The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts, by Joshua Hammer
Another nonfiction! Yay me! Another book I was reading intermittently for months. This is a really interesting history of Timbuktu as a North African cultural center, of Abdel Kader Haidara’s efforts to collect ancient manuscripts from the desert, and the efforts he went to in 2011/2012 to keep the manuscripts from the invading Al Qaeda guerilla army. Tightly written and action-packed read about saving the books! Also, a really good description of Al Qaeda’s activity during that time.
 
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson
I had a taped from TV movie version of this book that I watched a lot as a kid. I don’t think I read the book version, but I was in the mood. It’s a quick, delightful story about a church Christmas Pageant that seems to be going all wrong, until it goes beautifully right.
 
Hens Dancing, by Raffaella Barker
I had to hunt down this book after hearing about it in a Georgette Heyer facebook discussion. In diary format, a woman recounts a year as a newly single mom living on a rural homestead. From her disgust at her ex to her wacky mother to a blossoming romance with a local builder, Venetia (yes, named after the Heyer heroine) gives us the highs and lows in one of the lowest years of her life. A delight.
 
I Hope You’re Listening, by Tom Ryan
When Dee was seven, her best friend was kidnapped in front of her. Now 17, she’s still struggling with that trauma, running a successful podcast about other missing people. When another girl is kidnapped from her old home, new information about her friend’s kidnapping comes to light. This leads her to hunt down the people who might have taken her and to finally get the answers she has always been seeking. Really good YA mystery. I enjoyed the audio.
 
Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty
Unlike Stephen King, I get why Liane Moriarty is so popular. Her stories are seemingly straightforward, but stick with you for awhile afterwards. She writes people—their thoughts and underlying feelings—really well.
 
Merry Inkmas, by Talia Hibbert
A (guilty) pleasure. I do like Hibbert’s romances, even though they are a little too steamy for me. When Bailey loses her job because she’s kind to a homeless man. Cash steps in and hires her as the receptionist at his tattoo parlor. They had the hots for each other before they start to see each other every day and now the thermometer is maxing out. 

​Cackle, by Rachel Harrison
Devastated from being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start in a small village in Upstate New York. The town is almost too good to be true. When Annie meets Sophie, an ageless beauty with a strange hold over the townspeople, she immediately wants to become her best friend. As they grow closer, Annie begins to realize that Sophie might be more than she could imagine. This is a great story about owning oneself even if it means incurring the wrath of others. Watching Annie go from a depressed nothing to a self-confident woman is a delight. The only scary thing in the book is the spiders, but they are really friendly.
 
The Best Man, by Richard Peck
I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I heard it had been banned because two men marry each other in it. This is such a heart-warming story. Archer tells the story about two weddings. The first when he meets his best friend when he’s six and the second when his uncle marries his former student teacher. In between we get to read about Archer’s experience at school, with other kids, and with his beloved grandfather. I really liked how the idea of gay marriage is introduced—Archer is a little dense when it comes to other’s feelings—it never occurring to him that his uncle and teacher have feelings for each other. A really great story.
 
The Great Bear, by David O. Robertson
I read the first book in this series, The Barren Ground, last year and really enjoyed it. I listened to this book and, I have to say, this is an excellent series so far. Eli and Morgan have spent every night of the last few weeks visiting Misewa, the magical otherworld of Cree folklore. But when their foster parents forbid them from going to the attic at night they are bereft. So they sneak into the attic during the day, wind up going to Misewa in the past, and helping to subdue the Great Bear that wants to destroy their village. [Side note: at the bookstore a girl was asking for books by indigenous authors in YA. I showed her Darcie Little Badger’s books, but seeing that she was about 12, I took her to the middle grade section to show her these books. When I described the books, she beamed. She too had been a foster kid and is native American. Made my heart grow.]
 
Confessions of a Bookseller, by Shaun Blythell
This was my bedtime read for awhile. Shuan runs a bookstore in Wigtown, Scotland. The book is a diary of a year of running his store. It was good, but not great. Shaun himself is a bit of a curmudgeon and not always that interesting. But his interactions with customers—both sellers and buyers—is where the story is great.
 
Murder Under Her Skin, by Stephen Spotswood
Another audio book. This is the second in a mystery series and follows two lady detectives in 1946 as they travel to North Carolina to help solve a murder of a circus’s tattooed lady. Willowjean Parker had been a part of the circus before joining Lilian Pentecost in New York as a detective, so this case is personal to her. Nicely written mystery and the two leads were compelling, so much so that I might read the first book in the series. (Though there were some anachronisms that were tough to ignore. Such as using the phone to dial direct to New York. Exchanges were still very much in use in 1946.)
 
‘Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King
I just don’t get why Stephen King is so famous. I’ve read three and half of his books now and while they’re good, they’re not great. I don’t think they are terribly scary either. I supposed this version of vampires in the mid 1970s was new for its time, but I just wasn’t scared. It was fine, except for all the references to women’s jahoobies. Maybe I’ll try reading something newer next time. 

I didn't quite meet my 2020 numbers (121 to 125) and I didn't read at least one nonfiction book a month. I got fairly close, nine nonfiction books. For 2022, I'm going to again try for one nonfiction a month as well as trying to read more marginal authors and more translated works. I only read 44 works by POC, LGBTQA+, or disabled authors. Only five translated works--that's a poor showing. However, three-quarters of the books I read were written by women. 

Here's a breakdown of my reading by genre:

I'm surprised I read so much fantasy. I mean, I've actively been trying to read other genres. Although, I am pleased with how many horror I read last year.

My top 5 Kids/YA books of the year are:
Game Changer, by Neal Shusterman
The Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao 
The Ghost Road, by Charis Cotter
The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher
The Insiders, by Mark Oshiro

My top 10 Adult books of the year are:
Motorcyles & Sweetgrass, by Drew Hayden Taylor     My Brilliant Life, by Kim Ae-ran
A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay                  The Last House on Needless Street, by Catriona Ward
Mirrorland, by Carole Johnstone                              The Lost Village, by Camilla Sten 
The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware             Miss Buncle's Book, by D.E. Stevenson
The Fisherman, by John Langan                              One Last Stop, by Casey McQuiston