Okay, I have decided to do a series of posts that will encompass the past ten years of my reading progress and what I deem the best romance books from those years. I have been wanting to compile my own "top list" for each year and a 100 list for a while now. I just haven't gotten around to it for various reasons. Most of those pertaining to the fact that I want everything to be perfect and have nice, little neat categories to fit everything into. Alas, it just doesn't work out that way so I am going to do the best that I can with what I currently have.
Each post will revolve around a year, for the past ten years starting with 2000. I will post what were the popular books that year using information from RT (Romantic Times Magazine), RWA (Romance Writers of America) and AAR (All About Romance). From there I will compare what books were top of the heap with them and how that compares to my own reading experience.
***Bold means I read it - and () is my personal grade for that book. At the bottom will be my top picks for this year, based on what books I read.
AAR'S READER'S CHOICE - TOP PICKS
Winter Garden, Adele Ashworth
Welcome to Temptation - Jennifer Crusie (B+)
The Viscount Who Loved Me - Julia Quinn (B+)
The Unsung Hero - Suzanne Brockmann (A-)
Where Dreams Begin - Lisa Kleypas
A Secret Love - Stephanie Laurens
By Arrangement - Madeline Hunter
I Do, I Do, I Do - Maggie Osborne
Never Love a Cowboy - Lorraine Heath
The Star King - Susan Grant
Dark Magic - Christine Feehan (C)
Dark Challenge - Christine Feehan (B)
RITA AWARDS - RWA
A Man Like Mac - Fay Robinson
First Lady - Susan Elizabeth Phillips
The Shepherd's Voice - Robin Lee Hatcher
Rogue's Reform - Marilyn Pappano
Devilish - Jo Beverley (B-)
The Highlander's Touch - Karen Marie Moning (C)
A Grand Design - Emma Jensen
Carolina Moon - Nora Roberts
It Takes A Rebel - Stephanie Bond
The Mistress - Susan Wiggs
The Best Man & The Bridesmaid - Liz Fielding
ROMANCE ROOKIE'S TOP PICKS
The Duke by Gaelen Foley (A)
The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockman (A-)
Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard (A-)
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (B+)
Dark Desire by Christine Feehan (B+)
All the Queen's Men by Linda Howard (B+)
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (B+)
Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts (B+)
A couple of things of note:
- I read a total of 30 books published in 2000. It's not a lot and my goal is to have read at least 50 books to make my list "mean something".
- The Star King is being offered as a free ebook by borders right now.
- I thought I had read everything by Lisa Kleypas, so how in the world did Where Dreams Begin drop off my radar?
7 comments:
wow, great post. totally agree with the Brockmann and with the Linda Howards.
I LOVE A Man Like Mac, it is on my keeper shelf and probably my favorite category romance ever. You can borrow it if you want.
Hi Kris - I hadn't heard of A Man Like Mac until now. I just checked and my library has a copy. Hee, hee maybe I can get it this weekend. Thanks for letting me know about it.
I loved I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne. And ditto on A Man Like Mac. It wasn't a keeper for me, but I remember really enjoying it.
I love the other two books in that Susan Wiggs trilogy, but The Mistress was just meh for me.
Wendy - I do enjoy Maggie Osborne and it has been a while since I have read anything by her. I loved Jenny Jones. Such a good combination of strong and vulnerable.
I like Susan Wigg's contemps more than her historicals. I did read the Hostage and it was pretty good.
I liked A Man Like Mac because it was very different. the hero is paralyzed from the waist down. You do not see many romance books that have that particular hurdle to get past.
Really great post and idea, Jill :) It's fun to refresh our memories and see what was published in that year... Jeez, it seems so far away in some ways ^_^;
Thing though is I don't pay attention to publishing years... I do agree though with your choices!! :P
Nath - Well you know how I like to categorize my books. I might even go back and do a series of posts like this but instead of based on years, I will base it on genre. Could be interesting. Listing those books has made me realize I missed some good ones and I will have to find them and read them.
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