Books Read: 1st Quarter 2021

I set a reading goal for 2021 of 24 books. That means reading 2 books per month. So far I am on track as I finished 6 books for the 1st quarter of the year. Here are the books I read.

1) How Far Can You Go?: My 25 Year Quest to Walk Again by John Maclean with Mark A. Tabb - the author of the book was paralyzed when he was hit by a truck while training for a triathlon. He then becomes the first paralyzed person to complete the Ironman Triathlon and swim the English channel. The book is very interesting and he manages to tell his story without being to preachy about his methods.

2) The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor - I loved this book. It is a fairly typical romance story with an interesting premise. The main character is bitten by a shark when she is 13 and that begins a life long obsession with the animals. Although the story is a bit predictable the wonderful setting makes up for it.

3) Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison - I loved the premise of the book. The main character returns to the beach house where her husband passed away 3 years previously to get it ready to sell. While there she starts seeing his spirit and he tells her that he is there to help her move on with her life. It was a good book but reading about a widow made me a bit sad because I tend to put myself in the characters place and I could not imagine losing my hubby. 

4) As Close to Us as Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner - my 3rd beach story in a row. I guess the dark days of January and February had me wishing for warmer weather. This is the story of a Jewish family in 1948 Connecticut as they go through their yearly summer trip to their beach house and deal with a tragedy. This book was a bit heavier than my usual fare but I enjoyed it. It does jump around to different time frames which doesn't bother me but I know a lot of people don't like.

5) Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana - I really loved this book. The premise of the book is that astronomers find another planet that seems to be a mirror of ours which causes people to question their lives. It is sci-fi without being to sci-fi if that makes sense. It is more a character study of a teenage girl who finds her life turned upside down and how she deals with it,

6) If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales - this book is very powerful and timely. With our society's obsession with cancel culture this is an interesting look into how people who are cancelled deal with the issue. It made me think about social media and how, while it is great in many way, it can be abused.