![]() The audiobook versions kept me engaged with outstanding narration. All five helped me acknowledge my own feelings of heartache and loss with unique descriptions of the universal experience of human suffering. The authors’ literary voice, that thing that sets the tone for how the story resonates, brought both joy and heartache as the novels progressed. These books moved me with well-crafted prose. The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley.Fantastic Books Featuring Characters Grappling with Grief and Loss So here we go … 25 epic books that carried me through 2021. For a full list of what I’ve read recently, as well as the books I’ve publicly reviewed and recommended, please follow me on Goodreads or BookBub. That doesn’t diminish the achievements of authors I didn’t include, nor is it a slight against the fiftyish books I finished that I didn’t specifically mention in this post. The ones I’ve chosen to include here genuinely moved me and helped carry me through one of the most challenging seasons of my life. Voracious readers have strong opinions, myself included. There will always be superlatives attached to certain books that some readers will not agree with. So here’s my take regarding “Best of” and “Favorite” book lists: reading is a subjective experience. Yet there’s a risk that comes with declaring one author’s work superior to another. We’re nosy and we don’t want to miss out on a really great book. Let’s be honest, that’s why these year-end lists are created and shared. This is such a fascinating time to be alive, isn’t it? One one hand, we all want “the best” of everything. Finally, I read for encouragement, because when I read the work of phenomenal authors, I’m inspired to be a better writer. Hope is the foundation of my spiritual life, so I was also drawn to books that strengthened my faith. (That goes back to that reading to know we’re not alone thing). In 2021, I read because in some way, I wanted reassurance that suffering is a universal human experience. For me, I’ve learned that I read when I want/need to escape. ![]() ![]() Understanding why we read and how we choose our books is important. In my 35 years of being an avid reader, the past 18 months have most definitely been about finding community among books and readers. I looked for books featuring characters who were dealing with heartbreak and staggering loss. In the months following my father’s death, grief heavily influenced my reading life. I’ve heard it said that we read to know we’re not alone. ![]()
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