Elisabeth Grace Foley

Historical Fiction Author

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Read in 2014

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Today I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blog event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, for my annual list of ten best books read during the year. This year’s list seems like one of the most unusual mixes I’ve had—and it seemed like I had a bit of a harder time putting it together. Besides a few really splendid standouts that were easy choices, there were a lot of books that I liked (I’ll talk about more of those in my general year-end reading roundup post after the New Year!), and it was challenging picking out just which ones were the best to round out the list. But here they are—in the order read, not order of favorites:


The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

I was finally lured into trying one of Georgette Heyer’s Regency books by  seeing rave reviews of this one from what seemed like my entire online acquaintance. The Grand Sophy did not disappoint: it’s an entirely delightfully witty, madcap romantic comedy. Read my review here.


Thorofare by Christopher Morley

A big, rich, rambling, beautiful novel, this wins my award for favorite book of the year. Told mostly from the perspective of an English boy, the nephew of a college professor who teaches in America, it traces his journey to the States and the family’s life in village, city and country on both sides of the Atlantic, exploring with pleasant humor and an incredible eye for detail the curious differences and similarities of English and American culture in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era. Read my full review here.

The Third Man by Graham Greene
Written specifically to serve as the source material for the screenplay of the excellent 1949 film, this novella has comparatively less material, but it’s definitely worth reading for its crisp storytelling and wry wit, and its slightly different angle on the story through the medium of fiction. I actually read it through twice. If you’ve seen the movie and liked it, you’ll probably enjoy the way the book complements it, as I did.

Until That Distant Day by Jill Stengl
Here is that rare thing, at least in my experience—a recently-written historical novel that completely captivated me. Though it’s billed as historical romance (and there are satisfying touches of love interest involved in the plot) this is more a story of a family, a sister and brothers struggling to survive and preserve their relationships with each other as they are pulled different ways by the tumult of the French Revolution. Extremely well-written and very hard to put down!

The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan
A play, not a novel—I seem to have read quite a lot of plays this year (more on that in my year-end roundup). I saw the 1999 movie years back and liked it, but reading the play impressed me even more. The characters and the pre-WWI setting are alive on the page, the play itself an absorbing and thought-provoking study of justice and the cost of standing for conviction. I ended up reading this one twice, too. Find my (short) Goodreads review here.

Pastoral by Nevil Shute

A novel of life on an R.A.F. bomber base during WWII, centering around the sometimes difficult progress of a romance between a young pilot and a female signal officer—deceptively understated, with a feel for everyday life, like both of Shute’s books that I’ve read so far. It’s not the kind of book that grabs you with a flash and a bang, but rather one that creeps up on you quietly till you’re entirely absorbed. Review here.

Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag

Once again something very much out of the ordinary for me makes my top-ten list. In fact, I can’t quite compare it to anything I’ve ever read before. If you move in any of the same online circles I do, you may have heard ought of this book: an ambitious planetary fantasy written in a stunningly grand and gilded style. My review here.

Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris

An unusual and interesting piece of WWII and film history, this book traces the wartime experiences of five famed Hollywood directors, the effect of those experiences on their lives and careers, and the often complicated and controversial role of documentary filmmakers in the army. (And isn’t that old-movie-poster cover pretty cool?) Read my review here.

Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts
This is detailed, excellently-written, fascinating historical fiction, based around Burgoyne’s invasion from Canada and the campaigns leading up to the Battle of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War. I couldn’t believe how much history I learned that I’d never had a clue about before (full-scale naval battles on Lake Champlain, anyone?), especially since I’ve walked over some of the very ground where it took place.

Pendragon’s Heir by Suzannah Rowntree

This one is slated for publication in 2015, but I read an advance version of it in 2014 and it definitely belongs on my best-of list—I literally couldn’t put it down all day. A splendid historical fantasy and fascinating twist on Arthurian legend—you’re going to want to keep an eye out for this one. As a matter of fact, you can check back here on Saturday the 20th for an announcement of the release date! (Update: Read my full review here.)

A good half of this list I acquired via library; The Grand Sophy and Until That Distant Day I bought on Kindle, while for Plenilune as well as Pendragon’s Heir I was fortunate enough to be an advance reader! Thorofare, meanwhile, was an impulse purchase of an out-of-print used book which really paid off.

Previous years’ top-ten lists: 2011, 2012, 2013.

Summer Reading 2014

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Spring has not been a very good reading season for me—at least in numbers of books read, and time to read them. I have read some excellent books this year, but mainly before the Great House Painting Adventure began. All through the reading drought that that has caused, I’ve been looking forward to the summer months when I can simply relax and sit out on the pool deck with a good book—or even better, a pile of good books. I’ve consoled myself in the meantime by putting together a good summer reading list. This is almost certainly not all I’ll read this summer; I always end up flying through these lists faster than expected. But these are the books I especially want to read:

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Pastoral by Nevil Shute
The Shadow Things by Jennifer Freitag
Until That Distant Day by Jill Stengl
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Miss Elizabeth Bennet: A Play From Pride and Prejudice by A.A. Milne
Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
The Third Man by Grahame Green
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
National Avenue by Booth Tarkington
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
Aunt Huldah: Proprietor of the Wagon-Tire House and Genial Philosopher of the Cattle Country by Grace McGowan Cooke and Alice McGowan
High, Wide and Lonesome: Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier by Hal Borland
[Edited later to add links to my reviews]

Wonder of wonders, there are actually five books on this list that were published in my own lifetime—three of them brand new releases. I must be broadening my horizons a bit. I may actually be able to vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards this year!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Read in 2013

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Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, winds up the year with the highly fitting theme of Top Ten Books Read in 2013. I read a lot of great books this year; it was hard picking just which ones to squeeze into the nine and ten spots! But here they are. They appear in the order I read them, not the order of favorites:

 

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord

I love a good solid piece of historical nonfiction, and WWII is one of the areas I’m interested in. I’d been curious to read more details about Pearl Harbor after seeing the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), and I really enjoy Walter Lord’s readable and information-packed style. I actually checked this one out of the library again and re-read it early this December.

 

No Life For a Lady by Agnes Morley Cleaveland

An extremely entertaining memoir of growing up on a New Mexico cattle ranch beginning in the 1880s. Agnes Morley and her younger siblings had enough colorful adventures to spark ideas for a dozen novels—and yet there’s a lot of interesting detail on the people, the work and domestic life of the Southwest too. A great read for any Western fan and/or history buff.

 

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

Easily my favorite read of the year. Gorgeous writing, a stunningly evoked setting, suspense and intrigue and romance…it doesn’t get much better than this. Read my review here.

 

Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson

Anybody might enjoy it, but writers especially are bound to get a kick out of this charming book, the tale of a mild-mannered English spinster who writes a novel based off the people in her little village, and turns said village upside-down! Read my review here.

 

Firmament: Radialloy by J. Grace Pennington

Yes, this is probably the most unexpected entry on my list! I didn’t think I would ever read science fiction. But the delightful characters and twisting plot drew me in, and I couldn’t put it down. Read my review here.

 

The Hanging Tree by Dorothy M. Johnson
I’d long meant to try out Dorothy Johnson’s Westerns, and this collection of short stories plus the title novella more than answered my expectations. Read my review here.

 

 

The Bellamy Trial by Frances Noyes Hart

I couldn’t put down this unique mystery from 1927. It’s told from the perspective of two young reporters, a girl and a man, covering a sensational murder trial—the whole book takes place in and around the courtroom, with all the evidence in the mystery presented via testimony and speeches. Mystery lovers won’t want to miss it.

 

These Wonderful Rumours!: A Young Schoolteacher’s Wartime Diaries by May Smith

Good historical journals and diaries are another one of my favorite types of books, and May Smith is one of the wittiest, most entertaining diarists I’ve ever read. Her diary gives a wonderful snapshot of life in a typical English town during WWII, and how ordinary life went on under extraordinary circumstances.

 

The Trusty Knaves by Eugene Manlove Rhodes
Rhodes is another Western author I read for the first time this year, and this is my favorite of his books that I’ve read so far. He has one of the most unique and entertaining writing styles I’ve come across—this tale of a bank-robbery conspiracy and a counter-conspiracy set to thwart it is both exciting and hilarious. Read my review here.

City Editor by Stanley Walker
I picked this up for research, but enjoyed it so much that I ended up reading it from cover to cover instead of just the applicable chapters. First published in 1934, it’s a fascinating first-hand look into a newspaper industry that practically doesn’t exist today, detailing the ins and outs of reporting, writing, managing, publishing and more.
The means by which I got my hands on these favorite reads was a little more varied this year. I got more than half of them through my library, although it took interlibrary-loan requests to find The Hanging Tree and City Editor. These Wonderful Rumours! and Firmament: Radialloy I bought on Kindle; I had to buy a vintage hardcover copy of The Bellamy Trial, and I found The Trusty Knaves in a collection of Rhodes’ works at Internet Archive.
Previous years’ top-ten lists: 2011, 2012.