Photo: Chris Emeott
Do you have a favorite quote from a book? Are there words that you can read over and over and still find fresh layers of meaning? Recently, I found myself drawn back to words written by E. B. White (Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little). Don’t discount children’s literature! There is a lot of wisdom in White’s books. My favorite authors tend to change with whatever season of life I am experiencing.
Over the course of the previous year and spilling into 2021, the way in which many of us spent our time was drastically altered, and we found ourselves with open spaces in our schedules. Time on our hands affords the perfect opportunity to fill them with a good book. Whether recent local and world events led you toward entertainment, escapism or introspection, the worlds of fiction and nonfiction books can quench just about any literary thirst.
Ann Woodbeck, owner of Excelsior Bay Books, lists some of the local store’s biggest sellers in the last year. Is one of your favorites on the list? What title did you consume this year that qualifies as a must-read?
Nonfiction
A Promised Land, Barack Obama
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coatesc
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
Stamped, Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Stamped from the Beginning, Ibram X. Kendi
The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson
Fiction
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, C. A. Fletcher
All the Devils are Here, Louise Penny
Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
Ready Player Two, Ernest Cline
The Evening and The Morning, Ken Follet
The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
Children’s
In a Jar, Deborah Marcero
One Summer Up North, John Owens
Middle Grade
Cat Kid Comic Club, Dav Pilkey
The Ickabog, J.K. Rowling
The Kingdom of Wrenly (series), Jordan Quinn and Robert McPhillips
The One and Only Bob, Katherine Applegate
Wings of Fire (series), Tui T. Sutherland
