Lazaraspaste’s Best of 2011
This year was a bit of a crap year for me. I actually haven’t read all that much—at least in so far as romance is concerned. Between the final semester of school, exams, work and the most severe case of reading burnout I have ever had in my life, I honestly wondered if there would be anything on this list! A few of these are re-releases of older books, mostly in ebook format. But for the most part, these books were published in 2011. I’m surprised that the list numbers the fingers on my hand.
- A Lady’s Lesson In Scandal by Meredith Duran (review)
- One Night is Never Enough by Anne Mallory (review)
- The Wild Marquis by Miranda Neville (actually, all three of the books in this series, including The Dangerous Viscount and The Amorous Seduction of Celia Seaton) (review)
- The Famous Heroine by Mary Balogh (review)
- The Charm School by Susan Wiggs (review)
What about something completely different as an antidote to burnout? The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente is one of my favorites from this year. So, so clever, inventive and fun.
Or, when all else fails me, I turn to these without hesitation:
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Handling Sin by Michael Malone
Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
We’ve got nuns, a runaway and likely-demented father in a gold Cadillac, and Death, in that order. Take two of these and call me in the morning.
Thanks for reminding me about Charm School – I read it ages ago and really liked it. (Which is why I keep picking up Wiggs’ contemporary happy small town books – they’re not to my taste, but I apparently am still hoping to find another Charm School.)