47. One Perfect Rose

By Mary Jo Putney
Rated: ★★★★


This is one of the better romances I have read, and it is certainly the best in the "Fallen Angel" series. Below is from the library site:

Stunned when his family physician tells him that he only has a few months to live, Stephen Kenyon, Duke of Ashburton, escapes Ashburton Hall and temporarily leaves his responsibilities behind to wander the countryside anonymously as he tries to sort out his feelings and reconcile himself to his apparent fate. However, when his heroic rescue of a young boy results in his becoming part of a traveling theater company, he meets the compelling Rosalind Jordan.

46. In A Sunburnt Country

By Bill Bryson
Rated: ★★★★★


I love this author. When I grow up I want to be a travel writer and he is my inspiration.

From the summary on my library site:

Taking readers on a rollicking ride far beyond packaged-tour routes, IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY introduces a country where interesting things happen all the time, from a Prime Minister who was lost at sea while swimming at a Victoria beach to Japanese cult members who managed to set off an atomic bomb unnoticed on their 500,000-acre property. Leaving no Vegemite unsavored, readers will accompany Bryson as he dodges jellyfish while learning to surf at Bondi Beach, discovers a fish that can climb trees, dehydrates in deserts where the temperatures leap to 140 degrees, and tells the true story of the rejected Danish architect who designed the Sydney Opera House. Published just in time for the Olympics, IN A SUNBURNED COUNTRY provides a singularly intriguing, wonderfully wacky take on a glorious, adventure-filled locale.

45. Dream When You're Feeling Blue

By Elizabeth Berg
Rated: ★★★

A Rita Hayworth look-alike and her sister keep the home fires burning for young men going off to fight WWII in Berg's nostalgic tale of wartime romance and family sacrifice.

This was an OK book but not one I would particularly recommend. I liked the detail about the era because it was my childhood so it was a nostalgic read for me. However, I did not think the relationships were particularly realistic. I think that Berg prides herself on being an edgy author and I think that she has tried a little too hard with this novel and sacraficed some realism in the process. I thought the ending was from way out in left field somewhere.