Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Love But Haven't Talked About Much

This week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic from The Broke and the Bookish is the Top Ten Books I Love But Haven't Talked About Much.  I love this topic!  There are so many books I've read and loved before blogging or read and loved but don't fit into many categories except for the review.

1.  One Grave Less by Beverly Connor - Oh I love this series!  Well I guess I should say loved since the series seems to have come to an end.    The books themselves weren't flawless.  Dianne Fallon, the main character, was an expert in just about everything (though she was supposed to be) and there were a few mysteries that were solved because of something happening at just the right moment.  I loved that the lab was part of a museum and I loved the anthropologist angle.  This is basically like the show Bones in book form.  I actually find it more similar than the series that Bones is actually based on!

2.  Goodnight June by Sarah Jio - This book is like the best cup of hot chocolate, the warmest coziest blanket, the most crackling fire, and the snowiest snow day all rolled into one.  There's a bookstore, a famous author, a bookish scavenger hunt, the main character figuring out what she really wants to do with her life, and even a little romance!  The end is a touch contrived but I didn't care!

3.  The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett - I love books, I love books about books, and I love books involving art theft and this one had all three.  I've never been really drawn to first editions but after reading reading this book I completely understand the appeal of book collecting.

4.  The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright - This was one of my favorite books as a child.  I have no idea how many times I read it but it was quite a bit.  When my mother was moving a few years ago I found my copy in one of the many boxes and snatched it up.  I was thrilled when I found it just as enjoyable as an adult than I did as a child and even more thrilled when I discovered it was actually part of the series.  I've tracked the other books in the series down and have enjoyed them just as much if not more!

5.  The Crying Child by Barbara Michaels - I adore the fun Gothic creepiness that is a Barbara Michaels (and her more straightforward mysteries under Elizabeth Peters aren't so bad either!) and this is one of my favorites.  The setting is this old house full of secrets on an island off the coast of Maine and ghosts abound.

6.  Belles on their Toes by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr, and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey - Cheaper by the Dozen was one of my favorite childhood books and I was so excited to find there was a sequel.  This one has a few serious moments as it takes place almost immediately after the first book ends and the family is struggling to deal with the events of the last book.  I loved seeing the kids more grown up.  There are quite a number of points that are very dated (especially the discussion on smoking) but it's still a lot of fun.

7.  In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind - This was the first contemporary romance I ever read and I loved it.  The music discussions are amazing and the characters are wonderful.  I loved the mystery and the conclusion.  I reread this back a few years ago and was so worried it was going to be dated but it absolutely wasn't.  I fell right into the story and could hear the Blues playing in my head.

8.  The Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth - While I've talked a lot about my love for Agatha Christie I haven't talked much about Patricia Wentworth.  I love Miss Silver.  She's a sharper version of Miss Marple who likes things just so and can get people to tell her anything and everything.  Miss Silver doesn't really have a big part in this book but I love this story.  While it is a mystery the focus really is on just who William Smith really is.

9.  All of the short story collections by L.M. Montgomery - I was very lucky to be at just the right age and to have discovered L.M. Montgomery just as collections of short stories edited by Rhea Wilmshurst were being published.  Each collection has a single underlying theme - Akin to Anne involves books about orphans, all the stories in Along the Shore have the sea somehow involved.  My absolute favorite is Among the Shadows which involves darker topics than most of Montgomery's stories which is really interesting.

10. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - This book I'm torn about because Rubin herself drove me crazy.  It doesn't help that she really reminds me of someone I know IRL who I don't care for so that kind of influences my opinions.  But the book itself was really full of good information.  I'm really task oriented and this book really helped me see that I get so focused on completing tasks or getting things done that I'm letting things that make me happy get pushed to the side for absolutely no reason.