December Reading List

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Brentwood by Grace Livingston Hill

I never read much Grace Livingston Hill, though my mom and grandmother rave about her. Brentwood wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but it wasn't exactly a great book, either. Very preachy and quaint, with adoption painted in a terrible light.

The Golden Rendezvous by Alistair Maclean

A real page-turner, about a luxurious passenger ship taken over by guerilla terrorists from a fictional South American island. One of the officers has a plan to save them, but it involves dangerous maneuvers around the ship and an untested, super-sensitive nuclear device meant to blow them all to smithereens and let the bad guys get away scot-free. Very exciting.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Do I even need to say that this was fabulous? It's Jane Austen, how could it be anything less? I love re-reading this, even though at 27 I laugh at my younger self who thought poor Anne was quite as much on the shelf as she thought herself at the same age.

I think that makes sense. It sounded right in my head...

Bride of Pendorric by Victoria Holt

At first I thought, finally, a Victoria Holt book I like! But it turned out to be as disappointing as the rest I've read. I did like that it took place in a 1950s setting rather than her usual "vaguely Victorian". An English girl brought up in Italy marries the dashing heir to an impoverished estate in Cornwall, only to find ghosts and whispers of murder awaiting her at his home.

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson

Good, but Eva Ibbotson's books really do need to be read quite far apart to keep from getting tired of her always-the-same heroines. Her forte seems to be coming up with very, very unpleasant villains. A girl runs away to Brazil with a ballet troupe, finds true love, and almost loses it when her sort-of fiance is dispatched from England by her father and aunt to bring her home.

Holiday with Violence by Ellis Peters

Thank you so much for recommending this, myrna_nora! I loved it! Very Mary Stewart-ish, with touches of Agatha Christie. Four friends journeying through Italy find themselves involved in a case of attempted murder and the theft of some valuable diamonds. I loved the chases through Venice, the interactions of the friends, and Benvenuto the beautiful gondolier.

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

Maybe my favorite Heyer yet? (I think I've said that about the past five Heyer books I've read, though.) I love it for it's violently neon-green cover (I ordered a vintage paperback from Amazon, it was cheaper and I like them better than the new editions), for Sophy who always knows just how to control a situation and make things come out the way she wants them, and for the way Sophy and Charles FINALLY get together at the end.

A few statistics which are probably only interesting to me:

I read 134 books in 2009, averaging 11.17 each month.

I read the most books in March -- 15 -- and the least in February and December -- 7 each.