12. A Daring Arrangement

By Joanna Shupe (384 pp, ebook)

Another romance! Life as been a little extra hairy lately so often romance is all my brain can deal with. This one is set in the Gilded Age in New York. The heroine, Honora, has been sent to America to get her away from an ill-advised romance with an artist. She tries to find a terrible American man to show interest in so her father will so appalled he will bring her home. Julius is rich but has a reputation for poor behavior. But this is romance so you know how things end up.

11. The Best American Short Stories 2011

By Geraldine Brooks(Editor), Heidi Pitlor (Series Editor)(386 pp, ebook)

I love these collections and almost always have one started in my ereader and drop into it every once in awhile. This is another great collection and I should have taken notes so I could highlight the stories I liked especially. I do remember I loved Elizabeth McCracken's story "Property" about a man who recently lost his wife. It hit that mixture of funny and sad that I love. George Saunders's "Escape from Spiderhead" is in this collection as well as Claire Keegan's "Foster" which are both terrific and worth tracking down and also completely different from each other. There's also a story, "A Bridge Under Water" by Tom Bissell who is a writer I discovered via a Best collection and really admire.

10. Susan, You're The Chosen One

By Lauretta Hignett (268 pp, ebook)

I picked up this book because it's a urban fantasy adventure with a middle-aged heroine. Susan has a great job and perfect husband and then it all unravels in a terrible way and she's living in a tiny apartment and trying to keep it together when these gorgeous people show up to tell her she's the chosen one. She is not convinced until all kinds of magical things happen and she needs to accept her role in this adventure. This is a really fun book and my favorite part is how Susan uses her experience in the corporate world to deal with the fantasy beings and situations.

9. What I Did For A Duke

By Julie Ann Long (384 pp, ebook)

I typoed the title as "What I did for a Duck" and I almost left it because it's funny. My romance podcast Fated Mates did a deep-dive episode on this book. I checked my archive and I already had it (haha. My book buying habits are hilariously disorganized.) I loved this book. It's about this mysterious Duke Moncrieffe with a dark reputation who decides to ruin a particular young woman as revenge. The woman, Genevieve Eversea, is more than he expected and things progress as you would guess in a romance. Fun characters. Snappy dialogue. Must read for romance fans.

8. Wild Robot

By Peter Brown (320 pp, ebook)

I knew this book was aimed at younger readers but it was a little younger than I expected. I can't remember the last time I read a middle grade book. It's about a robot that washes ashore on a forested island and doesnt know its purpose. But as it learns to survive it makes friends with the environment and the animals. It's very charming with lovely illustrations. I haven't seen the movie yet but it's on my list.

7. The Searcher

By Tana French (451 ebook)

I've read all the Tana French books except for the one that came out last year. I enjoyed the Dublin Murders but was less enthusiastic about The Witch Elm. This one is about a Chicago police detective whose marriage falls apart and he moves to rural Ireland to get a fresh start and a new perspective. A troubled thirteen-year old befriends him and eventually asks for help locating a missing sibling. The book is a slow burn with lots of atmosphere, intesting characters, and a real sense of an outsider moving into a small community. Yesterday was rainy and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon reading the last half of this book. I haven't done that in a long time.

6. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

By Sarah MacLean (397 pp)(ebook)

Sarah is one of the hosts of the Fated Mates podcast. I have had this book on my ereader for awhile and decided to give this a try. It's a historical with another pair of terrific main characters. Lady Calpurnia remains unmarried and decides there's no longer any reason to live by the rules. She makes a list of things she'd like to do like kiss someone and visit a gambling den. She's had a crush on Gabriel St. John, a Marquess, forever and inadvertently gets him involved in her rule-breaking and things progress. Fun book.

5. Lord of Scoundrels

By Loretta Chase (375 pp)(ebook)

The ladies of Fated Mates podcast did a special episode about this book. It might have been a replay when it came up in my podcast app. I checked and it was onsale so I grabbed it. It is a historical romance with amazing main characters. Jessica enters the story to try to rescue her doofy brother from himself and Sebastian, the Marquess of Dain. As soon as they meet sparks fly and Dain keeps thinking he will win the upper hand and coming up short. Very fun romance.

4. Pleasure of a Dark Prince

By Kresley Cole (452 pp)(ebook)

I had to clear out the scary aftermath of reading In Cold Blood. This is the third book in my Kresely Cole 3 pack and I think I liked this one the most. In this one Lucia who is under some sort of curse and Garreth a shape-shifter end up on a dangerous adventure that involves a boat in the Amazon where Lucia needs to find a mythical object. There are lots of adventures and fun banter.

3. In Cold Blood

By Truman Capote (343 pp)(ebook)

Another book that's been in my to read pile forever. This is a non-fiction book published in 1966 about real murders that happened in rural Kansas in 1959. The book was groundbreaking in that it used fiction techniques to tell a true story. Four members of a family are found brutally murdered on their farm. The story tells the story of the victims and the story of the murderers. The writing is really good and the story is terrifying. The murders were so senseless and sad.

2. Less

By Andrew Sean Greer (273 pp)(ebook)

I used to keep track the Pulitzer fiction winners and make sure to read them but it's slipped away from me the last ten years or so. I picked up this knowing nothing about it except for the award and it was a wonderful surprise. It's about modestly successful novelist who sets out on a trip around the world so he can avoid his boyfriend's wedding. It is funny and relatable and he experiences quite a variety of adventures. I think my favorite was the ancient restaurant in Japan. Love this writer's writing and plan to read him again.

1. Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir (496 pp)(ebook)

I loved this book. I did not enjoy Artemis and haven't paid attention to this author since then. This book is about a guy who wakes up and has no idea who he is or what's going on -- and gradually figures out he is on a space ship, his shipmates are dead, and he is on a last chance mission to save humanity by going to another solar system. I read about 25% and wondered how this was going to be an entire book. No spoilers but I very highly recommend for people who like books in space and like The Martian -- having to solve problems with science. I see it is going to be a movie with Ryan Gosling and I can't wait.