L M Montgomery
- Rainbow Valley – L M Montgomery
- Rilla of Ingleside – L M Montgomery
- Christmas Tales from Avonlea – L M Montgomery
Please do share your lists too, so we may add to our to-read lists for the coming years.
Nourish-n-Cherish 
The complete list is mentioned here:
A Pale Blue Dot – Carl Sagan
An Anthology – P G Wodehouse
A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
The River Bank and other stories from the wind in the willows – Graham Greene
Friends at Thrush Green – Miss Read
The Girl Who Drank the Moon – By Kelly Barnhill
The Water Princess – Susan Verde (Childhood experience of Georgie Badiel)
Emily Writes – Emily Dickinson and her Poetic Beginnings – Jane Yolen, Christine Davanier
Neuroscience – Tales from 2 sides of the brain – Michael S Gazzaniga
A Sky Full of Bucket Lists – Shobhana Kumar
Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury
The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo
Musicophilia – Oliver Sacks
The Act of Tidying up – Marie Kondo
Horse Museum – Dr Seuss
Horton Hatches the Egg – Dr Seuss
Hello, Universe – Erin Entrada Kelly
Uncle Fred in the Springtime – P G Wodehouse
Over Seventy – P. G Wodehouse
The Code of the Woosters – P G Wodehouse
The Tree – By John Fowler
Plants all around us
Falling Up – Shel Silverstein
Destiny Thief on Writing – Richard Russo
Grandfather and the Moon – By Stephanie LaPointe & Roge
How I Learned to Understand the World – By Hans Rosling with Fanny Hargestram
The perks of being a wallflower
Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds
Astro Nuts on Plant Planet – Jon Scywarski
How I learned to see the world – Hans Rosling TED Talk fellow (doctor & statistician)
Dreams from many rivers – Margarita Engle
Seamus Henley – Nobel Speech + poems
Undoing Project – Michael Lewis
Joy at Work – Marie Kondo
The Puppy outside the Castle – Disney book
Do Nothing Do Everything – Tao-ism & Confuscianism – Qiguang Zhao
Icefall – by Michael Kirby (story importance – loved this one for the norse myths and the voice of the bard)
Tyler’s Row – Miss Read
A Violin for Elva
Ice Walker – James Raffan
The Garden of Abdul Gafazi
Farther Afield – by Miss Read
Village Affairs – by Miss Read
Helen Keller – George Sullivan
BigFoot does not like birthday parties
How to make a cherry pie and see the USA – By Marjorie Priceman
Maya Lin – artist and architect by Jeanne walker Harvey illustrated by Dow phumiruk
Seussisms by Dr Seuss to guide us through life
Word Collector
Anne’s house of dreams – By Lucy M Montgomery
Extreme Animals
Apollo’s – Percy Jackson
Light – that children’s book on rain
Factfulness – 10 reasons the world is better than you think – Hans Rosling
Birds, Beasts & Relatives – Gerald Durrell
100 animals to see before they die
Forgotten Beasts – excellent illustrations – Matt Sewell
Ikigai – the Japanese way of living – no word for retire
Essays from No time for this – mother’s essay during covid – write about that Avenger’s actress on Little Women movie, and the boys need for violence
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Reid Jenkins
The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
Affairs at Thrush Green – by Miss Read
Every Color of Light – By Hiroshi Oshada Illustrated by: Ryoji Arai
Over Seventy – P G Wodehouse
Another Word for Home – Jasmine Warga
World of Wonder – Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Blizzard – Jim Murphy
Weather Detective – Peter Wohlleben
We belong / Cookie Hiponia Everman ; illustrations by Abigail Dela Cruz
Wild Symphony – Dan Brown
How to Raise an Elephant – Alexander McCall Smith
Antiquities – Cynthia Ozick
Seussisms – Dr Seuss
Oh! the Places you’ll go – Dr Seuss
You are a beautful beginning – Nina Laden
We all play = kimêtawânaw – Julie Flett
Scrambled Eggs Super – Dr Seuss
The Starry Skies – Grace Lin
A book within a book within a book
Anne of Avonlea – L M Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables – L M Montgomery
The King’s Stilts – By Dr Seuss
Anne of the Island – L M Montgomery
Anne’s House of Dreams – L M Montgomery
Felicity – Mary Oliver (Poem – thank you on Love)
Anne of Ingleside – L M Montgomery
The book uncle – Uma Krishnamurthy
Wild Souls – Freedom and Flourishing in the non-human world – Emma Marris
Conversations on Writing – Ursula K Le Guin with David Naimon
Rainbow Valley – L M Montgomery
The Hummingbirds Gift – Wonder, Beauty and Renewal on Wings – Sy Montgomery
Ikigai – The Japanese Secret to a Happy and Long Life – Hector Garcia & Franscesc Miralles
Rilla of Ingleside – L M Montgomery
The Book of Magic – Alice Hoffman
The Shooting Star – Herge
Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure – Naomi C Rose
Tiny Tales – Alexander McCall Smith
Questions Asked – Jostein Garder & Akin Duzakin
The Wanderer – Peter Van den Ende (brilliant illustrations)
Infinity and me – written by Kate Hosford ; illustrations by Gabi Swiatkowska
For the Time Being – Annie Dillard
A brief history of Earth : four billion years in eight chapters / Andrew H. Knoll
Chronicles of Avonlea – L M Montgomery
Christmas Tales from Avonlea – L M Montgomery