Books 48, 49, and 50

If you've been paying attention, you'd notice that I've completed my New Year's resolution of reading 50 books in 2009. Yay! This is probably one of the most enjoyable resolutions I could've made and it should be no surprise that I've already made it to number 56 and plan to keep going.

The official 50th book was 'Case Histories', by Kate Atkinson. 'Case Histories' is the first of what is currently a three-book mystery series 'starring' private detective Jackson Brodie. While the Sookie Stackhouse series would be my first pick for 'most entertaining series of the year', this set is a close second.

Based on the recommendation of a friend, I also rounded out the last few with 'Interred With Their Bones', a sort of literary/Shakespeare version of the DaVinci Code. While that may be a turn-off for some, I should definitely assure you that Jennifer Lee Carrell is a MUCH better writer than Dan Brown. I'm saving her first book, 'The Speckled Monster', on the Kindle for my next plane trip.

'Year of Wonders' is probably one of my favorites though and I have Geraldine Brooks to thank for that. A fictional account of the 17th century plague that attacked an English village, the story of 18-year-old Anna Frith is compelling.

One last note, I purchased Pat Conroy's latest book 'South of Broad' and was really excited to read it. 'The Water is Wide' was one of my high school English assignments and I fell in love with the author's depictions of southern life and drama in both that book and in the 'Prince of Tides'. I was really disappointed by 'South of Broad'. Set in Charleston and spanning the youth through adulthood of a group of friends, I felt like the story was so....generic. It was still an ok read (and probably perfect for summer on the beach) but it was definitely a let-down compared to Conroy's other works.