Top Ten of 2004

I started this blog in early January - a fresh start in a new year. But it seems like a good time to look back at what I read in 2004.

I've been in a long reading slump, since the late 1990's. (Which corresponds to my becoming active online and getting a full-time job. And having my own apartment and my own TV for the first time. Lots of distractions!) But I don't think it was just the distractions. I only read 6 books in 1998 and 18 in 1999 - quite shocking, especially when I used to routinely read over 100 books a year. I haven't gotten back to that point, but I've been reading more and enjoying books more over the past couple of year. I read 96 books in 2004.

I'm always behind in my reading - with 1500+ books in my TBR, I'm more likely to pick up an older book than a new one. So I can't really judge the quality of 2004 books based on the books I read - I'll probably still be reading 2004 books in 2014. And one of my projects this year was to read through one bookcase of older books, so I probably read fewer new books this year than I have in other years. But there were some interesting trends this year.

When I looked at my top rated books from 2004, I was surprised. Only one historical! (I couldn't do an entire "top ten" because these were the only books I graded B+ or better. I can't really call a B read a "best" book.) I have quite a few 2004 historicals in my TBR pile, but it seems to be a trend - I'm having a harder time finding currently published historicals that I want to read. On the other hand, I bought more categories this year than I have in a decade - maybe Harlequin is finally escaping from their "cowboys and babies" obsession. There are still plenty of brides and babies, but I'm actually finding new categories that I want to read.

1. The Marriage Test by Betina Krahn
2. Finding Mary Blaine by Jodi Thomas
3. Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella
4. A Family Christmas by Carrie Alexander (HSR 1239)
5. Forbidden by Tori Carrington (HB 129)
6. Mommy Said Goodbye by Janice Kay Johnson (HSR 1197)
7. Visions in Death by J.D. Robb

But when I look at my top reads of the year, regardless of publication date, the list is quite different. The only "keeper" I read this year was a traditional American historical - Marry Me by Susan Kay Law. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book (published in 2002).

I think that romance has lost something important by giving up on American historicals and pushing so many authors into other periods. There's something unique about books with this type of setting - you can't just transplant these stories to another time and place and have them work the same way.

I have to give a mention to Suzanne Enoch's England's Perfect Hero - a book that started off as the best of the year, and ended as the worst. I am baffled by this book. The first half was an exquisite tortured hero story, but then it went off in a different - and bad - direction. When the hero and heroine started humping each other in the mud in an open stable yard (and I use the word "humping" deliberately), I couldn't believe it was the same book. Perhaps the author just went off track, but I can't help wondering if it was the result of publisher pressure to "sex up" the book and to add unneeded excitement and suspense.

My top ten reads of the year:

1. Marry Me by Susan Kay Law
2. The Top Gun's Return by Kathleen Creighton (SIM 1262)
3. A Merry Little Christmas by Martha Schroeder
4. Hazard by Jo Beverley
5. The Nights Before Christmas by Vicki Lewis Thompson (HT 853)
6. The Marriage Test by Betina Krahn
7. A Promise Of Love by Karen Ranney
8. The Tenderfoot Bride by Cheryl St. John
9. Miss Ware's Refusal by Marjorie Farrell
10. Texas Glory by Lorraine Heath