During the week I finished listening to My Horizontal Life by comedian Chelsea Handler and laughed my way to and from work each day. On Wednesday I started the audiobook Going Rogue by Sarah Palin - but only working until Wednesday, I haven't been able to get too far into it.
In the very early hours of yesterday I finished reading The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent. My review will probably be up next weekend, after Notorious Royal Marriages week. But to give you a little hint - I loved it! I read the last 100+ pages straight through and was determined to finish it that night. Early on I predicted how it would end, but it did not go that way - and for that I am very happy.
Yesterday I started reading The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell. It is a little slow going so far, I am about 60 pages into it. Here is the book jacket summary:
London, 1893. Elderly Mrs. Bentley is on her deathbed, and her son Robert has returned from France. But in the Bentleys’ well-appointed home, everyone has their secrets, including Robert’s beautiful and elusive wife, the orphan maid she hires from the country, and the mysterious young woman who arrives, claiming to be the bride of Robert’s drowned brother.
Robert is quickly developing a reputation is anthropometry, the nascent science of identifying criminals by body measurements. Yet soon he is caught up in the deceptions swirling around him, for no one under his roof is quite what they seem. When an intruder enters the house and ransacks the study, a chain of events is set in motion that threatens not only the genteel, comfortable life the Bentleys have managed to secure but also their very survival.
A fascinating portrayal of a vanished England as well as an unconventional mystery. The Dark Lantern exposes the grand “upstairs” of a Victorian home and the darker underbelly of its servants’ quarters. The clash between the clashes makes for a suspenseful novel of mistaken identities, intriguing women, and dangerous deceptions (from book jacket).
I also thought that this would be the perfect time to post the statistics of the books I read in 2009:
BOOKS READ: 47
BOOKS REVIEWED: 43 (though some are pending for upcoming events)
TYPE (some may overlap)
• Hardcover: 6
• Paperback: 23
• ARC: 8
• Audio: 18
GENRE
• Historical Fiction: 17
• Young Adult: 2
• Contemporary Fiction: 19
• Biblical Fiction: 2
• Paranormal Romance: 2
• Non-fiction: 4
SETTING
• England: 13
• France: 2
• Italy: 1
• Ireland: 1
• America: 22
• Ancient Rome: 1
• Ancient Egypt : 2
• Netherlands: 1
• Fantasy: 1
• Middle East/Africa: 3
MALE/FEMALE AUTHOR RATIO: 11/36
AUTHORS MOST READ:
• James Patterson: 4
• Jean Plaidy: 4
• Philippa Gregory: 3
• Michelle Moran: 3
• Robin Maxwell: 2
• Chelsea Handler: 2
FAVORITES:
Nefertiti
The Heretic Queen
Cleopatra’s Daughter
The Queen’s Fool
Eve
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Thirsty
Water for Elephants
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
O, Juliet
LEAST FAVORITES:
Rage
Tara Road
Five Days is Paris
Son of a Witch
Jane Eyre
Hope everyone has a great week and see you for Notorious Royal Marriages week!
Copyright © 2009-2011 by The Maiden’s Court
Glad to hear the Trent book is good... it's next on my list! Seems to be really, really cold everywhere! We're not used to it in Georgia, but so far no snow here.
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Mirella
The Dark Lantern is a bit slow going but I think befoer you know it, the pages will go by. I liked the whole upstairs/downstairs thing.
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