I was surprised to not see a thread for February yet, so thought I'd start off.

February was a month of mostly light reads for me. Enjoyable, but nothing earthshaking.

Justinian's Flea by William Rosen 01/28/09 02/07/09 **1/2
I was mightily disappointed in this book. It was much more about Justinian than the plague; if I’d wanted a book about Justinian I would have gotten one. I wanted a book about plague.

On the Fifth Day by A. J. Hartley 02/07/09 02/08/09 ***1/2
The first book about Thomas Knight, wherein he searches for his brother’s murderer. Not nearly as good as What Time Devours.

The Mask of Atreus by A. J. Hartley 02/08/09 02/11/09 **1/2
I found this book disappointing. It has a promising beginning but the heroine's actions were erratic and just plain stupid at times, which irritated me. It was predictable and relied on some amazing coincidences and plot devices that were terribly obvious and totally illogical. It veered off a very interesting path into the predictable strangeness of Nazi plundering and WWII subplots. The back cover of the mass market paperback should have alerted me - but I was so entranced by the other two books by A.J. Hartley that I read that I missed the clues.

Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth 02/11/09 02/16/09 ***
I liked this book a lot, although the characters were occasionally two-dimensional and the plot moved slowly. But the ending was explosive and full of irony. Takes place in Mesopotamia just before WWI.

The Egyptian Coffin by Jane Jakeman 01/29/09 02/20/09 ***1/2
Excellent adventure with lots of information about Egypt.

Chasing Shakespeares by Sarah Smith 02/20/09 02/23/09 ***1/2
Another adventure, with lots of information about Shakespeare.

Austenland by Shannon Hale 02/23/09 02/24/09 **1/2
Pretty disappointing, although the premise is cute – a BBC P&P obsessive who basically has no life is given an adventure at Austenland, to act out a Regency Miss’s fantasy of Darcy. She uses the adventure to exorcize Darcy, but has a real romance of her own.

Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer 02/25/09 02/27/09 ***1/2
Ah, this one was better. It re-tells P&P from the viewpoint of Darcy and brings quite a bit of the original dialogue in. I enjoyed seeing things from his perspective and having some holes plausibly filled in.

Winner this month? Land of Marvels, hands down, even though I gave it less stars than Darcy’s Story.

Message edited by its author, Mar 2, 2009, 10:56am.

Karenmarie,

I too was disappointed with Justinian's Flea. I am still dipping into it. I thought it wasn't really focused on anything. More like a spewing of everything he knows about the time period.

Sorry to hear about The Mask of Atreus. I have it somewhere here still to read.

I read Chasing Shakespeares back in November of '03. I thought it was good, but very little of the details have stayed with me.

I put The Egyptian Coffin on my wish list, though it seems to be oop. I can find a used copy. A used copy is probably best, I tried to read her In The Kingdom of Mists back in '05 for a RL book group (Monet mystery) and it was pretty bad. I am not sure if any of the group finished it. But I love Egyptian subjects, so I will give it a go.

Will post my February books soon.

Here are my February reads! Karen - I'm intrigued by Darcy's Story. I love retellings of Austen's classics from the male point of view, as you'll see with my reads for the month!

1. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen - In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I wanted to read some of my favorite romances. Naturally, I had to reread this one as Mr. Darcy is definitely a dream man. *sigh* No need to go on and on about this one, you all know!

2. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare - Again, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I had to read the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers. And if I close my eyes and recite the lines, I can almost hear Leonardo DiCaprio delivering them. (Call me crazy, but I love that version of the play!)

3. Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris - Book Three in the Sookie Stackhouse series, which inspired HBO's True Blood. I enjoyed this a lot. It introduced new characters and a new supernatural kind of creature, and he is wonderful. Again, it was a really fast read, and if you like this kind of stuff, it's really great!

4. Captain Wentworth's Diary, by Amanda Grange - (Here's the one I was talking about, Karen) This is Jane Austen's Persuasion told from the perspective of Captain Wentworth. I did enjoy it because it began from the point where Anne and Wentworth first met, and covered things that happened during their separation. The sad part for me was that I loved the way that Austen did Wentworth's letter to Anne. Grange's version, while interesting, just didn't measure up.

5. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding - I liked the movie, so I always wanted to read the book. I think the book and the movie were pretty much alike in most aspects. My favorite part about the book is the Marc Darcy/Mr. Darcy/Colin Firth connection. What can I say, this helped go toward my "Chick Lit" category in the good ol' 999 Challenge.

6. The Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer - This was hands down my favorite book of the month. If you're a historical fiction fan, I would definitely recommend this book to you. Heyer is such a wonderful author and is one of my absolute favorites. Sophy is an incredibly likeable character. She's fiesty, calculating, and spunky. Yes, I said spunky.

So there you have it, my friends! Can't wait to hear from the rest of you!

Well, Hols, I've read 5 of the 6 books on your list and I've just wishlisted Captain Wentworth's Diary!

Oops - Jeopardy! gotta go.

I just finished catching up on all my February reviews so I could get my thoughts together for this thread.

1. The Perfect Scent by Chandler Burr, non-fiction, completed 2/1/09

This was a book I started in January, it was an ER book. I originally gave it 3 stars, but then downgraded it to 2.5 stars.

The writing was good, and parts of it were interesting, but it lacked focus. He was tracking the making of 2 perfumes: one in Paris for Hermes, and one in the USA by Coty, a celebrity scent for Sarah Jessica Parker

He tried to do way too much. He spent too much time on people and the story of their grandparents, even if they had nothing to do with the perfume. He went on about their clothes, their sexual preference and their past perfumes.

He tried to cover everything, and he tried to do it twice (in Paris and in NYC). He jumped around, and often went back in the time line. There was a huge name dropping fest, and way too much French.

I thought he was not writing for the general public but for the people in his industry.

2. UnFallen Dead by Mark del Franco, urban fantasy, completed 2/209

This is the 3rd book in the Connor Grey series. I really liked it. Each book seems to get better and we get more details on the Fae and their relationships. Connor, a druid, is magically disabled and pensioned off from the Guild. He lives in a Boston Fae slum called The Weird and works as a consultant to the Boston PD on the magical crimes the Guild ignores.

This book has him and his pals still reeling from the huge magical spell gone awry in the previous book. The Fae are afraid that the lingering taint will allow the dead to cross the veils between life and death during Halloween. There are politics and the power struggle between the Celtic and Teutonic Fae taking center stage as they try to use the dead to their own advantage.

I gave it 4 stars and can't wait for the next book.

3. Nightrunners of Bengal by John Masters, historical fiction, completed 2/8/09.

This book took me a while to read. It really didn't hook me, and I found it slow going. The book is the 3rd in story order of The Savage Family Chronicles . It is about the Raj, the Brits who went to India and served the company or the government to run India.

This book is set during the Indian Mutiny and has Captain Rodney Savage as the Savage family member in the book. Each book has a different member of the family in it. They are stand alones, but they should be read in story order, because the books follow the history of the Raj in India.

I don't know if its because it was the first book he published or if he was trying to write like the Victorians who were in power at the time of the book, but the writing was stiff. Also 2/3 of the book focused on life in the fictional cantonment which was a mini-British society. The early part of the book is about petty social events and issues. It gives you a feeling of the time and life there, but it was too long and bored me. I also found that I didn't really care for Rodney, the first Savage I have disliked.

The last third of the book is about the mutiny and how people died, and how they survived. Rodney and his party are aided by Indians who keep them alive, and they return the favor when disease strikes the village they are hiding in. The book ends with British winning, with very little shown of the aftermath.

I gave it 3.5 stars.

4. Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett, cozy mystery, completed 2/8/09

This is the first book in the Booktown mystery series. It is set in a fictional NH town, but based on a town down the road from me. It has lots of local color, and it was a read for a RL book group.

I don't normally like cozies, they are too close to pink, plastic formulaic romances. I liked this one however because of the relationship between the POV and her sister, and because of several of the supporting characters.

The POV owns the mystery book store and she has a rocky relationship with her sister. They are estranged, but her sister comes to town and forces herself on the POV. Their scenes are awkward, caring, and annoying. Their relationship evolves, but isn't healed right away, and both are at fault. It was realistic and refreshing.

Then several of the supporting characters are keepers. Two are elderly, not the young, pretty/handsome, well built, well off, well educated, gap-clad perfect people that often make up the characters in these things. There is also a quirky transplanted Texan.

This is definitely light and fluffy, but I enjoyed it and gave it a 3.5 stars. I also read the 2nd book in the series when it came out later in the month.

5. Duplicate Effort by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, SF-mystery, completed 2/12/09

This is book 7 in the Retrieval Artist series. It is one of the few books I read as soon as I get it home.

Miles Flint is a Retrieval Artist, albeit on hiatus. The series is set in the future with humanity having domes on the Moon and Mars, and several other space outposts. Aliens with advanced civilizations are in space and humanity has to make accommodation with them if they want to trade. And of course they do. The agreement is that if humans break alien law they must be subject to alien trial and punishment.

Miles was a loner after his child died and his wife left him, so he had no one who would be endangered by his profession. Or so he thought. In the last book he found out his ex-wife has the child cloned before she died. She was living with one clone and had scattered 5 others. After his wife was killed he inherited the teen clone, Talia, who has no standing in human law. Miles gives her the standing of a person, and makes her his daughter.

Now back on the Moon, a scheme Miles had planed before he knew he had a daughter, a hostage to fate, is proceeding. A powerful and corrupt lawyer killed Miles' mentor and friend. Miles is using the secret files she gave him to bring him down, by feeding information to a vid reporter who is doing an expose. She is killed and Miles is afraid that he or his daughter may be next.

I love this series, it is well done and interesting. I gave it 4 stars.

6. The Story of the Cannibal Woman by Maryse Conde, fiction, completed 2/14/09. It is a book for a RL book group.

Story set in South Africa after apartheid. The POV is a black woman from Guadalupe and is married to a white professor from England. He is murdered one night and she is left alone and must figure out who she is and how to live.

The book was poorly written in terms of structure. The story jumps between current day, memories, backstory and back to current with no warning or breaks, so it is very hard to know when you are, or what character is being featured. There are also continuity problems with appearance and relationships.

Finally the POV is an empty well. She doesn't read, or care about the news or current issues, she won't socialize with her husband's friends or colleagues. She dislikes whole groups of people in general, and almost everyone in specific. She feels she is always being insulted, and won't engage, but rather walks away. She is a painter but can't name her works, say what motivated her to paint them or even what they are about. She is so passive I wouldn't be surprised if she got someone else to breathe for her.

She won't help the police find out who killed her husband, or go through his study, papers or computer.

She becomes obsessed with the story in the paper (her maid reads it to her) of a woman who is charged with killing and eating her husband. The Cannibal Woman. I have no idea how that is supposed to relate to the POV.

She is probably the worst most useless character I have ever come across. I really didn't like this book, though it started out well. I gave it a 3 stars, but may down grade it to 2.5.

7. Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn, SF, completed 2/16/09
This is a read for a RL book group

It is the 5th book in the Samaria series, but the story takes place immediately after the first book Archangel.

The people on Samaria came by spaceship, and have lost contact with their origin, and the technology that brought them there. One thing that has continued are the biologically altered humans who have become Angels. The Angels rise in the atmosphere and act as intercessors for humans with their god who floats above the planet. Angel-Seekers are women, groupies really, who want to have sex with an Angel to bear an Angel baby. Mothers of the very rare Angels are treated well, and given care and prestige for life.

The story is focused on one Angel-Seeker and one woman who falls in love with an Angel in defiance of her society's laws. The story focuses on the relationship the Angels have with each other, the society of the girl who falls in love (Muslim) and the aftermath of their enslavement of another group, and the consequences of freedom.

It was well written and the characters were done well. The story was a bit predictable and slightly distasteful (ala Anne McCafrrey's female drudges who provide sexual favors in Dragon Riders of Pern series), but still interesting.

I gave it 4 stars.

8. Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett, cozy mystery, completed 2/18/09

Book 2 in the Booktown mystery series. This book was as good as the first one, and in some ways better. My only quibble would be the total hate of the local police, which makes the POV have to do all the investigating. It is standard in a cozy, but goes too far to be real.

Still light and fluffy and good. I gave it 4 stars.

9. The Ridiculous Race by Steve Hely and Vali Chandrasekaran, non-fiction, completed 2/22/09. This was another book for a RL book group.

The idea was two friends were going to redo the race around the world. They weren't supposed to use air travel. Both are writers in TV and think they are very funny. The book was written to be one laugh after another. Some of it was funny, but often they tried too hard and it was more annoying that funny. Much of the humor, especially from Vali was smarmy and it felt like being trapped with Bevis and Butthead's elder brothers.

On top of that Vali cheated, and took 10 airplane rides, took drugs and was just smarmy. I felt that they didn't think that a book on its own would be interesting enough so they decided to jazz it up by having one of them cheat. It just had a reality TV vibe to it. They became the subject of the book rather than the places people or cultures they visited, and most of what they did was not memorable. Finally they turned down some interesting trips to keep up with the race. A race that as a reader I had no stake in.

It was written in fragments by each person, and it made the book fly by which was good since it was too painful to linger with.

I gave it a 2.5 stars

10. Second Sunrise by David and Aimee Thurlo, supernatural mystery, completed 2/26/09. It is the first in the Lee Nez series.

A mystery that is set in New Mexico and the POV is a Navajo state police officer, who becomes a vampire. It is not an urban fantasy, they hide among us, and it isn't campy, done for humor. Rather it is a regular mystery where the main character happens to become a vampire.

It opens in 1945 and the POV fights with Nazi spies who are trying to steal plutonium. One of them is a vampire and makes Lee Nez, into a vampire. The story then moves into the modern day. Lee has had many identities, but now he is a state police officer again, under a different name. The Germans are back and he is working with an FBI officer to catch them while dodging Skinwalkers. They are Navajo witches who can shapeshift into animal form and can smell vampire blood. They want to use it in their ceremony for immortality.

The book was pretty good. It was well written, The only thing to me was it was really not much story stretched out for lots of chases and battles. I would have liked more meat and more Navajo culture.

I gave it 3.5 stars. And will read the rest of the series.

11. The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell, mystery, completed 2/28/09
Book 2 in the Kurt Waalander mystery series set in Sweden.

The book is set about a year after the first book. Two frozen dead men drift a shore in an unmarked life raft. They have been shot and posed with their arms around each other. The police and Kurt Wallander are called in to investigate. Eventually they trace the men to Latvia. It is 1991 and the eastern bloc is testing its freedom from the sickly Soviet Union.

A Latvian Major in the police comes to Sweden to help with the investigation and to take the dead men and the case back to Latvia.

After the Major leaves Kurt is called to Latvia because the Major was murdered as soon as he returned. The story is good up until the trip to Latvia, where it becomes wacky.

Wallander is never told what he can do there, but he goes and it becomes a low-rent cold war spy story with lots of sneaking around, bugging, secret meetings and freedom fighters.

The writing was good, the translation was done well and even though the story went south, it was still better than most. I gave it 4 stars.

12. The First Death by Laurell K. Hamilton, graphic novel, completed 2/28/09

This is supposed to be a prequel to the first book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, Guilty Pleasures. It is supposed to show the first meeting of Anita and the vampire Jean Claude.

It is told in 2 parts. The first part is a very short story of vampires killing children. A vampire stripper from Guilty Pleasures the club is on the scene, so the police and Anita go to Guilty Pleasures to question JC. Thats it, the big first meeting, which is exactly the same as the meeting that was in the book Guilty Pleasures. What a rip off.

The second part of the story is about Anita and Valentine which is backstory that was also presented in the book Guilty Pleasures.

The rest of the GN is made up of a handbook based on the book Guilty Pleasures. So for $15.00 there are about 4-6 pages of new material (extremely weak) and the rest is all re-hash. I gave it 1 star.

My favorite book is hard to pick. I really enjoyed Duplicate Effort the 2 new Booktown series books Murder is Binding and Bookmarked for death, Unfallen Dead and Angel-Seeker, so they were all my favorites this month.

Message edited by its author, Mar 2, 2009, 9:18pm.

I continued my trend from last month of reading lighter stuff. I've been re-reading some of my favorite series and quite enjoying the break.

My not-so-light reading
Five Quarters of the Orange - lots to think about with this book - I just keep coming back to WWII books.
Snow Falling on Cedars - read this for a bookclub and I was mightily impressed with all the interesting literary things going on. It made a mystery story really rich.
The Duchess of Malfi - this was a challenge from "Go Review That Book". At least I remembered enough from my college literature courses to be able to read it intelligently! Drama isn't my favorite literary form - but it was good.

Lighter Reading
Knit Two - this was a satisfying sequel. Far enough in the future to answer the questions a reader really wants to know, but not so close that it's just a continuation of the previous story.
Your Roots are Showing - this was a romance, but a satisfying one. While the plot devices were standard, the characterizations were fresh.

Audio Books
How to be Popular - Meg Cabot is funny - what can I say??
Before I Die - didn't know much about this, going into it. Pretty powerful.

Series Reads
Retrievers series
Curse the Dark
Bring it On
Burning Bridges
Free Fall - I found that the books got more complex and interesting. My only complaint was a rather explicit sex scene in number 2, and more bad language in general than I like to read.
Star Wars
Labyrinth of Evil - the character of Anakin continues to be a problem for me and no one seems to be able to make him believable for me.
The Force Unleashed - this was surprisingly good - I really enjoyed the story
Stephanie Plum
One for the Money - I've heard enough about this series that I thought I would give it a try. The bad language kindof turned me off, though Stephanie is interesting. I'll probably try one more.
Mrs. Pollifax
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax
A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari - I love Mrs. Pollifax! She's funny and resourceful and at peace with herself, which makes her the kind of person I'd like to be. The stories can be far-fetched, but the characters are always drawn in interesting ways.

So that was my month. Can't say I'm any more enthusiastic about looking for non-series books. I'll probably be reading familiar favorites again next month!! Must be something about late winter - I just want my comfort reading.

Checking in late this month as I've been away from home. I'm back now - though probably only temporarily - so I'm going to try to keep things fairly quick. Here's what I read in February:

The Reader

Courting Shadows - I've been trying to get a copy of this book for literally years, ever since reading Poster's sequel Rifling Paradise. Poster is a writer who deserves far more recognition than he has so far received. The first of the two books (Shadows) concerns the stories and secrets that surround the life of a young provincial architect who moves to a remote English village in 1880. The second (Paradise) follows a secondary character from the earlier work who is forced to flee scandal by emigrating to Australia. It's three years now since we last heard from this very promising writer; I do hope he's about to surprise us all with something even more enjoyable.

The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the English by Sarah Lyall

The Bear Went Over the Mountain Satirical look at the world of publishing. Heartwarming and great fun.

Revolutionary Road Great book. Sensitive look at the tragic marriage of two basically unlikeable characters who nonetheless manage to engage our sympathy.

Why Not Catch 21?

Divisadero Disappointing latest novel by the author of The English Patient

The Joy Luck Club the favourite of most lovers of Amy Tan - it was actually my least favourite but still a great read.

The Midwich Cuckoos I last read this around 30 years ago and I'm not sure why I got a sudden urge to read it again but I'm glad I did. Entertaining, well-written and still a little spooky even nowadays.

The Return of the Soldier The story of a shell-shocked man who returns from war with no memory of his wife and married life, but who remembers only too clearly the girl he loved many years ago. This is a short book and a quick read but that only adds to the charm of a classic in which not a word is wasted. Is truth really the most important thing in life? Is it even possible to be truly happy without it? And what happens when a 'cure' can only lead to further misery? These are the questions that must be confronted by the soldier and the three women who love him in their very different ways. A real gem and one I will remember for a long time.

Thursbitch This one has had great reviews and it's very likely I just wasn't in the right mood for it at the time I read it, but I was very bored and very disappointed (and more than a little confused).

Second Glance I was so disappointed by Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart that I really thought I might abandon her for good. This one, though, was a welcome return to form. Picoult may not win any Nobel prizes but she knows how to tell a good story and this is an excellent example of that talent.

I'm Not Scared Gripping and easy to read though I found the ending a bit of a let-down.

Two books really stand out for me. The first is Revolutionary Road (and I've since ordered several others by the same author). The second - and my runaway winner - is The Return of the Soldier. Sometimes you just know a real classic right from the first page. This book will haunt me.

Although I did a lot of reading in February, I only finished five books. Otherwise I was reading a ton of journal articles, and I also read 2/3 of Great Expectations and 312 pages of Parade's End. Anyway, here is the official list of completed books:

Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh
I definitely liked this book. It was a fairly quick and for the most part pleasant read, and it sort of reminds me of a Nancy Mitford book I read in '07, and also of those 1930s movies with the madcap couples and their butler. But I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I will post more when I've mulled it over for a while.

The Great War and Modern Memory, Paul Fussell
In this book, Fussell talks about how the WWI British soldiers were influenced by British literature, and in turn, how WWI influenced British literature after the war (up to the date of his writing, in fact). Lots of detailed analysis of WWI poetry and the writers of the era. Many sections of this book were fascinating; other sections, where he discusses texts I haven't read, were utterly meaningless.

Speaking of Sex, Meg Hickling
Just as the subtitle of the updated edition says: what your children need to know and when they need to know it. Practical, logical information presented in a reader-friendly format. A parent can't read this too soon. I read the original edition when my daughter was a toddler, and now again as she's in puberty. Highly recommended.

Jacob's Room, Virginia Woolf
I can confidently say that this is an extremely complex novel. As my prof likes to say "you can not read this book until you've read the book" (in other words, you need to read it twice to begin to understand it). This book is exhausting in its layers of meaning and symbolism. I think if you just reads it as a regular novel, you really won't get much of anything out of it other than some nice language and imagery. As Anne Berke says in her ultra-condensed version of the Collected Works of Virginia Woolf: "Life is beautiful and tragic. Let's put flowers in a vase." If you don't dissect Jacob's Room, that's all you'll get out of it.

If you're interested, I've posted some of my class notes over at the Virginia Woolf Author Theme Read Group.

Chaucer, Peter Ackroyd
Chaucer really had the most amazing life beyond his position as the Father of English Literature; he was a Renaissance Man before the renaissance. Just some of the events he was part of, or witnessed first hand: the Black Death of 1348 (and four subsequent outbreaks), the Hundred Years' War, the Great Schism (he was in Italy when it occurred), the Peasant's Revolt, and the usurpation of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke. Whew!

My reads for February.

On top of everything by Sarah-Kate Lynch
Chick lit, no more explanation needed.

The Husband by Dean Koontz
The story of an ordinary man whose commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure and sacrifice. Fast paced with lots of the twists you expect with a Dean Koontz read.

Killer Dreams by Iris Johansen
I found this to be a predictable read. Good for sitting at the beach on a hot summers day which is where I read it.

Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney
This was recommended to me as a good book for my 12 year old son to read. He thoroughly enjoyed it and I found it to be quite funny as well.

The Beach House byJane Green
Another fairly predictable read but very enjoyable.

Looking for Alaska byJohn Green
This was recommended to me as I didn't particularly enjoy Paper Towns. John Green redeemed himself with this book. Will be looking out for more from Green.

Picking up the Pieces by Heather Marshall
A good example of why I don't read a lot of New Zealand authors. Average story and average characters.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Another book read on the recommendation from others on LT. Very enjoyable quirky book. Fun to read as well with the letters disappearing on a regular basis.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
I really enjoyed this coming of age story. Glad to have finally knocked it off the list. I am planning on watching the movie as I have not seen that either.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
I know that people rave about this book but I found it to be very average.

The Man in the Blizzard by Bart Schneider
Unnecessarily filled with poems that sidetrack the reader from the storyline. Again very average.

Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
Enjoyable story but found that I wanted to reach in and slap some sense into some of the characters.

Sonata for Miriam byLinda Olsson
Beautifully written, moving story, well worth the read.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Another classic that I should have read many years ago and I am glad that I have finally read this one. A wonderful story with wonderful characters. One we all should read once in our lives.

Diary of a wimpy kid: Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney
Sequel to the first diary, very much the same as the first.

Overall, best for the month Sonata for Miriam tied with To Kill a Mockingbird.

Aha - no contest there, was there? It would have to be Mockingbird in any month! And I'm with you on Wuthering Heights. I did eventually get round to finishing it but it probably remains my all-time record holder for the book I have most often tried to read then abandoned half way through.

I read A Clockwork Orange in college and remember being so incensed and put off by the language that I wrote my entire book report in it. My last paragraph said something like "Now you know how frustrated I was trying to read a new language." Got an A, as I recall.

I loved To Kill a Mockingbird and agree with Booksloth that it looks like the best of the crop.

Oops. I forgot to say which one was my favourite: Vile Bodies, by Evelyn Waugh. To copy one of the reviews, it was "too, too delight-making." (you'll know what that means when you read the book)