Top 10 (11 actually!) Book Covers From 2021

A few weeks ago Davida Chazan from The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog, posted her top five book covers of 2021. Her post inspired me to create my own end of year top 10. As you can see, I had trouble cutting it down to just 10 books!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58485952-the-tsarina-s-daughter

This book came to me as a competition win, the book cover is very attractive. It wasn’t until after I had finished reading it that I realised it was book #2 of a series. It’s about the Romanov family and is set in Russia during the 1700s. The writing flows well and I could effortlessly picture all the opulence and wealth, while it was also clear how starving and poor the rest of Russia’s citizens were.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49354511-the-dictionary-of-lost-words

Those pieces of word filled paper on the cover are such a big part of this story. If you love words then this book is a wonderful story. Based around the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, it begins in the late 1800s. I liked this story, particularly the detailed days in the scriptorium.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55928359-keep-walking-your-heart-will-catch-up

This book cover had me wanting to walk down its road. This book is a memoir and travelogue. Author Cathay O. Reta writes about her experience of walking the 483-mile Camino de Santiago trail across northern Spain. The scenery and the journey both physical and spiritual were very appealing.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57333061-the-music-of-bees

I love bees and this title called to me, the bees on the cover were an added bonus. This is a bee themed contemporary fiction set in the small American town of Hood River, Oregon. Each chapter began with a quotation from an old beekeeping book; they were prudent words which worked really well with the story.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55938053-the-lifeline

The model’s face on this book cover looks right at you and is very haunting, while the fishing boat is a vital part in this World-War-Two story. It takes place during the 1942 occupation of Norway, not a part of the war that I knew much about before reading this. It had all the gritty tension that I enjoy in this genre.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55518135-the-secret-life-of-albert-entwistle

There are a couple of different book covers for this book, but this is the one that I read. The post box says it all for me. This is the story of a postman and his search for the one person he loved and lost. A lovely, leisurely read for those who enjoy stories which focus on older characters.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55407903-the-willow-wren

The lone figure running under a sky of fighter aircraft made me want to know more about this book. The story is based on memories about Germany seen through the eyes of a young German boy, during the Second World War and for a few years after, in East Germany. Highly recommended.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56439404-i-thought-you-said-this-would-work

The cheerful yellow of this book cover suits the story inside the cover. It is contemporary fiction and involves a fun road trip, a dog and a more serious medical condition. Although a part of this story has a serious sad theme, it compliments the fun parts and works well.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56133968-a-secret-service

The young lady on the cover of this book spoke to me, she looks like she might be trying to behave. Rightly so, as standing up to the school bullies gets her into trouble. This is a contemporary young adult story set in Washington DC. There’s a freshness about some young adult stories and this one was an enjoyable story.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57679455-finding-freedom-in-the-lost-kitchen

The simplicity of this book cover reflects the ethos behind Erin French’s cooking. This book is the memoir of Erin French, owner and chef of The Lost Kitchen restaurant in Freedom, Maine which has now become a world-famous place to eat. It was a very inspiring read.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59130057-jenks

This book cover makes me want to ask questions. Who is the man with the gun? And who has the blue eyes? This is an action thriller which draws us into the murky world of secrets. Jenks is a professional assassin and a master of his game. I enjoyed reading this adventure.

What book covers have been your favourites this year?

Rosie’s #Bookreview Of #HistoricalFiction THE DICTIONARY OF LOST WORDS by Pip Williams @AffirmPress #TuesdayBookBlog

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

4.5 stars

The Dictionary Of Lost Words is historical fiction based around the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Beginning in the late 1800s, this is the author’s imagined story from a woman’s point of view.

Esme is raised by her father, a gifted lexicographer. While he works each day on words for the new dictionary, young Esme often sits under the table at the scriptorium. It’s just a garden shed in Oxford, but to Esme and the wordsmiths it is a place of learned reverence.

Each word begins on a slip of paper with its definition. Most words had several definitions, which needed to be verified, then edited, before a final decision made about inclusion or exclusion from the new dictionary.

‘Words are like stories. They change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said.’

Author Pip Williams has considered the methods of censorship around the words which made it to the final publication and those which did not, as well as considering how new words enter our vocabulary during our lives. Set against the background of the suffragette movement and World War One, Esme’s fascination with words drove the story forward. As she grew up she collected words that were used in everyday life, particularly those used by or about women, along with regional and slang words. Many of these words never made it into the dictionary, so Esme made her own collection of them so that they weren’t forgotten.

I liked this story, particularly the detailed days in the scriptorium. The slips of paper for each word conjured lovely pictures in my mind of beautiful old papers tied with string and slotted into the pigeon holes which kept them safe. I can only imagine the disaster if there had been a fire. I recommend this to anyone who has an interest in words and their origin or an interest in the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

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