Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran (historical fiction, Crown, 2011)
- My other A read of the year. Compelling, riveting, historical fiction detailing the life of Madame Tussaud (of wax museum fame) before she was a madame and living in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution. Loved it!
- Pulpy crime noir set in a suburban high school. Not a book for everybody (Lil' Sis DNF'ed it!), but if you love crime noir, and can deal with a mother-lode of slang, this is a really clever read.
- An erotic romance with some lovely character depth. Also, a sports-themed romance (professional American football) that didn't make me want to drive my fist through a wall. Can't wait for the next book in the series.
- A fantastic star-crossed lovers story with a happy ending! Beautiful period detail, compelling conflict, and achingly romantic.
- A wastrel hero who grows up and a heroine who learns to stop running scared. All while set against the back-drop of Victorian South Africa. Seriously, someone needs to lock Lofty in an attic and tell her to keep churning out historical romances. They're really magical.
- Thought-provoking suspense with a seriously eff'ed up hero and a great sense of place (Canada!). The ending warped my fragile little mind, but I couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterward. A winning debut.
- Gerritsen has been on a roll for me with her last several Rizzoli/Isles books. This one has a great mystery set in Boston's Chinatown and it's a "Jane book." Yippee!
- A picture book for grown-ups. Tells the story of Frances "Frankie" Pratt through her scrapbook. Yeah, it's a gimmick - but it's a clever gimmick. If you're a social history junkie, look no further.
- I love the way Hart takes "ordinary people" and puts them in extraordinary circumstances. Heroine wakes up one morning to discover her husband had a child by his first wife. A child who is now 20, with three kids of her own, and oh - just escaped from a cult that committed mass suicide.
- The final chapter in the author's popular Princess Diaries series. I'm putting this one on the list mostly because it's a series that ended - and it ended beautifully. The author gives her fans what they want, and wraps it up in such a way to make me believe that an 18-year-old girl is going to live happily-ever-after.
I hope you enjoyed looking back with me on my reading year in 2011. It's always fun for me to go back and reminisce on some of the great stuff I read over the course of the year. And hopefully you were able to cull a couple of suggestions from this trip down memory lane.
8 comments:
Here's hoping you find even more great reads in 2012. So you can tell me about them and I can read them. *ahem*
LOL, you're finishing rehashing 2011... I haven't even started!! ^_^;
It's a great list of books :) I really need to read Ms Lofty's previous releases. I really enjoyed Flawless. Thanks Wendy!
I wrote a mental post-it to order Madame Tussaud after your original review, then it must have fallen off my mental fridge door! Have just ordered it now, before I forget again. Thank you for reminding me.
Victoria: I need to kick my butt in gear! So far I've read a whopping one book in January.
Nath: Well, I misspoke. I do still need to do my month in review for December :)
Marguerite: Having your mental post-it note fall off your mental fridge might have been a good thing! At least here in the US, the trade paperback version is now out :)
Wendi, Thanks for including me on your Best of Everything Else list. I'm very thrilled to be included in such good company.
Actually I did finish but it was a complete skim. I wanted to get to the end just to solve the mystery. Had it not been for the mystery I would have dropped it for sure!
I *am* locked in a closet!!
xx
Jami: Tyler's story, Tyler's story, Tyler's story....hint, hint, hint.
Lil' Sis: I know, it was seriously heavy on the slang. Mileage varies on that - depending on the reader.
Carrie: Good! Don't come out of there until you have at least 3 more historicals done! LOL!
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