Jacque's 2021 Plan (Read Widely and Reduce the TBR)

[Jacque T]

THE 2021 LIST
1. A book related to “In the Beginning...” Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?
2. A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y The Secret Life of Bees
3. A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music We Never Asked for Wings
4. A book with a monochromatic cover This Is How It Always Is

5. A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read Behold the Dreamers
6. A love story Tell Me Three Things
7. A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list Land of Love and Drowning
8. A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited She Would Be King

9. A book you associate with a specific season or time of year Faces at the Cross: A Lent and Easter Collection of Poetry and Prose
10. A book with a female villain or criminal The Huntress
11. A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
12. A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Disoriental
13. A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020 The Vanishing Half

14. A book set in a made-up place Messenger
15. A book that features siblings as the main characters The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler's U-boats
16. A book with a building in the title Longbourn
17. A book with a Muslim character or author The Reluctant Fundamentalist

18. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1 Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
19. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2 Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion
20. 3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3 How Long 'til Black Future Month?
21. A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u" Our Souls at Night
22. A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads The House in the Cerulean Sea

23. A cross genre novel Mexican Gothic
24. A book about racism or race relations The Making of Asian America: A History
25. A book set on an island The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores
26. A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author Last Night at the Lobster

27. A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards The Lager Queen of Minnesota
28. A book connected to ice Us Against You
29. A book that you consider comfort reading The Quilter's Kitchen
30. A long book Three Daughters

31. A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years The Remains of the Day
32. A book whose cover shows more than 2 peopleLove From A to Z
33. A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry The Tsar of Love and Techno
34. A book with a travel theme The Ramsay Scallop
35. A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer The Seamstress

36. A book with six or more words in the title The Smell of Other People's Houses
37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list The Garden of Evening Mists
38. A book related to a word given by a random word generator Round Ireland with a Fridge
39. A book involving an immigrant The Undocumented Americans

40. A book with flowers or greenery on the cover The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right
41. A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author A Woman Is No Man
42. A mystery or thriller Picnic at Hanging Rock
43. A book with elements of magic The Starless Sea

44. A book whose title contains a negative Everything I Never Told You
45. A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Whiskey When We're Dry
46. A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards The Midnight Library
47. A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir Befriend: Create Belonging in an Age of Judgment, Isolation, and Fear
48. A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?” Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art

49. A book with an ensemble castThe Gammage Cup
50. A book published in 2021 The Children's Blizzard
51. A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name The Mapmaker's Children
52. A book related to "the end" Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

[Jacque T]

[Jacque T]

Extra Books Used for 2021 Popsugar Challenge

[Jacque T]

Extra Books Used for Around the World in Eighty Books Challenge

[Jacque T]

*Reserved for Five Star Books*

[Jacque T]

Non-Challenge Books:

[Jacque T]

#2 Author's name does not contain ATY: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I enjoy Kidd's writing style and this has been on my TBR forever. I am so glad I finally got around to reading it. Sweet often sad story, developing characters that captured time and place well. Would definitely recommend.

[Jacque T]

#4 Monochromatic Cover: This Is How It Always Is I really did enjoy this book about how keeping or not keeping secrets affects everyone in the family and not just the obvious. But, I found it too neat, too perfectly supportive. I would love for families to be as accepting and protective and resilient as this one, but I just don't see it in real life. And that disconnect with realism dropped it from a 4 star book to a 3.5 star book for me.

[Jacque T]

#1 In the Beginning Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose? Recommended to me by a doctor friend. I met the presuppositions of this book (Christian who believes God is creator but also believes evolution is a fact). This book helped enhance my understanding of the evolutionary science. It wasn't meant to change my mind, but it did deepen my beliefs and understanding.

#3 About lyrics of "My Favorite Things"=wings We Never Asked for Wings Although I did not enjoy this as much as Diffenbaugh's first book, I really enjoyed it. Most of the characters showed some real growth. It attempted to address several really difficult topics. I think some of those topics were brushed over a little too easily, but it did not detract too heavily from a solidly written book.

[Jacque T]

#5 USA Today's 100 Black Novelists to Read: Behold the Dreamers This was excellent for a debut novel. I felt like it captured one aspect of an immigrant experience and how difficult our immigration system is to navigate, especially for someone who doesn't understand how bureaucratic the system can be. I thought the characters were well-rounded and individual. Very nearly a 5* book for me, but on occasion fell flat. Would recommend.

[Jacque T]

#7 A Prompt that did not make final list: Land of Love and Drowning fit both a life-altering event and sibling rivalry. This book was great for capturing the sense of place in the Virgin Islands. The writing was beautiful, but the storyline was choppy at times. I never was able to connect or feel empathy for the characters. It was a debut novel, so I will definitely give the author another try. Her use of metaphor and description earned that.

[Jacque T]

#6 Love Story Tell Me Three Things Cute YA novel about the new girl in a posh school and the anonymous friend who helps her navigate the school by IM. Predictable, but enjoyable.

[Jacque T]

#30 A Long Book
*although I'm mostly reading in order, recording this since it will be amongst my longest books of the year at 720 pages*
Three Daughters Sweeping across three generations from Palastine to USA, tells the story of the three women and the choices that shaped them. At times it was amazing, but often it felt drawn out and the characters didn't seem to grow or learn much from their choices. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.

[Jacque T]

#9 Specific Time of Year Faces at the Cross: A Lent and Easter Collection of Poetry and Prose Interesting take of how those who were part of Jesus' life might have reacted at the cross in poetry. Set the pace for the season well.

#10 Female Villian The Huntress Well-paced chase of Nazi war criminal and why each person chasing was involved. I really enjoyed and will read more Kate Quinn.

[Jacque T]

#8 Set in Province, State or Country not visited: She Would Be King. I really wanted to love this book, but the magical elements fell flat and I never connected with any of the characters. Well written and beautiful prose, so I'll probably try her next book.

#11 Related to Grand Egyptian Museum: (archaeology) The Lost City of the Monkey God Informative and engaging detail of research trip into Honduran jungle.

[Jacque T]

#12 A Book Eligible for the Warwick Prize: Disoriental Historical fiction that has a lot of the author's own story in it; set in Paris but reflecting on life in Iran. Well written and nuanced. I've rated it 4*, but seriously considered a 5* rating as I think this is a book I will reflect on for a while.

[Jacque T]

#13 Book Written by same Author as one of my 2020 best reads: The Vanishing Half I loved The Mothers and found this book just as engaging. Although flawed, I liked all of the characters and any of them could have held my interest for an entire book. I was invested in learning how it played out. Brit Bennett will continue to be one of my go-to authors in the future.

[Jacque T]

#14 Made up Place: Messenger Third in this dystopian series of 4 books. I enjoyed this story about how the place that welcomed those who were cast out from other places was both threatened and protected. It was more emotional that then first two books. Will definitely complete the series.

#15 Siblings as Main Characters The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler's U-boats This non-fiction book about the Merchant Marines during WWII was informative. I learned much from the book. Although it centered around one family of seven brothers, it was much more about the entire county and the families of sea-going men and the women they left behind. I would have liked more character analysis and less lists of sea battles.

[Jacque T]

#16 Name of a Building in Title Longbourn loosely tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of the downstairs staff. I am not a fan of P&P, and this did not make me more of a fan. Came highly recommended, but was not for me.

#22 From an ATY best reads recommendation: The House in the Cerulean Sea I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, but I loved every moment of this book. I wanted to know the characters even more. Easily a 5* read for me. Great recommendation!

[Jacque T]

#18 Past: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America Often difficult to read, always thorough and felt like it tried to be fair development of how racism has always been a part of policy making in America. Informative and worth reading

#19 Present: Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion Memoir of one white pastor's journey of confronting his own racism and working toward antiracism. Honest, often awkward, hopeful and identifiable. Thoroughly recommend to other evangelicals struggling with where the church has been and is.

[Jacque T]

#17 Muslim Author or Character: The Reluctant Fundamentalist Set in Pakistan, told as long monologue of the main character telling his story to an unnamed American. Interesting concept, compelling read.

#20 Future: How Long 'til Black Future Month? I am not a sci-fi fan, but this book made me a NK Jemison fan! Her world building in such concise short stories, her characterization and her story telling ability were incredible. Only 3-4 stories in the collection did not capture my imagination.

[Jacque T]

#24 A book about racism or race relations: The Making of Asian America: A History A look at the immigrants who came to America (US and Canada) from all parts of Asia and the treatment they received in their new homes. Eye opening and well told.

[Jacque T]

#26 Short book by new-to-you author: Last Night at the Lobster Based in a Red Lobster restaraunt, a few days before Christmas, during a snowstorm on the last day it is open. From the perspective of the manager and looking at how the workers relate to the closing and to each other. I enjoyed it. The author did a great job building believable characters.

[Jacque T]

#33 Short Stories The Tsar of Love and Techno Related short stories set in Chechnya and St. Petersburg. Great story telling. Somewhat dark and mysterious. I enjoyed them a lot.

[Jacque T]

#23 cross genre: Mexican Gothic Gothic horror with magical elements. I do not like horror anything, but I was totally drawn into this book and totally invested. Some interesting surprises and kept me reading.

#25 Island: The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores Part journalistic report, part finding oneself, part romance. I knew nothing about the Azores prior to reading this. Was a fun read.

#32 Two or More People on Cover: Love From A to Z YA romance set in Qatar. Loved this book for how real the characters felt, how their Muslim identity was just their identity and how they developed. Typical YA romance, but done well.

[Jacque T]

#21 The title and author's name both contain the letter "u": Our Souls at Night Sparse, bittersweet novel about finding companionship and love late in life. I loved it. It was nearly perfect--might have been perfect if the author had believed in quotation marks but that distracted me.

#35 Set in Country below the Tropic of Cancer: The Seamstress Historical fiction set in Brazil told from alternating voices of two sisters. Was a slow start but then I was really invested in learning both of the sisters' stories. Brought the Brazilian countryside and drought to life. Really strong sense of place and time. I enjoyed it.

[Jacque T]

#29 Comfort Reading: The Quilter's Kitchen Easy comfortable reading for me is the Elm Creek Quilter's series and since this was also a cookbook of comfort foods for the quilter's retreat it seemed to doubly fit. Unfortunately, the story did not hold me. But I did copy a couple of the recipes.

[Jacque T]

#36 6 words in title: The Smell of Other People's Houses Coming of age YA story set in Alaska at time of statehood. This book was almost perfect for me. Very atmospheric. Loved it.

[Jacque T]

#39 Immigrant: The Undocumented Americans Informative and challenging but often bogged down by the author's own processing of her mental status than on the subject.

[Jacque T]

#31 Author has had a 21 year career: The Remains of the Day This has been on my TBR forever. I enjoyed Ishiguru's writing style and use of language, but I found the book itself tedious. I did not enjoy the characters or find any inspiration in the reflections. I did enjoy the travel info about a part of the country I love, but there was not enough to make this redeemable for me.

[Jacque T]

#27 Related to Deck of Cards: The Lager Queen of Minnesota Quirky book about lives of sisters and one of their grandaughters centered around craft brewery. Not a fan of craft beer but thought the relationship angle of the story would capture me. Unfortunately it didn't.

#28 Related to ice: Us Against You Loved every page of this follow up to Beartown about the people of Beartown and their obsession with hockey but also of friendship and loyalty.

#34 Travel Theme: The Ramsay Scallop YA book about two young people betrothed to each other who discover who they are and how they care for each other while on pilgrimage along The Way in Spain. Sweet, but not amazing.

[Jacque T]

#42 Mystery or Thriller: Picnic at Hanging Rockis mystery set in Australian Bush that is never really solved in the text. Considered a classic by many. The writing was superb in that it didn't waste any words and was atmospheric. I wanted a neat ending, even though I knew going in that I would not get one.

[Jacque T]

#37 Well read in World Literature: The Garden of Evening Mists Beautiful writing, set in Malaysia, told from the perspective of Chinese woman held by Japanese during war. Loved it.

#38 Random word generator=refrigerator: Round Ireland with a Fridge Amusing story of hitchiking around Ireland with a mini fridge after losing a bet. Was beneficial I had traveled in Ireland. Fun

#40 Greenery on Cover: The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right Lovely book about getting back to the shalom of pre-fall and what that means as women, people of color and believers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Jacque T]

#43 Elements of Magic: The Starless Sea Amazing prose and world building, loved the characters, often so lost in the story it didn't matter if the plot was hard to follow or non-existent. The very best kind of magical book (even for a non-fantasy lover) if the love of words is motivation.

[Jacque T]

#41 New to Me BIPOC author: A Woman Is No Man Palestinian American author about the women in an Arab family in Brooklyn. I found the book engaging, but often one-dimensional and stereotypical. I would lose that this was an own voice book because of this. Felt like YA fiction. Enjoyed but did not love.

#47 Non-fiction not memoir or biography: Befriend: Create Belonging in an Age of Judgment, Isolation, and Fear interesting stories told in non-preachy manner but not novel

[Jacque T]

#46 Goodreads Choice Award: The Midnight Library Loved, loved, loved this book! A little YA at times, but the variety of how life can change if a small decision is different was so fun. Hard at times, probably triggering for some, but a great book.

#48 You read WHAT? Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art The title says it all. A reporter's attempt to find the truth to the rumors of what happened to Michael Rockefeller in 1961. Well researched it seemed. I actually enjoyed the book when not discussing cannibalism. The impact of colonialism was a thread of main interest throughout the book.

[Jacque T]

#45 NATO alphabet: Whiskey When We're Dry I enjoyed this book, but I did not love this book. I found the main character too shallow and I never really found myself on her side (or any of the character's side for that manner). Set in late 19C untamed midwest. Had a lot more potential than it delivered.

#50 Published in 2021: The Children's Blizzard I've read several books and accounts of this blizzard because my husband's ancestors were deeply impacted by the event. This fictionalized version had some interesting storylines, but did not fully engage me.

[Jacque T]

#44 Title contains a negative: Everything I Never Told You Emotional look at how different members of the family cope and process tragedy. Realistic for the most part and well done. The family did not make me sympathetic to their perspective, but I was drawn into the story and how it inter-weaved.

[Jacque T]

#49 ensemble cast The Gammage Cup Fun fantasy novel about being true to oneself and supporting one another

[Jacque T]

#51 Title refers to person without naming them: The Mapmaker's Children Historical fiction around the life of daughter of Abolitionist John Brown. Told in two time frames. Both told with a light hand. I enjoyed the modern time frame more, but overall the book was satisfying.

#52 The End: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Sweet contemporary romance set in Sussex in England. I enjoyed the dynamics of diverse characters finding friendship and love. The book captured some of the urban vs village, north vs south, European vs Asian conflicts without overplaying it. Nice end to the challenge.

[Jacque T]

Complete: 9 October 2021