What a year, folks. As I reflect on the happenings of 2021, I find it hard to believe that it is already close to wrapping up. It is, in many respects, yet another year lost to COVID. Let’s just pray that it will be the last such.
I guess I should focus most of my energy in this post on locating whatever nuggets of positivity that existed this year. Still looking… Nah, of course something worthwhile had to happen. I guess my elevation within my employer to a sort of assistive technology tutor is a major one. I say “sort of,” because I don’t know if one would feel entirely comfortable with what I’ve instructed. I can say though that I worked hard, did my research, paid close attention to the students’ needs, and tried to make sure that what I taught them was relevant.
I’d spent this past year doing JAWS for Windows tutoring, which as longtime readers would know also led me to purchase my current Windows computer and return to this platform from the Mac. Next year’s challenge, and a much more immediate and difficult one in some ways, will be to help probably those entirely new to the computer to learn some basic keyboarding skills. We’re going to use a program called Talking Typer, which helps people learn to type by speaking the letters aloud and informing of such metrics as Words per Minute and errors. I’ll need to brush up on this myself, and do hope that something I learn can help others unlock the vast power of computing.
I should also work to unlock my own power by digging back into this writing thing. I fell off of blogging over the last three months, but hey I’ve been reviewing books on Goodreads like crazy since May. Given that Book Reviewer still remains my career dream, the constant practice couldn’t have hurt.
To that end, and inspired by an NPR story on the rapid rise and influence of “BookTok,” I created a TikTok account. This, I guess social media, site allows for short three-minute videos and people, especially young ones, post on just about everything under the sun. Not surprisingly this is a very visual medium, but I did find some posts where book reviewers actually listed their titles aloud. I may (or may not) take a shot at recording my five-star reads there at some point, but am not impressed with the overall accessibility of the app. For instance, I find it difficult to follow those I am interested in with VoiceOver on the iPhone, and just navigating between videos is a real challenge. I hope some of these things can be fixed, so that a totally blind person could derive at least minimal enjoyment from the app, and perhaps more importantly tap into this vast crowd to gain exposure and other kinds of opportunities.
Just in case I never do post those reads in such a way, I’ll list them here. Note that not all books were released in 2021, just read by me herein. And just in case you do not choose to read my list below, I’ll close by wishing you and all of us a happy, healthy, and safe 2022.
2021 Five Star Titles: A listing of all the books I awarded this designation on Goodreads.

1. Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acebedo
2. The Actual Star, Monica Byrne
3. The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Mariah Carey
4. The Last Train to Key West, Chanel Cleeton
5. The President is Missing, Bill Clinton
6. Return to Palm Court, Stephanie Edwards
7. The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich
8. A Good Neighborhood, Therese Anne Fowler
9. Mother May I, Joshilyn Jackson
10. The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
11. How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, Cherie Jones
12. Lies That Bind, Amanda Lamb
13. Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano
14. Eternal, Lisa Scottoline
15. Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead
16. Nerves of Steel, Tammie Shults
17. Will, Will Smith
18. Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas
19. The Turn of the Key, Ruth Ware
20. Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
21. The Book of Lost Friends, Lisa Wingate
22. The Sea keeper’s Daughter, Lisa Wingate