FAVORITE NON-FICTION OF 2021

 

Courtesy of Enclave Publishing

Yesterday, I shared my favorite fiction books of this year. Today, I'm dealing with non-fiction. I mentioned I had a goal of reading 12 such books, and came just short of doubling that target.

Since a lot of the fiction authors I read are friends on Facebook, and I don't want any to think I like another author better than them, I put the lists in alphabetic order by author. I usually don't have that situation with non-fiction writers, I am quicker to put them in order from my favorite and down. This year, I did some debating. Partly because I do know one of the authors on my list personally and that my wife has met another. And while there might be books I want to promote and have everybody read it, this year I'm hoping you will consider getting (or at least checking out and reading) all ten of these.

I mentioned earlier this week that I reread three non-fiction books. I debated considering them in my top ten list, and if i did, all three would be in the top ten. All three of them, by the way, made my list the first time I read them.  So I decided to leave them off the list. But which books are they? I'll gladly tell you. They're, in alphabetic order by title:

1. Getting to Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction (2nd edition) by Bryan Litfin. (My previous listing may have been from the 1st edition.)
2. Living The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney.
   
3. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. 

So here is my list of non-fiction for this year:

1. Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers. 
   
2. Beyond Poverty: Multiplying Sustainable Community Development by Terry Dalrymple.
3. Calling on the Name of the Lord: A Biblical Theology of Prayer by J. Gary Millar (New Studies in Biblical Theology, No. 38).
   
4. Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth: 12 Questions Christians Should Ask About Social Justice by Thaddeus J. Williams.
5. Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God's People by Matt Merker (9Marks: Building Healthy Churches).
   
6. The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ by Randy Singer.
7. Facing Snarls and Scowls: Preaching through Hostility, Apathy, and Adversity in Church Revitalization by Brian Croft and James B. Carroll.
8. Faith Seeking Freedom: Christian Libertarian Answers to Tough Questions by Dr. Norman Horn, Doug Stuart, Kerry Baldwin, and Dick Clark.
9. Voice of a Prophet: Who Speaks For God? by A.W. Tozer.
10. When Faith is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians by Todd Nettleton. 

You'll notice that unlike my fiction list, all I gave on this list is the title, author, and if applicable the series it's in. That's because in the case of nine of them, you can tell what the book is about with just the title and subtitle. The exception is #6, The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ, which has no subtitle. The book is written by attorney and pastor Randy Singer, and looks at key confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees.

If you want to know the order I placed them, yell, and I'll let you know. And if you've been a faithful follower of this blog and have been reading all the entries for at least the past four days, you'll know which one was number one.

Which books have you read and been blessed by? Which of these have you read? Which ones will be on the top of your reading list? And which one of these is written by an author that has shown up frequently on my favorite fiction lists?

FAVORITE FICTION OF 2021

 

Courtesy of Enclave Publishing

In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that this was a strange year, and it is reflected in my novel reading. I'll be listing my ten favorites in alphabetic order (as usual). What's not usual is that I'm limiting it to ten, and not moving it up to twelve or fifteen. Sometimes, I keep it down by reading two or more in a series and counting them together. Not this year.

I usually keep track of three things in my novel reading - comparing male authors to female (the latter usually dominating), the number of new-to-me authors compared to ones I've previously read, and the division of genres. The first division is 20 female authors (24 books) to 3 male authors (3 books) - a few less men than normal. For the first time, previously read novelists overwhelmed the new ones - 19 to 4 (normally they have a narrow lead). 

Genres? Normally, it is balanced between mystery, suspense, and speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror). This year, out of 28 books, one was speculative, four were mysteries, and three were none-of-the-above. With the other 20 falling in the realm of suspense, 18 of those were Harlequin's Love-Inspired Suspense.

So here's my list, in alphabetic order:

1. Arctic Christmas Ambush by Sherri Shackleford. A young lady in the Witness Protection program has just witnessed another murder - related? Or not? That's in the mind of her and her Alaska State Trooper ex-boyfriend as they're stranded in a lodge by storm and avalanche with the killer (and a batch of sled dogs with an adorable runt of a puppy).
2. The Dog That Whispered by Jim Kraus. What do you do when you feel you need to adopt a Labrador Retriever but you're in a nursing home that won't let her keep him? Why, of course, you call up your middle aged bachelor son and have him take care of the dog. By the way, the dog told the lady he agreed with that set up. And naturally the son knows it's impossible for the dog to communicate with humans, even though the dog seems to be whispering things to him.
3. Explosive Situation by Terri Reed. Henry Roarke is being investigated for excessive youth of force by Internal Affairs officer Olivia Vance, when he is notified about a bomb threat, right where his teenage (and orphaned) sister is. On the plus side, he has an adorable bomb-sniffing Beagle partner. But how does he catch the bomber while being investigated and taking care of his sister who thinks he's overbearing? This part four of the eight part series "True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn; it's a collection of novels which have their own story but also have a trio of threads overarching the series; each book is written by a different author.
   
4. Fatal Identity by Jodie Bailey. This is the sixth book I've read by Bailey (though I'll be honest and admit that one is a combination of two novellas, with Valerie Hansen writing the other). In this story, Alex "Rich" Richardson prevents the abduction of friend Dana Santiago. But why does her boss question if she's working with an infamous drug cartel? And why are her would-be kidnappers calling her "Danna", a name that she's called only in her nightmares? NOTE: This is the third of a series. I read the first a couple of years ago (Mistaken Twin, which was in my 2019 favorites list) and missed part 2 (Hidden Twin), but you can enjoy this without reading the other two.
   
5. Fugitive Trail by Elizabeth Goddard. How can you not love Samson the mastiff in this exciting story? Deputy Sierra Young and Samson go up to see if there's survivors in a helicopter crash. It turns out that the occupants were escaped killers, who have a vendetta against Sierra. One dies in the crash, but the other is at large. Technically, this is the third of the three part series "K-9 Mountain Guardians." This "trilogy," written by different authors, have different settings (except they're all in mountains) and no characters in common. 
   
6. The Keeper of the Stone: Of Saints and Chieftains by Donna Fletcher Crow. Most of what I read by Crow (who is currently #2 on my most read novelist behind only Agatha Christie, though that won't last long) are mysteries. This book is definitely historical. It starts looking at a trio of contemporary 20 somethings and an older storyteller, but the bulk of the book is on St. Columba in the 500's, establishing a monastery in Scotland. First in her ten volume Celtic Cross series, with part 1 (volumes 1-4) taking place in Scotland and part 2 in Ireland.
   
7. Mountain Survival by Christy Barritt. Derek Peterson is seeking help on the mountain for his injured brother when he meets ranger Autumn Mercer and her Australian Shpeherd partner Sherlock. But when they return to the site, they found blood, no brother, and someone shooting at them. If that's not enough, they have storms, floods, and wildcats to deal with. This is part of another series-in-name-only.
   
8. Night Fall by Nancy Mehl. Part one of the Quantico files. Behavioral Analyst (aka profiler) Alex Donavan is called in to a series of murders by a serial killer calling himself "The Train" man, and spraying quotes from a cult group her aunt belonged to. Can Alex and the rest of her team stop "The Train Man" from unleashing a virus that would make COVID seem like the common cold? NOTES - first novel I've read to mention COVID. Also, the book I mentioned that I'm reading is part 2 of this series, which will put Nancy Mehl in a tie for second with Donna Crow.
9. Scene of the Crime by Sharon Dunn. Forensic specialist Darcy Fields is scheduled to testify in a murder case. So of course someone's trying to discredit her and kill her, and the stalker is ready to take out her protector Jackson Davison and his trust K-9 partner Smokey. Very exciting story. Like Explosive Situation, above, this is part of the eight part series "True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn; it's a collection of novels which have their own story but also have a trio of threads overarching the series; each book is written by a different author. Scene of the Crime is part six.
   
10. Through Chaos by Joshua A. Johnston. The thrilling conclusion to the epic trilogy "The Sarco Chronicles". Yes, the term "epic" is often overused, but have you ever heard me use it before? This series fits the description, looking at a federation of five planets ...well, until recently. The threat is Dar, who has faced some defeats but holds that while their bodies are free for the moment, their souls belong to him.  NOTE: Another item on my list, like this was the end of a trilogy. While you don't need to read that other one (Fatal Identity) in order, you. Need. To. Read. This. Trilogy. In. Order.

I had thought of asking if you could figure out which of these are Love Inspired Suspense stories (which six of the ten are), but I have a hunch it's fairly easy. 

Do you have any favorite novels you've read this year? Any of you read any on my list? What do you think of them?

JEFF'S 12 FAVORITE FICTION WORKS OF 2020.

 This year, I read 27 novels written by 22 authors. For those interested in statistics, a whopping 21 of the authors are ladies, and 12 of the authors were ones I never read before (one of which I read two novels). As far as genre, 8 were mysteries, 14 were suspense/romantic suspense, and 5 were speculative.

You notice the title said "fiction works" as opposed to "novels." I sometimes struggle with series, and I read parts of 5 series this year. Some of the series were basically a collection of stand-alone novels where it's easy to decide which you like better, and I count each of those novels separately. However, two series were actually big multi-part stories, and one was similar enough in style that I counted those series as a single entry.

One enjoyable thing about this year is that I was able to resume three series that didn't have any new books in them for 4-5 years, including two of my all time favorite series.
As usual, this list is in alphabetic order by title.

1. Act Of Valor by Dana Mentink (True Blue K-9 Unit, part 2). I loved the villain in this story. I also learned that Beagle is French for Big Mouth.
   
2. Against All Fierce Hostility by Donna Fletcher Crowe (The Monastery Murders, part 6). Felecity witnessed a murder in England. But she and her husband Father Antony don't have to worry about the killer as they take a scenic train across Canada. You wouldn't expect the murderer to cross the ocean with them, would you?
   
3. Amish Werewolves of Space by Kerry Nietz (Peril In Plain Space, part 3). Would you believe this series is serious sci-fi? Would you believe it is a good book on building community? If not, it's obvious you haven't read this great series yet. Shame on you. And my tongue is in its proper position as I'm typing this, not in my cheek as you'd suppose.
   
4. Blind Trust by Laura Scott (True Blue K-9 Unit, part 3). A dog trainer who's losing her eyesight is working on a puppy to be her guide dog ... till it gets kidnapped. Good thing a handsome police officer and his Golden Lab are up to the task.
   
5. Cards on the Table by Agatha Chrisie. One of four Poirot novels I read this year (three by Christie, plus the first written by Sophie Hannah). The Belgian detective with three other good guys are invited to dinner by a flamboyant troublemaker with his "tiger collection": four people he considers to be murderers who got away with it. Of course, you know what one problem with a tiger collection is, don't you?
   
6. Cat-groomer Mysteries, parts 1 and 2 (The Persian Always Meows Twice, The Bengal Identity) by Eileen Watkins. A delightful mystery series. Not Christian fiction, but safe reading.
   
7. Dead End by Nancy Mehl (Kaely Quinn Profiler, part 3). The nail biting conclusion of this suspenseful series, where Kaley confronts her serial killer father during a string of copy-cat murders.
   
8. Fatal Reunion by Jessica Patch. Piper runs a karate studio. She can take care of herself. She doesn't need God or her policeman ex-boyfriend. Right? You aren't buying that either?
   
9. The Firebrand Chronicles, parts 2 and 3 (Flare, Burn) by J. M. Hackman. I loved this YA fantasy series, which focuses on Brenna James and includes my hero, the gryphon Arvandus.
   
10. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie. Was the mother guilty of the murder she was executed for over a decade ago? Her daughter asks Poirot to solve this, with Poirot interviewing the five eyewitnesses to what happened.
    
11. Seeking The Truth by Terri Reed (True Blue K-9 Unit, part 5). No spoilers here, but this was my favorite in this series (I read installments #2-7 of this 8 part series).
    
12. Tales of Faeraven, parts 3 and 4 (Sojourner, Dawn King) by Janalyn Voigt. An exciting conclusion to this fantasy series.

How many of these books have you read? Any that you'd like to try? Any novels you loved reading?