Books I've Read this Year - Part 2

Continuing with the list of books I've read this year (first part is below)

12) The Smart One and the Pretty One by Claire LaZebnik. This book wasn't bad, but I had one problem with it. It reminded me too much of In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner, and in my opinion In Her Shoes was the superior book. I found this distracting throughout.

13) The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase. I'm a sucker for some good Elizabethan fiction and this book definitely delivered.

14) Blindspot: A Novel by Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore. I picked this up because I had read The Name Of War by Jill Lepore and know she is a great historian. The book is set in pre-Revolutionary New England and was well researched, but the story itself didn't do much for me.

15) The Centurian's Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. Another historical novel, this one set in first century Jerusalem. It was good, but not the best I've read of that time period.

16) The Luxe by Anna Godberson. Gossip girls go back in time. I don't know how historically accurate this series is, but it is fun. On the other hand, although it ended on somewhat of a cliff hanger I didn't care enough about the characters to go and read book two (I did look at the jacket copy for a later book, so I kind of know how things turned out. And the cover illustrations are awesome.

17) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. This is a book I've read before. Sometimes when I re-read a book I loved it doesn't live up to my memory. This book totally did. It's bizarre, it's brain bending and it's fun. (I later went on a Jasper Fforde kick.)

18) The Hollywood Sisters: Star Quality by Mary Wilcox. This was an enjoyable enough story, though it was not the first in the series and I had a feeling I was missing something.

19) The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. Another Elizabethan historical fiction by an author whose works I usually enjoy. The problem I had with this one is that I couldn't really find any of the main characters likeable.

20) Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer. Jeffrey Archer is another of my favorite authors and he didn't disappoint with ths story about the first expedition up Mount Everest.

21) Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins. What a great story. The whole caught between cultures scenario was handled very well.

22) The Redheaded Princess by Ann Rinaldi. Combine Elizabethan history with Ann Rinaldi and I simply had to read it.

23) The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante. This was a hard story to read because the subject matter was disturbing, but it was very well written.

24, 25, 26 and 27) Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde. Like I said, I went on a bit of a Jasper Fforde binge, re-reading this whole series. I have a feeling with these books you either love them or don't quite understand them. I happen to love them.

And I'll stop for now with 28) The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. I was not impressed.