Best Books of 2021 - Outside-In

I set a goal of reading 50 books this year; unfortunately, I have fallen short. Never mind. I’m not an overly competitive person (even against myself), so don’t feel like a failure for having knocked off 34 books.

These are the best ones I read this year:

Anxious People: A Novel, by Fredrik Backman

A quirky mystery full of quirky characters and unexpected plot twists on nearly every page.

The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway

A haunting story of a cellist who plays on the streets of war-torn Sarajevo. Who is he? Why does he risk his life everyday to play when snipers in the hills are randomly killing people in the streets?

Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice, by Chris Wallace

A nearly day-by-day account of the decisions that were made once bin Laden’s hideout was discovered.

Dust and Devotion: The Memoir of a Missionary Doctor in Pakistan, by Mary Wilder

I loved this book by Dr. Mary Wilder, known to me growing up (and still today) as simply Auntie Mary. It’s the story of her work as a surgeon in a women’s hospital in a small city in Pakistan. Thanks for writing this, Auntie Mary!

Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II, by Vicki Constantin Croke,

Who doesn’t love a story about elephants? Bill Williams starts out in Burma working with logging elephants. When WW2 breaks out, he forms his own elephant company that will help the British defeat Japan in Burma.

Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, by Simon Winchester

Only Winchester would attempt to tell the story of land. What is it exactly? Who owns it? How does it influence society. This was a great book to listen to while driving across The Great Plains!

The Splendid and the Vile, by A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, by Erik Larson

This is the story of Churchill leading the British people through the Blitz. It’s amazing.

The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, by Elizabeth Economy

An overview of the political and economic changes that have taken place in China under the rule of Xi Jinping.

West With the Night, by Beryl Markham

Markham was one of the earliest female pilots, spending most of her career flying people and goods around East Africa. She was also the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to West in 1936, crash-landing on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. This is her autobiography, and boy can this bush pilot write!