The Captive Reader

A reference point for books read and reviewed:

1. A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova (2010)
2. The Blitz by Juliet Gardiner (2010)
3. The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel (2008)
4. A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson (1981)
5. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell (1934)
6. The Lost City of Z by David Grann (2009)
7. Eating India by Chitrita Banerji (2007)
8. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott (1874)
9. Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott (1876)
10. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick (2009)
11. Free for All by Don Borchert (2007)
12. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (1997)
13. A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson (1985)
14. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail (1998)
15. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (1915)
16. The Pastor’s Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim (1914)
17. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim (1898)
18. The Thirties: An Intimate History by Juliet Gardiner (2010)
19. Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell (1940)
20. Miss Bunting by Angela Thirkell (1945)
21. Nella Last’s War edited by Richard Broad and Suzie Fleming (1981)
22. Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell (1946)
23. Private Enterprise by Angela Thirkell (1947)
24. Unhooked by Laura Sessions Stepp (2007)
25. Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz by John van der Kiste (2001)
26. Love Among the Ruins by Angela Thirkell (1948)
27. The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori (1989)
28. House-Bound by Winifred Peck (1945)
29. The Winds of Heaven by Monica Dickens (1955)
30. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (2009)
31. Moving Pictures by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen (2010)
32. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker (2009)
33. The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University by Kevin Roose (2009)
34. Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt (2010)
35. The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig (2011)
36. More Than Love Letters by Rosy Thornton (2006)
37. A Little Folly by Jude Morgan (2010)
38. The Adults by Alison Espach (2011)
39. Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (2010)
40. Blackout by Connie Willis (2010)
41. All Clear by Connie Willis (2010)
42. The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt edited by Ruth Andrew Ellenson (2006)
43. Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year by Esmé Raji Codell (1999)
44. How the Girl Guides Won the War by Janie Hampton (2010)
45. Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman (2009)
46. Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy (2005)
47. Daughters-in-Law by Joanna Trollope (2011)
48. Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy (2011)
49. It’s a Don’s Life by Mary Beard (2009)
50. The Russian Album by Michael Ignatieff (1987)
51. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (1993)
52. Manja by Anna Gmeyner (1984)
53. Uncle Dynamite by P.G. Wodehouse (1948)
54. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons (2010)
55. Born Round by Frank Bruni (2009)
56. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (1866)
57. Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill (2009)
58. The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks by Stuart McLean (2010)
59. Far to Go by Alison Pick (2010)
60. Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas (2010)
61. Extraordinary Canadians: Lester B. Pearson by Andrew Cohen (2008)
62. No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene (2011)
63. Stephanie by Joan Austen-Leigh (1979)
64. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas (2009)
65. Stephanie at War by Joan Austen-Leigh (1987)
66. Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (1847)
67. Chasing Stanley by Deirdre Martin (2007)
68. An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan (2007)
69. Slightly Married by Mary Balogh (2003)
70. At Home by Bill Bryson (2010)
71. The Gardener’s Year by Karel Čapek (1929)
72. Love Letters by Katie Fforde (2009)
73. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh (2004)
74. A Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde (2010)
75. Flora’s Lot by Katie Fforde (2005)
76. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (1926)
77. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (2006)
78. Highland Fling by Katie Fforde (2001)
79. Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde (1997)
80. Wedding Season by Katie Fforde (2008)
81. The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure (2011)
82. The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn (2008)
83. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn (2010)
84. The Rose Revived by Katie Fforde (1995)
85. Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas (2008)
86. Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl (2010)
87. Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius (2006)
88. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl (2003)
89. A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas (2008)
90. Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas (2010)
91. In Her Own Sweet Time by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt (2009)
92. Life Skills by Katie Fforde (1999)
93. Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture edited by Irene Gammel (2002)
94. Artistic License by Katie Fforde (2001)
95. Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (2007)
96. Paths of Desire by Dominique Browning (2004)
97. Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas (2010)
98. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (2010)
99. The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass by Elizabeth Rollins Epperly (1992)
100. It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas (2005)
101. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald (1990)
102. To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn (2003)
103. A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman (1983)
104. The Spoiler by Annalena McAfee (2011)
105. Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories by Jenny Uglow (1993)
106. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (2000)
107. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (2002)
108. How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn (1999)
109. The File by Timothy Garton Ash (1997)
110. An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (2001)
111. Mr Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn (2008)
112. Naming Nature by Carol Kaesuk Yoon (2009)
113. Essex County by Jeff Lemire (2009)
114. To Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn (1998)
115. The Smell of Summer Grass by Adam Nicolson (1999)
116. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn (2007)
117. The Places In Between by Rory Stewart (2004)
118. What Happens in London by Julia Quinn (2009)
119. Saplings by Noel Streatfeild (1945)
120. The Demon in the House by Angela Thirkell (1934)
121. Imagined London by Anna Quindlen (2004)
122. When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (2004)
123. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (2000)
124. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (2011)
125. It’s In His Kiss by Julia Quinn (2005)
126. A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz (2011)
127. French Leave by Anna Gavalda (2001)
128. The Brandons by Angela Thirkell (1939)
129. The American Senator by Anthony Trollope (1877)
130. Growing Up by Angela Thirkell (1943)
131. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (2006)
132. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (2008)
133. Summer Half by Angela Thirkell (1937)
134. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn (2011)
135. Becoming a Heroine by Rachel M. Brownstein (1982)
136. The Rector and The Doctor’s Family by Margaret Oliphant (1863)
137. Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell (1938)
138. Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell (1940)
139. Northbridge Rectory by Angela Thirkell (1941)
140. Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols (1958)
141. Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham (1944)
142. Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge (1933)
143. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (1996)
144. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (1998)
145. Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim (1919)
146. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (2000)
147. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close (2011)
148. Bertie Plays the Blues by Alexander McCall Smith (2011)
149. Hearts and Minds by Rosy Thornton (2008)
150. Persuasion by Jane Austen (1817)
151. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton (2008)
152. Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson (1937)
153. Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil G. Brinton (1914)
154. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay (1992)
155. The Ideal Wife by Mary Balogh (1991)
156. A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel (2010)
157. Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple (1953)
158. Oxford Revisited by Justin Cartwright (2008)
159. Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson (1934)
160. An Appetite for Life by Charles Ritchie (1977)
161. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (2005)
162. Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones (2011)
163. The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay (1995)
164. Enchanted Hunters by Maria Tatar (2009)
165. The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons (2011)
166. Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett (2004)
167. The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson (2008)
168. Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (2001)
169. The Legends of Prague by František Langer (1956)
170. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (1984)
171. The Wandering Fire by Guy Gavriel Kay (1986)
172. The Darkest Road by Guy Gavriel Kay (1986)
173. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson (2004)
174. Skylark by Dezső Kosztolányi (1924)
175. Beyond This Dark House by Guy Gavriel Kay (2003)
176. A Glove Shop in Vienna and Other Stories by Eva Ibbotson (1984)
177. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr (2007)
178. Sunflower by Gyula Krúdy (1918)
179. The Warden by Anthony Trollope (1855)
180. How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed by Slavenka Drakulić (1992)
181. I’ll Never Be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside (2008)
182. Cafe Europa by Slavenka Drakulić (1996)
183. Slightly Scandalous by Mary Balogh (2003)
184. Prague Tales by Jan Neruda (1878)
185. Facts Are Subversive by Timothy Garton Ash (2009)
186. Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Nattress (2011)
187. Extraordinary Canadians: Tommy Douglas by Vincent Lam (2011)
188. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton (2003)
189. Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh (2003)
190. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (1857)
191. Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski (1949)
192. Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson (1984)
193. Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse (1910)