Favorite Reads of 2011

This year I challenged  myself to read at least 200 books. Now for some bibliophiles this is a paltry number but I thought it be realistic. I have always been an avid reader but I never thought about how to track the many books that I'd read in any given year. I have become quite active with Goodreads.com and also with sharing my thought about books with others here on this page (not that too many people care about what I have to say). Since beginning the challenge, I have read books by some of my favorite authors, people I have never heard of and some that I haven't read in a long time. Part of the reason that I have been exposed to so many different authors is the Kindle. In November 2010, I gave one to myself as an early  birthday present and it was one of the best gifts I have even received.  I have access to books on my wish list and books by authors unknown to me; some of which I have become fans of.   even with the Kindle, however, the best books I have read this year have been in  print form:  The Shack, Jane Eyre,  One Day and The Help.  Funny how these books were ones that I had been putting off  reading because of their popularity and mass appeal.  Most of the books that I read are of the many romance genres, so it no surpirse about why I loved all of these books.   Each book was based on a different romacntic principle but it was the powerful emotions, truth of words, and beuty of language that have kept thse books in mind throughout this year.

 

I read The Shack after seeing a co-worker reading it and hearing her praise the message that could be found there. Ironically, this was a person whom I had had a few tense words with on more than one occasion.  I don't think I will ever stop talking about who I met in this book.  

When I was in high school, I looked at the tome that was Jane Eyre and decided that I would take a shorter route to reading this book.  Even in college and after, I tried again to attack this book. No go.  Finally,  I relented when I found out that there was a new movie adaptation of the novel coming out (Spring 2011) I relented and downloaded a copy to my Kindle. What I found was one of the most romantic novels ever written and I wanted to kick my high school self in the toukas for not reading it back then.  

I saw the trailers for One Day, I knew I had to see this movie. And then to my dismay, I recalled that this was also a book that I refused to read (I don't even know why).  But since I have a serious girl crush on Anne Hathaway, I knew that I would have to read the book before being able to see the film version. I have real issue with seeing a move based on a book that I haven't read ; another symptom of being a bibliophile.  Such beauty of language, humor and one of the best love stories I have read.  One review I read on the book remarked that it wasn't that romantic because there wasn't the expected HEA. Oh, what fools these mortals be.

Truth be told, I had no real desire to read a book, written by a white woman,  about  Black servants living in Mississippi during the Civil Rights era. My phantom memories of the period have kept me guarded and wary of what the other side thinks.  I read this book after getting the recommendation from  one of my high school teachers. The Help has been elevated, for me, to the level of The Color Purple in terms of womanist fiction.  I can't really say if that was Stockett's intention but that the way I read it.   Often our exposure to the discussion of race in fiction is focused on the male or family experience; The Help is a unique look at how it affects woman in particular.  Another book that shall have permanent shelf space.

As the  new year comes, I already have an eye out for books that will be coming out by my favorite authors but I am also awaiting what I will find in the stacks. Books that I have looked over and forgotten or maybe never even discovered.  Already I have The Read Tent, A Reliable Wife, Things Fall Apart collecting friendly dust in my bedroom. And since books don't expire, no doubt I will find some others just as deserving of a  new reader.

Holiday Fantasy: Finding the Right Key\'Round Midnight\Blind Faith by Adrianne Byrd


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I really thought I was going to love all three of the novellas in this volume. Byrd, Hill and Perrin are some of my favorite authors, but sad to say, only one of there three really made it worth while to read. Finding the Right Key by Adrianne Byrd was hot, funny and I wished it was a full length book; Round Midnight by Donna Hill was a nice, slightly sexy story; and Blind Faith was cute but weird and unfulfilling.




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Sweet Destiny by Rochelle Alers


My rating: 4 of 5 stars







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Cowboy Casanova by Lorelei James


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Based on the description of this book, I thought that this would be the sexiest of the Rough Rider series...not so. Surprisingly, Cowboy Casanova was one of the more emotionally charged books of the series. Ben McKay has been keeping his dating and sexuality away from the prying eyes of the huge McKay family and anyone who has anything to do with them. He's a Dom and knows that he'll be harshly judged for his lifestyle. And he is. Being the quiet middle child, Ben has always felt that he has been on the outside and needed to find some part of his life that he can control and in his world as a Dom, he's at the top of the food chain.


Ben meets with an unexpected challenge in Ainsley Hamilton. She gets invited to the sex club where Ben frequents and they are instantly attracted. Ben pushes Ainsley to her sexual and emotional limits with his control of her. But for the first time, Ben wants something different and he doesn't know what to do about it. As much control as he exhibits, Ben is still quite vulnerable to his family and the few people he counts as friends.


As hot as this book is, it did not singe the edges of my Kindle as I had expected. Of the series, All Jacked Up, Tied Up, Tied Down and Branded as Trouble made me want to blush while reading them; Cowboy Casanova seemed tame by comparison. Still a good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad to see some old faces and be introduced to some new ones as well.




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#nowreading

   

Winning the Wallflower: A Novella by Eloisa James


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In anticipation of The Duke is Mine (12/27), Eloisa James has penned a wonderful novella about one Lucy Towerton's engagement to the most eligible and inappropriate bachelor in London: Cyrus Ravensthorpe. Lucy has been on the shelf for three years and when Ravensthorpe approaches her father, a marriage contract is signed and Lucy delivered. Cyrus has had a rough life living on the outside of polite society all due to his mother, the daughter of a duke, marrying the most famous barrister in England. So Cyrus plans to make himself a respectable marriage to a wallflower to gain his family’s entrance back into the ballrooms of the Ton. Lucy, however, has a few different ideas after her dire financial straits straighten themselves out in the form of an inheritance and now she is one of the most sought after heiresses of the Season. The engagement comes to an end but not before Lucy gets her kiss and Cyrus gets his comeuppance. Lucy is no shrinking violet (flower reference intended) and makes Cyrus change his mind about why he wants her to be his bride.


I love (can’t say Lucy right here) the chemistry that these two have. Like most James’ characters, these two enjoy some of the wittiest banter that can found in romantic fiction. Also, I love that her heroines find a better way to manage their own lives and demand that the men in their lives come up to scratch. Wonderful segue into The Duke is Mine which will be available 12/27. Pay close attention to Olivia and Rupert…you’ll be seeing them again.






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Wyoming Tough by Diana Palmer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another surprise by Diana Palmer. I have had along and varied affair with Diana Palmer's books. I don't like all of them but I keep reading them. This book was a surprise because I finally met a female character who wasn't playing the victim but woman trying to take charge of her life. Morie wants to learn all she can about ranching and her father is not going to let her anywhere near branding or riding fence lines, so she leaves Texas and heads to Montana and gets a job on a ranch run by three brothers. While she doesn't immediately fall for the boss, Mallory, you can see it coming. Morie is one tough cookie and I like that about her. Good story.




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All Caught Up by Sophia Shaw


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sexy read about a matchmaker finding the perfect mate for a client....turns out that she is the perfect woman. The cover alone is reason enough to take a chance on this book.




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Capital Wives by Rochelle Alers


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was a little skeptical about this book in the beginning and then I was wishing that the book could go on for a few more chapters. As a avid watcher of the Housewives reality series I was worried that this book would piggyback off of some of those subject lines. What I found was a fresh take on the lives of some pretty powerful women in D.C. Bethany, Deanna and Marisol find themselves connected by their powerful husbands and manage to forge real friendships.

Bethany is the mistress turned wife. She has the life she set out to have but something is missing. Her stepdaughter is wreaking havoc in her household, she's gaining weight and her older, but devoted, husband seems to be clueless to it all.

Deanna seems to be leading a charmed life as a popular event planner with the lawyer husband. But soon her husband's infidelity (and hers) comes to threaten their marriage.

Marisol is the most likeable one of the trio. Even after marrying into Washington royalty, Marisol stays true to herself but little things are showing her that her husband is not who he seems to be. He's been lying to her from the beginning and it only takes an outsider one meeting to recognize that something is very wrong.

I am very fond of Rochelle Alers writing and this book is one of her best single title novels. A thoroughly enjoyable book that will leave you looking for additional pages. I just wish there was more. Hopefully?





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Indigo by Beverly Jenkins: E-book Release

Beverly Jenkins has made so many of her fans VERY happy. Indigo is being released as an e-book.  OMG! This is was the first historical novel featuring African-Americans as its main characters that I had ever read and I have been hooked on Ms. Beverly's books since then.  I'm so excited to read (again) about Underground Railroad conductor, Hester Wyatt and Galen Vachon.  Hester is a former slave and Galen comes from a wealthy Black family who has never shared in that particular shame. Their story is so heart-breaking ( I can remember crying while reading this). Truly one of the best romance novels I have ever read.

 Ms. Beverly  liberally peppers her books with historical facts and events, not just the setting as found with some historical novels, which helps modern readers connect with a both rich and painful past. I so cannot wait for this book to be released.

Current paperback pricing for this book is $19.95 at Amazon.com.   I believe the ebook pricing will be $4.99  (don't hold me to it). Also by Beverly Jenkins: Night Hawk (2011), Night Song (1994) , Topaz (2007), Before the Dawn (2001).

Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Quite a delicious read.


Here was another one of those books, by an author I love, that I slept on. I couldn’t bring myself to read this book for a long time after hearing about the anticipation and reading, more than a few, reviews from other readers. Call Me Irresistible was not a book that I would recommend to every reader and only because it is not a standalone title. If you missed Fancy Pants, First Lady, Glitter Baby, and Lady Be Good, then you might want to leave this book alone for a while. I have read all of these books and still need to go back and reacquaint myself with the characters (all of which will be found in CMI).

The book starts with a wedding, featuring Ted Beaudine (Fancy Pants), Meg Koranda (Glitter Baby), and Lucy Jorik (First Lady). The Book ends with a wedding, featuring Ted Beaudine, Meg Koranda , and Lucy Jorik . Though at the second wedding, the actress playing the bride has been changed. After Lucy leaves Ted at the altar, the town of Wynette blames Meg for breaking the heart of its golden boy, Ted Beaudine. As much as I found the adoration of Ted, there were too many holes in the story for me to rate this as a really fantastic book. Maybe it was assumes that I was up to date on my SEP novels and would be able to remember all of the characters and the connections to this book. I couldn’t remember if Ted, Lucy and Meg had been such well-developed characters in other books that I should have been able to recall them in this book.

Anyway, after the disaster at the altar Ted allows himself to lay his troubles at Meg’s feet and treat her like dirt for a good portion of the book. And whatever Ted does, the people of Wynette are doomed to follow and they, too, treat Meg like old cat litter. At some point, Ted gives in to his attraction to Meg (which no one saw coming) and decides that he likes her enough to at least, have sex with her; though by this time, Meg is already sure that she is super attracted to her nemesis. Meg endures menial jobs, a stalker and a billionaire with eight hands. The best part of this book and what saves it for me is the banter between Meg and Ted. This is the delicious part and worth of all the uncertainty of not knowing characters that you think you should know. Of course, there is HEA (after all, this is romance).






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