Maribeth Barber Albritton

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Do any of y’all have a Goodreads account? Because if anyone ever asked me to rank my social media apps from Most Useful to Least Useful, my Goodreads account would be at the very top of my Most Useful list.

Thanks to Goodreads, I keep track of all the books I read throughout the year…and I read 31 books in 2020!!! That’s three more than I read in 2019! Now, four of those books were comic books (a fact for which I shan’t apologize, especially since Goodreads considered them legit entries). But I still read some pretty hefty selections–and thanks to an unpleasant struggle with insomnia, I stayed up later and got to read more consistently than I ever have before.

Here is the full list of all my reading in 2020 (minus 1/3 of Les Miserables, which kept me entertained during the first two weeks of December):

1. Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham
2. Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay (re-read)
3. Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
5. The Enlightenment of Bees by Rachel Linden
6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi by Jason Fry
7. The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
8. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by Rae Carson
9. The Rise of Kylo Ren Volume 1 by Charles Soule
10. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (re-read)
11. The Rise of Kylo Ren Volume 2 by Charles Soule
12. The Rise of Kylo Ren Volume 3 by Charles Soule
13. The Rise of Kylo Ren Volume 4 by Charles Soule
14. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (re-read)
15. The Rule of Saint Benedict by Saint Benedict of Nursia
16. Cress by Marissa Meyer (re-read)
17. Circe by Madeline Miller (audiobook)
18. Winter by Marissa Meyer (re-read)
19. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
20. Circe by Madeline Miller (hardcover version)
21. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
22. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
23. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (audiobook)
24. Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (re-read)
25. Accidental Theologians by Elizabeth A. Dreyer
26. The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (re-read)
27. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (re-read)
28. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (re-read)
29. The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
30. Valiant by Sarah McGuire (re-read)
31. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (re-read)

But out of those thirty-one books, which ones would I actually recommend to you, my merry readers?

It really depends on what you’re looking for, but the following titles are the ones I enjoyed the most and highly recommend if these topics and/or genres interest you. (And remember, {*} after a link indicates an Amazon affiliate link!  If you make any purchase on Amazon through one of these marked links, you’re supporting A Writer’s Tale at no additional cost!)

• Midnight in Chernobyl*. After watching HBO’s fantastic miniseries on the 1986 Ukrainian nuclear disaster, I couldn’t stop reading about it. This is an excellent, informative book that reads more like a story than a dry, dull historical text. You can read my review of the Chernobyl miniseries here.
• The Enlightenment of Bees*. This delightful contemporary tale made me cry–and I hardly ever cry for books. This novel, however, spoke to some of the tender places in my creative, idealistic heart and reminded me that “many small things make the world a brighter and happier place.” You can read my full review of this book here.
• Cinder*, Scarlet*, Cress*, & Winter*. The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer gives the stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White the dystopian sci-fi treatment, and it is awesome. My own novel, Operation Lionhearted, would not exist without the inspiration these books gave me when I first read them back in 2016–and they only get better with each re-read!
• Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren*. A nerdy recommendation, to be sure, but if you’re a fan of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy like m’self, this comic (written by Charles Soule and beautifully illustrated by Will Sliney) is a must-read. I’ve referenced back to it many times while writing my own Star Wars fanfiction.
• Circe*. This is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling, well-written, haunting, and beautiful novels I have ever read in my entire life–and I do not say that lightly. The audiobook, read by Perdita Weeks, is incredible. You can read my full review of this novel here.
• Accidental Theologians*. When I was in desperate need of some relatable role models, this book about the four female Doctors of the Church–Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and Thérèse of Lisieux–came to the rescue. You can read my full review of this book here.
• The Right to Write*. It took me six months to make my way through this one, but I didn’t mind: I needed time to process Julia Cameron’s empowering, practical advice for writers like myself! I can’t recommend this book highly enough to my fellow storytellers.

Last but not least…what about my 2021 reading goals? What do they look like?

Well, thanks to some supplements and better sleep hygiene, I’m nodding off by 10 PM and no longer reading at quite the same breathless pace! But here’s a peek at the books I still want to read (or, in the case of Bloodline and Periwinkle, have already read) in 2021:

• Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray (review incoming!)
• Periwinkle by Jordan Durbin (which I beta-read last year and reviewed here)
• A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle by Sarah Arthur
• The Merry Rise of Skywalker by Ian Doescher
• The Interior Castle by Saint Teresa of Avila
• The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
• The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
• The Story of With by Allen Arnold
• Everything is Yours by Kris Camealy
• Sensing God by Joel Clarkson
• Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson
• The rest of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay
• Romanov by Nadine Brandes

So what about you? What are your reading goals for 2021? Let me know what you’re reading or planning on reading in the comments section! I’m always up for some new recommendations 😉