I read 73 books in 2021, 5 less than 2020 and 7 less than my goal. It was that kind of a year. The oldest book I read was published in 1988 (The Silence of the Lambs) and the newest was recently published in 2021 (Fear No Evil). I rated 20 a 5/5, including the following books. These are the top ten books I read, in no particular order
Impact Players by Liz Wiseman (2021) After writing about managers who get the most out of their employees in Multipliers, a terrific management book, Wiseman switches her focus to the employees. Most of us, even managers, are employees. We work for others. But what kind of players are we? Are we regular contributors, who do our work and go home, under-contributors, who don't achieve our potential? Or are we (or want to be) impact players, who regularly make a significant impact for our organizations? Wiseman compares and contrasts impact players and regular performers and shows us how we can rise above the pack and become impact players. It's an inspiring book and worth a read if you are still in the workplace.
Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Been and Roger Fisher (2010) 2021 was a tough year for me, with some painful conflicts that are still unresolved. One prompted me to get some counseling/therapy and those discussions led me to focus on how I handled difficult conversations. This book, from the Harvard team that wrote the famous negotiation book, Getting to Yes, has helped me a lot. The authors focus on working through the three conversations: the what happened conversation, the feeling conversation, and the identity conversation. By focusing on contribution rather than blame, recognizing that we have both contrbibuted to the issue, we can embark on a learning conversation, seeking to understand the other's position and sharing our own before problem-solving. This edition was the 10-year anniversary reprint, so the book has stood the test of time.
Bring Me Back by B. A. Paris (2018) This psychological suspense thriller focuses on three main characters, Finn, Layla and her sister Ellen. Finn and Layla were deeply in love and returning home to London from France, when Layla disappears without trace at a service station restroom. Fast forwards ten years, and Finn is now engaged to Ellen, Layla's sister. But shortly before their marriage, someone spots Layla. And other strange things start happening. Is Layla alive? Can Finn bring her back? Does he want her back? How will Ellen feel when she finds this out? Paris keeps the plot moving in this page-turner.
Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll (2021) This is another psychological thriller focused on family. It's university graduation day for Gemma Hartley. Her parents Rachel and Ed are thrilled to have VIP seats for the cathedral ceremony and this happiest of days. But as Gemma walks across the stage to get her diploma, she stumbles. She has been shot. Chaos ensues. Private Investigator Matthew Hill is first on the scene and helps bring calm and order, later gets involved in the police investigation. But is the Hartley family really as perfect as they seemed? Why was Gemma targeted? While she lays in a coma in a hospital-bed, her would-be killer is on the loose ready to try again.
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (2021) Adam and Amelia Wright seem stuck in their marriage. So, when they win a weekend away in Scotland it appears an answer to prayer. But the Scottish escape is not to a resort, but to an isolated church-turned home. To add to the plot, Adam suffers from facial blindness, so he cannot recognize people, not even Amelia. Every year, they exchange a traditional gift (paper, cotton, pottery, etc.) for their anniversary, while she writes a letter that he never gets to read. This anniversary is a make-or-break for them. But there are other characters that are behind the scenes, or even hidden, who will have a say in the life-or-death of this marriage and of these characters.
Playing Nice by JP Delaney (2020 Pate and Maddie Riley have a lovely little boy. That is, until Miles Lambert shows up on his London doorstep with some devastating news. Their sons were switched at birth in the hospital two years before. As the two families try to move forwards in an unconventional manner, a lawsuit and an official investigation unearth disturbing questions. Who is playing nice in this psychological thriller about families with secrets and shocking intentions?
Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams (2021) I discovered Taylor Adams a couple of years ago in the tremendous No Exit. His latest book is another full-throttle thriller, about estranged twin sisters. One, Cambry Nguyen, drove to Hairpin Bridge outside Missoula, Montana, and jumped 200 feet to her death. The other, Lena, doesn't buy this official story. Why were there sixteen 911 calls before her suicide? Why was she pulled over an hour before her death why cop Corporal Raycevac? What really happened? Lena is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery by interviewing Raycevac and they both return to Hairpin Bridge.
Eyeshot by Taylor Adams (2014) Here's another gripping, edge-of-your seat thriller, by Adams, his debut novel. A couple is traveling through the Mojave desert on their way to start a new life when their car mysteriously breaks down. Without cell phone service and little water, they are in trouble. More disturbing is the sniper who has them in his cross-hairs from a mile out. Pinning them down, they have nowhere to go and no one to help them. Taylor Adams is definitely an author to watch!
Billy Summers by Stephen King (2021) What's a top reads list without a Stephen King book? And talking about snipers, Billy Summers is a war vet and sniper. But he's put his skills to work as an assassin, a hit man who will kill as long as he is killing those who deserve to die. So, an assassin with morals. For his latest and last job, he has to wait in small town America, taking the disguise of a writer. But he starts writing his story, his memoir. As he does so, he realizes he has one last shot at love and redemption. Summers is a complex character, an antihero who becomes a hero. And Billy Summers is a multi-layered propulsive thriller, with a touch of loving romance and hint of hard-boiled noir. Definitely a satisfying read from the king of writing.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018) One of my daughters college friends recommended this book, and it turned out to be my favorite read of 2021. It's intriguing tagline says it all: A murder mystery novel inspired by Agatha Christie with a dash of Groundhog Day and a hint of Quantum Leap and Downton Abbey. Could the book really live up to this? Yes, it did. This is a mystery, but with a number of twists. Not the least of which is the protagonist. At first he doesn't even know his name (Aiden Bishop). When we first meet Bishop, he is someone else, a guest at a strangely awkward dinner party. What we learn later, is that Bishop is inhabiting the body of this guest. And each day he will inhabit the body of another guest for 7 more days. Unless, he can solve the mystery of the murder of Eveyln Hardcastle, who keeps dying each night. But why must he do this? Why is this happening? It takes a bit to get into the story but once the plot is clear, it is engrossing with twist after twist. If you like mysteries of any kind, this is a must-read.
