Book Wrap-up For 2021

2021 has finally come to a close, and after some lulls in reading here and there during this weird and unsettled year, I have sped up in my consumption of books in its last months. For a while there, I was uncertain (and worried!) that I would not even break twenty books by year's end, but as it's turned out, I passed that with relative ease, reaching an even 24 reads for the year.

I posted my list of books read "so far" in 2021 in early October. A bit premature, perhaps, but with the year now over, it's fitting that I slip in my entries for the last few months of 2021.

I must admit that I started a book back in October, but have put it on hold for a bit. The title is Drood, a massive work of historical horror fiction by Dan Simmons which I find to be a real slog. That guy needed an editor on that one! Good, intriguing tale, but it is so weighed down by lengthy passages that really aren't advancing the story that I often lose patience over it. I'm a little over halfway through, and I don't hate the book, so I feel compelled to complete it in the near future.

So here are the remaining books I've read this year (since early October):

Meant For This, by Erica Wernick - great advice for creative people to get back into the game or to move things up to the next level

The Gray and Guilty Sea, by Scott William Carter - solid mystery story and characters, but has serious editing issues

The Last Bookshop in London, Madeline Martin - intriguing at first but falls prey to melodrama

Young Bond: Silverfin, Charlie Higson - kid James Bond, pre-spy, in a light adventure. Okay.

A Desperate Place For Dying, Scott William Carter - despite writing/editing missteps, a likable protagonist and cast of characters

The Target, David Baldacci - another light thriller in the CIA hitman series. Pretty fun.

Runnin' With the Devil, Noel Monk - excellent Van Halen biography by the band's early tour manager turned band manager. A complete tell-all with all the dirt and details.