I had a stellar year for reading! It's now official: I am a romance junkie. I can't believe what great books and authors I've discovered this year! I easily surpassed the 100 books reading requirement and read 117 new books, not including the five re-reads on audio. Historical romance dominated the list but some bestsellers and other genres popped up from time to time as well. Books such as The Help, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo books, Keith Richards autobiography, and Paul is Undead, a sensational parody on zombies and the Beatles. I discovered and loved some old classics like Forever Amber and A Town Like Alice.
I had many favorites which I've posted below. I discovered some new authors (to me) that I simply loved, such as Sherry Thomas, Karen Hawkins, Elizabeth Peters and Jennifer Ashley. Although I enjoyed this challenge immensely, I've decided not to do it again for 2011, since I found myself getting a little too frantic in keeping pace, and I was speeding through some books that I should have given more time to. Plus, I was getting behind in reviews and they were starting to feel more like a chore than something fun to do. This year I'm going to relax and luxuriate in my reading and not worry about the challenge.
Below are my favorites, which I've separated by genre. Links to the reviews can be found by searching through my tags, but all the books below I've rated 4.5 stars and up.
Historical Romance
1. Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas
2. Delicious by Sherry Thomas
3. Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
4. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
5. Stolen Charms by Adele Ashworth
6. Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
7. How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn
8. Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
9. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah Maclean
10. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
11. The Forbidden Lord by Sabrina Jeffries
12. Confessions of a Scoundrel by Karen Hawkins
13. The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase
Contemporary Romance
14. Something About You by Julie James
15. Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard
Historical Fiction
16. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
17. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
18. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
19. The House at Riverton: A Novel by Kate Morton
Non-fiction
20. Paul Is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion by Alan Goldsher
21. Life: Keith Richards by Keith Richards
Popular Current Bestseller
22. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
13 comments:
Great list Julie. I loved Forever Amber.
Happy New Year to you and your family! All the best in 2011!
Thanks Dar, and happy new year to you too and your new little pup!
Great list in your wrap up! Isn't it fun discovering new authors? One of my new fav authors, Susanna Kearsley, has mentioned that Nevile Shute is her favorite author and she loves A Town like Alice, too!
Here's to good things in 2011, especially good books!
I'm reading Susanna Kearsley's Winter Sea at the moment, good so far but slow since i'm reading it on kindle only at the gym, so it's only been in 1/2 hour installments. It's picking up now, so I might just switch over to it full time and finish it soon. I simply loved A Town Like Alice - sigh, it was so good! I adored it! I listened to it on audio, but I want to own it and read it in print as well.
Impressive list. You do know that I scroll though your book recs and find myself used copies.
Julia, have you discovered Paperback Book Swap? I post all my books there, at least the ones that aren't on kindle. I'm ktleyed over there.
I'll head over there! I'd heard about it, but hadn't checked it out.
I love PBS, I get a lot of my romances from there, it's great!
Hmmm, Paperbook Swap. I'll have to check it out. Especially now that I'm doing two Challenges this year. I know what you mean though, Julie, about the 'pressure'. That's why I'm only doing two. I don't want anything to take away from the 'fun' I have reading. Still haven't read A TOWN LIKE ALICE, but I'm getting nearer. I bought it from Better World Books. An old copy, but good enough. I'm so glad we discovered our shared love of Elizabeth Peters and Lauren Willig. Lots of good reading.
Yvette, it's a great site, it's called Paperback Swap, here's the link:
http://www.paperbackswap.com/home.php
You have to join up first, and then I think you get two free credits so you can start swapping. It's very easy, I use it a lot!
I sort of came across your blog today... I was reading reviews of Julia Quinn's books and I guess tht is how I found ur... I love it... All the books and stuff... I like ur list of historical novels... amongst the list I have only read How to Marry a Marquis By Julia Quinn and I'm definitely going to copy ur list to my blog and read these books... :)
And if u enjoyed reading How to Marry a Marquis thn I would Suggest that u read "To Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn"... Its the first book of War Office Duo... :)
Hi Nida - welcome! Yes, I've read to Catch an Heiress (see my Julia Quinn tag to the left) which I didn't like as much as Marquis, but both are good, she's one of my favorite romance novelists - I especially love the Bridgertons!
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