Book 108: Midnight in Austenland

 

This is the second book in this series and I liked it better than the first.  It's still a simple, sometimes cheesy story of a single woman going to vacation at Pembrook Park and hoping to find love in the recreated Regency Era.  This one had a better plot, a mystery and a fairly likeable main character, although at times she does get on your nerves.  

Book 107: The Chaperone

 

I knew I was going to love this book and I was right.  It's about a woman who volunteers to chaperone a young girl to NYC in the 20's.  Her children are grown and she has her own reasons for wanting to leave Kansas and go to New York City.  Her charge is a difficult 15 year old girl who wants to make it big in theatre and has no intention of going back home.  There were a few surprises in this book, one where my mouth was left hanging open for a few minutes.  I love that it followed to story through to a natural ending and didn't leave you hanging and wondering what became of the characters.  Highly recommended.  I'd love to see this made into a movie.

Recently Read

101.  4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
102.  Austenland by Shannon Hale
103.  My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
104.  The Queen by Robert Lacey
105.  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford *
106.  Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

Books 81 - 100

81.  A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
82.  When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt *
83.  The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons *
84.  Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah
85.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling *
86.  What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges *
87.  Divergent by Veronica Roth
88.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
89.  What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman
90.  The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
91.  Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (Worst book I've ever read, got rid of it after)
92.  The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
93.  The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek
94.  The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
95.  Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
96.  The Wives of Los Alamos by Tarashea Nesbit (Disappointing)
97.  Genesis by Bernard Becket
98.  Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
99.  The Chosen by Chaim Potok
100.  Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

* = Recommended 

Books 61 - 80

61.  Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok *
62.  The Rose Project by Graeme Simsion
63.  Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston *
64.  The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain *
65.  Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
66.  Just One Day by Gayle Forman
67.  About a Boy by Nick Hornby *
68.  Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by R. Cohn and D. Levithan
69.  How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
70.  The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman *
71.  Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
72.  The Silent Wife by S. A. Harrison
73.  Gone in a Flash by Susan Cooper
74.  The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
75.  Mary Coin by Marisa Silver *
76.  The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin
77.  Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt *
78.  Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder *
79.  Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
80.  The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

* = Recommended

Books 40-60

40.  The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee
41.  Betsy and the Emperor by Staton Rabin
42.  The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
43.  Our Town by Thornton Wilder
44.  This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz *
45.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak *
46.  Disneylanders by Kate Abbott
47.  Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
48.  The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith *
49.  The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
50.  Bridget Jones, Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
51.  Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates *
52.  Small Damages by Beth Kephart
53.  The Expats by Chris Pavone
54.  Starry Night by Debbie Macomber
55.  The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley
56.  Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
57.  Tinkers by Paul Harding
58.  Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society by Amy Hill Hearth
59.  Christmas is Murder by C. S. Challinor
60.  The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen *

* = Recommended