Today’s 31 Days of Blogging prompt is “top 5 books” so I thought I’d recommend five books — both quilting and non-quilting — that I enjoyed this year. I set a goal on GoodReads to finished 25 books this year, which is ambitious for me. I didn’t expect to get there, and I probably won’t. But I HAVE finished 22 books already, and with probably one more to go before the end of the year, I’ll finished 23! That’s more than I’ve read in any recent year.
(And weirdly, I don’t usually “count” quilting books or picture books on GoodReads, and two of the books on my list below are in those categories. So if you add in those two, that’s 25!)
Walk 2.0 by Jacquie Gehring. I wrote last year about how Walk is my favorite quilting book of all time. Well, now there’s a sequel! I was excited to go to the book release party during QuiltCon in February and get my signed copy early. Both books are full of complex looking but deceptively simple quilting motifs, along with tons of great tips and techniques for walking foot quilting.
Interior Space by Paolo Nespoli and Roland Miller This book — a collaboration between Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and photographer Roland Miller — is chock full of gorgeous shots of the International Space Station, the interiors of its many modules, the view through the cupola windows (seen above), and even older photos of hardware on the ground before it arrived in orbit. This book is admittedly not for everyone, but I absolutely love it.
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas I really enjoyed Thomas’s previous novel The Hate U Give, and looked forward to this one. The story takes place in the same neighborhood and time frame, but we meet a totally new slate of characters. The main character, Bri, felt very genuine in her feelings and struggles. Overall, one of my favorite reads from this year.
Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien I previously read The Lord of the Rings trilogy back in 2000-2001, and when Jose picked them up this year (for the first time ever!) I decided it was time for a re-read myself. I recall liking the books the first time, but I really loved them this time around. There are problematic parts — the lack of any significant female characters, the weirdly servile relationship Sam has with Frodo — but I’m willing to look past all that and enjoy the story. All three parts are good, but Fellowship of the Ring is my favorite.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah This book had been on my “to read” list for a couple years, and it didn’t disappoint. The stories from Noah’s childhood and young adult years in South Africa are heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. My knowledge of apartheid is/was minimal — basically, I knew it was awful. This book made me want to learn more.
p.s. I’m doing a 31 day blogging challenge.
