Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 October 2013

Upon request: My top 100 romances

Every three years or so, romance review site All About Romance extraordinaire asks its reviewers and readers to submit their top 100 romances. At the point of writing this, there are three days left to submit your choices for this year's poll, if you are so inclined. I've already sent in mine. When they last did their poll, in 2010, I also submitted a list, but thanks to the tragic harddrive crash of about two years ago, I've lost the document and no longer have any idea what was on it. So I had to make a new list (yeah, terrible that). Going through Goodreads for my top rated romance novels, I made a massive list, and then had to go about trying to rank the books up against each other. If I made the list today, several choices would probably be different. The top 20 or so are pretty fixed, though. On the request of a few people, I now make the list available here.


  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  2. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
  3. Unraveled by Courtney Milan
  4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
  5. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
  6. The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
  7. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
  8. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
  9. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
  10. The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase
  11. A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare
  12. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
  13. Captives of the Night by Loretta Chase
  14. The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne
  15. What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long
  16. A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan
  17. Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook
  18. Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
  19. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
  20. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
  21. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
  22. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
  23. An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
  24. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
  25. What Happens in London by Julia Quinn
  26. Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
  27. A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah Maclean
  28. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
  29. The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
  30. Bound by Your Touch by Meredith Duran
  31. His at Night by Sherry Thomas
  32. Sylvester by Georgette Heyer
  33. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
  34. Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
  35. I Kissed An Earl by Julie Anne Long
  36. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
  37. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (Currently number 2 in the AAR poll)
  38. Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase
  39. Written on Your Skin by Meredith Duran
  40. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn
  41. Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer
  42. It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long
  43. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
  44. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
  45. Unveiled by Courtney Milan
  46. Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran
  47. One Good Earl Deserves A Lover by Sarah Maclean
  48. The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand
  49. Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
  50. The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright by Tessa Dare
  51. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah Maclean
  52. Something About You by Julie James
  53. Persuasion by Jane Austen
  54. Dare You To by Katie McGarry
  55. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
  56. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
  57. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare
  58. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas
  59. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase (Currently number 1 on the AAR poll)
  60. Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas
  61. It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
  62. Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare
  63. Unclaimed by Courtney Milan
  64. Riveted by Meljean Brook
  65. The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Anne Long
  66. Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase
  67. The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
  68. How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn
  69. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas (Currently number 3 on the AAR poll)
  70. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  71. The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand
  72. Love Irresistibly by Julie James
  73. A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran
  74. To Love a Thief by Julie Anne Long
  75. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
  76. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
  77. Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
  78. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
  79. One Night in London by Caroline Linden
  80. Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah Maclean
  81. Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
  82. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
  83. This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James
  84. And Then He Kissed Her by Laura Lee Guhrke
  85. Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
  86. About Last Night by Ruthie Knox
  87. Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase
  88. Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey
  89. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
  90. Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
  91. Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
  92. Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh
  93. Never Lie to a Lady by Liz Carlyle
  94. The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
  95. Emma by Jane Austen
  96. Not Quite a Lady by Loretta Chase
  97. The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn
  98. The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James
  99. The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand
  100. Your Wicked Heart by Meredith Duran

Saturday, 12 October 2013

#Readathon October 2013: Getting ready

It's that time of year again. When I get to devote an entire weekend, more or less, to just reading. This is the fifth time I'll be participating, and I love the preparation for it almost as much as I love the luxury of just getting to read and read and read.

Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-thon looks to have at least 400 bloggers signed up this year, so I'll be in good company. Thanks to a tip from Jenn Lawrence, a veteran of the Read-a-thons, I have read the first chapter or two of every book I was considering for my list, to make sure that they'll hold my interest.

The books I'm planning to read:

This month's pick for Vaginal Fantasy Hangout, and a book that's been on my TBR list for quite some time, because I love Carey's Kushiel books so much, and I'm a huge fan of all things paranormal/urban fantasy. That this book fits into several of my current reading challenges doesn't hurt either. I figured I'd start with this one.


My husband is a HUGE Doctor Who fan. He literally cried with joy because now there are nine more episodes in the world that he has yet to see of the show. Neil Perriman, though, is a bigger fan, and he had his wife Sue, who'd never watched any of the classic series (the show made before 2005), sit down with him and watch EVERY single episode. He also blogged about it, and some of those experiences, as well as a lot of other stuff relating to his fandom (if I'm to be believed) is contained in this book, which I was delighted to be granted an ARC of from NetGalley. I've already read three chapters, and laughed out loud several times, so I'm really looking forward to this one. I won't be reviewing it on the blog until November, as it's not released until November 7th.

Variety is the spice of life, isn't that what they say? I'm trying to make sure I don't get sick of a particular genre while I'm reading tomorrow, and have tried to put together a varied list. Having enjoyed Linden's The Truth About the Duke trilogy (all reviewed on the blog earlier this year), I got this when it came out in July, and then promptly forgot about it, probably because I was really busy trying to "win" to 104 on Cannonball, and then because there are so many other books out there, crying out to be read. Romance tends to be light, frothy and easy to read, and so this goes on my reading list now.

I was actually granted an ARC of this book when it came out in 2012, and it was glowingly reviewed by The Book Smugglers. Too much got in the way of my reading the book, though, so it languished on my TBR shelf. With death being one of the monthly keywords for October, and me just having bought this as an e-book on sale, it seemed like a sign that I really need to get it off my TBR list.

There are times when a girl has to be moving around (possibly going out for some air, or just taking a break from staring at the page, or e-reader screen). Those times call for an audio book. Because I really enjoyed listening to James Marsters narrate the previous Dresden Files instalment, I got this from Audible and loaded it onto my Ipod. As the whole book is 13 hours long, I doubt I'll get through all of it, but it'll feel as if I'm really utilising every minute of my Read-a-thon if I listen to a book even when I can't sit, lounge or lie and read.

Graphic novels and comic books are great for when you're getting tired, or just want to make sure you really hit a good page count. My husband got this one for his birthday, I've been wanting to check it out for a while, and as weapon is another keyword for October, it all works out just perfectly.

My husband gave me this book for Christmas in 2006. We weren't even married yet at that point. I still haven't read it. That's how long it's been on my TBR shelf. I'm not going to lie, I feel bad about it, but for some reason, I've just never got round to picking it up. So I'm determined, that no matter what happens, this is going to be one of the books I read tomorrow.







Books are essential, but so are snacks. So far I've made little pizza rolls (which got cooked a tad too long in the oven, because I forgot to set a timer, but still look delicious). I'm also going to make ham, cheese and scallion muffins and chocolate chip cookies to have enough to nibble on. The fridge is stocked with Coke Zero, and I'm sending the husband to the shop for an assortment of fruit. I think it's going to be a good day for reading.