A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge. I got this first book in Goudge’s Torminster trilogy for Christmas last year and read it in April, during the doldrums of Covid.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I didn’t have high expectations for this story of a man who is under house/hotel arrest in Moscow as the city goes through the years of Communist rule and ruin. But I was pleasantly surprised. The gentleman in question is truly a gentleman, and the story is an inspiration to those of us who have been treated to our own long confinement courtesy of Covid.

• The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson.
• The Well of Ascension(Mistborn, #2) by Brandon Sanderson.
• The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson.

Brandon Sanderson is an author who has been suggested, recommended to me many times, but I was skeptical. I was wrong. This trilogy is a triumph of world-building and political intrigue. If you like fantasy fiction set in another world filled with near-apocalypse and spies and master villains and mysteries, you will love these books.

Middlemarch by George Eliot. So, I finally read Middlemarch, but I read it too quickly. It wasn’t until I got to the last third of the novel that I realized that Middlemarch really is a great story with great characters. Immediately after reading the novel, I watched the miniseries based on the book. I will have to revisit both the book and the TV series sometime in the future, God willing.

Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson. Scottish dialect and a tragic death at the beginning (NOT the dog) make this dog story a bit daunting, but it’s worth the effort.

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. Not exactly fiction, but rather somewhat fictionalized family history, about the author’s family members who survived the Holocaust.

12/28/2020 A last minute addition to this list: Magpie Murders by Anothony Horowitz. A murder mystery within a murder mystery, which also has a scene describing a play within a play. Very meta in regards to the genre of cozy Christie-type mysteries. A famous mystery writer turns in his ninth and final book featuring the famous detective Atticus Pünd. Murder, mayhem, and disruption of the lives of many, including book’s publisher, Susan Ryeland, ensues.