Shannon Hale, The Princess Academy. When it’s foretold that the prince’s bride will come from a remote mountain village, the girls from the village are brought to an academy to be trained to be potential princesses. A neat book. While I guessed the ending, it didn’t feel like a given.
Janet Catherine Berlo, Quilting Lessons. A scholar meditates on a severe case of writer’s block, and how she turned to quilting as therapy. It’s particularly interesting to me because the author is a good friend of my sister-in-law’s mother, who’s mentioned several times in the book.
Jane Gillespie, Ladysmead. It’s sort of a Mansfield Park sequel, in that two characters from MP show up, but it’s mostly about the life of the two unmarried daughters of the Lockley familiy, Sophia and Lucinda. A nice light read; I’m not desperate to reread it, but it was pleasant.
Jacquie D’Allesandro, The Bride Thief. A cute fluffy romance, in which the heroine’s idea of fun is studying bugs and snakes.
Patricia Monaghan, The Goddess Companion. Skimmed and returned to the library; the daily meditations really don’t speak to me.
Olivia Judson, Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation. A fascinating book on the varied ways that different species reproduce, select mates, and otherwise exchange genes. I’ll look for this one for the bathroom library.
Franny Billingsley, The Folk Keeper. Corinna Stonewall works as the Folk Keeper in her orphanage, the person who keeps the malevolent magical critters from wreaking havoc. ne day she’s summoned to go work as the Folk Keeper at a great manor, and her life gradually changes…. If you can get past the fact that the viewpoint character is really unlikable at the beginning, it’s actually a pretty interesting book. I guessed most of the major plot twists, but still found it entertaining.
