18. Boston Jane: Wilderness Days by Jennifer L. Holm

This is the second book in the Boston Jane series. This book tells how Jane learns to be herself and escape her demons. She copes with the death of her father and her abandonment by her fiancee. She also has to deal with her jealousy of the new "lady" in town. And, lastly, she travels through the wilderness to thwart a murder attempt on one of her new friends. She's very busy. It's a fun, adventurous book I obviously liked it or I wouldn't be reading it for the second time.

17. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

I really liked this book. This is actually the second time I've read it and I think I liked it even better this time. I listened to it on CD and the production of it is amazing. I liked listening to it even better than I liked reading it because, in the production, they sing the quarry songs and they sound amazing!! This book is about a little girl, Miri, that comes from a town that is based around stone quarrying. She is unable to work in the quarry because her father won't let her. Consequently she feels isolated from the rest of the town because everyone works in the quarry except for her. Then her town is chosen to be the place the next queen will come from and the king creates a school to educate all the girls on how to be princesses so the prince can come choose. And as Miri begins to learn about things other than her isolated little village, she begins to find her place in the world. It is beautifully written and very fun. It does take some to get into though. Give it 100 pages and you'll be hooked. It won a Newberry Honor Award (basically a runner-up to the Newberry Award). I highly recommend it.

16. Boston Jane: An Adventure by Jennifer L. Holm

This is one of my favorite young adult novels. It's about a young lady who grows up in 1800's Philadelphia learning to be a "lady" (although she is raised by her single doctor father who often takes her on calls to treat lots of different people). Her father encourages her to develop her mind and personality, but society wants her to develop her fashion sense and coffee pouring ability. She decides to follow society, but her world is turned upside down when she follows her fiancee to the wilderness of Oregon and is forced to do all kinds of things not proper for a "lady". It's great because, at first, she expects to be saved by all kinds of men and other people, and, in the end, she learns to save herself and make her own choices. The writing is also witty and funny. This is probably the third or fourth time I have read it. And every time it is just as good. I loved it!

15. The Roman Mysteries (#1): The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

This is a great little children’s mystery that takes place in the Roman Empire, about 75 A.D. The main character, a 10 year-old Roman girl named Flavia, meets her secretly Christian neighbor boy Jonathan, and together they try to solve the mystery of who beheaded his watch dog. The book does a good job of portraying Roman society, including tough things like slavery and anti-Christian sentiment. I really liked it. Kate picked it to read for this month’s mother-daughter book club which is about historical fiction. I would definitely recommend it although I don’t know if I will read any more in the series. Kate said she liked it.

14.Pemberley by the Sea by Abigail Reynolds

This is a modern retelling of P&P. The Elizabeth character is a marine biologist from the wrong side of the tracks in Chicago and the Darcy character is from an East coast political dynasty (kind of like the Kennedys). Anyway they meet and by the end they are together in spite of Darcy’s controlling father. I like the story, the characters and the creative adaptation. There is too much sex in it for me though.

13. A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell

This book is the mostly true story of an LDS man, Mike Ramsdell, who served as an American intelligence officer in the Soviet Union right before its fall. His undercover mission fails and he is abandoned in a remote Russian town and has to deal with the Russian mafia and the KGB. Eventually, he is able to escape on a peasant train that goes across Siberia, but his troubles are only beginning. His only food gets stolen, he has a hole in his head and several broken ribs and the safe house they send him to doesn’t have any food or anything else. So he gets caught in a blizzard in this small town and has to beg for food. Miraculously he receives a package with food and is able to survive and make it back to the US Embassy in Moscow. It really is a harrowing story and he interweaves the main story with memories from his entire life growing up in Bear River, UT and as a young intelligence agent and with his family and loved ones. I really liked it but could only read it in small doses because it meandered so much. Very inspiring and interesting. I read it because my book club is reading it for this month. It wasn’t something I would have just picked up on my own, but I liked it.

12. Enna Burning by Shannon Hales

This is the sequel to Goose Girl, which is a retelling of the Grimm’s fairytale of that same name. Enna is the Goose Girl, Isi’s, best friend in the first novel and this novel explores what happens to her. She finds she has the gift of fire-speaking, but then has a hard time not letting it overtake her. She also falls in love with her friend Finn after many a detour. I really liked this book. I listened to it on CD and I really loved the production of it. It was very interesting to watch Enna try to find out who she was. It was a great sequel.

11. Pemberley Shades by D.A. Bonavia-Hunt

This is another P&P sequel, the second one ever written, according to the publisher. It is a fun mystery. Darcy has to hire a new minister for the Pemberley parish and tries out a man who is recommended to him but whom he has never met. The man comes for a trial period and does some incredibly strange things. Darcy and Elizabeth try to figure out what’s going on while entertaining various guests and romances. It was fun and harmless and I liked the depiction of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship.

10. Grandfather’s Dance by Patricia MacLachlan

This is the fourth and last installment in the Sarah, Plain and Tall series. Again it was great. The family is getting ready for the daughter Anna’s wedding. The Aunts and Sarah’s brother William come and stay for the big event and we are introduced to the baby of the family, Jack. Jack wants to be just like “Boppa” (Grandpa) and follows him everywhere. It’s really touching. Grandpa dies the day after the wedding and family mourns his loss, but sees his shadow in the boy Jack. Another great book. I loved them all. I glad I reread the first one for the book club. Now I’m going to go watch the movies because they are also fantastic.

9. More Perfect than the Moon by Patricia MacLachlan

This is the third sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. Cassie, the younger sister, tells the story of her mother getting pregnant and having a baby. She’s afraid that her mother is going to die and she’s also a little jealous as any older sibling typically is. The writing is beautiful and Cassie is a little more imaginative than her siblings. She calls the baby the “terrible baby”. Of course, everything turns out well. That’s why I really like kids’ books. This series is great!

8. Caleb’s Story by Patricia MacLachlan

This is the second sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. This time the protagonist is the brother Caleb. He discovers a man behind their barn and finds out later that he is his own grandfather who had abandoned his family years before. The book is about how Jacob, Caleb’s father, and the grandfather come to terms with each other. Caleb also discovers that his grandfather is illiterate and secretly teaches him to read. Again, the writing is great, the book is over much too soon, and there is a lot of feeling packed in.

7. Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma by Diana Birchall

This is another P&P sequel. It takes place about 20 years after the original. The Darcys have 3 children, 2 sons and a daughter. In an act of mercy, Mrs. Darcy invites the 2 eldest daughters of Lydia Wickham to stay at Pemberley. Of course, the Darcy sons fall in love with the crazy cousins and the fun ensues. It was pretty good but a little dry. Not the worst but not the best.

6. Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan

This is the sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. It is just as well done. I read it in about an hour, but it is really good. The writing is so visual and beautiful. In this installment, the family tries to survive a drought on the Plains in the late 1800’s. They end up leaving Jacob on the farm and traveling to Sarah’s old home in Maine to wait it out. It’s a beautiful book. Well worth the hour I spent on it.

5. Austenland by Shannon Hale

This is a novel about a lady who is obsessed with P&P and especially the A&E Colin Firth version. She can’t have a real relationship because she is always looking for Mr. Darcy. So her crazy old aunt leaves her a vacation to Austenland in her will. Austenland is a resort where you go and it is supposed to be like living in P&P. She basically goes and lives out the story and tries to deal with her issues so she can live a normal life. It is hilarious, especially if like me you know the Jane Austen stories well. This is about the third time I’ve read this book and every time it is just as funny. This time I listened to it and the production was really well done. I loved it!