Adult books 2005

I don't know why I think anyone cares, but here are the adult books I read this year!  A lot of the chick lit ones are all starting to blur together - I may be starting to outgrow them, horrors! This turned out to be the year that I, rather by accident, read a lot of Southern women's fiction and really enjoyed it. I've noted my top 10 and what turned out to be the bottom 7 (I just couldn't manage to really loathe 10 of them). Sadly, almost all of the bottom 10 were book club books. Sorry, ladies! I'll try to be more positive next year. Even if it didn't get a bold or a red, most of the books are okay and worth a read. They're not all stellar, but the only ones I'm really warning you against are in purple. :)

(I was going to try and link to the book reviews, but since the list was already all done up, I couldn't face going through all that HTML code. But they're in the 2005 Book Reviews Category, if you're interested. I didn't actually write that many reviews this year - I'll have to do better in 2006.)

(Bold = really enjoyed it, Red = top, Purple = bottom)

1. Live Bait by PJ Tracy


2. Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips


3. Beginner's Luck by Laura Pedersen


4. Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend


5. Green Grass by Rafaella Barker


6. The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard


7. Paradise Fields by Katie Fforde


8. The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr


9. Pure Fiction by Julie Highmore


10. Shout Down the Moon by Lisa Tucker


11. Husband Material by Maeve Haran


12. Speechless by Yvonne Collins and Sally Rideout


13. Saints of Big Harbour by Lynn Coady


14. Life Mask by Emma Donoghue


15. Imagined London by Anna Quindlen


16. Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot


17. Snobs by Julian Fellowes


18. My Fake Wedding by Mina Ford


19. Dead Run by PJ Tracy


20. Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett


21. Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About by Mil Millington


22. The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare


23. As Seen on TV by Sarah Mlynowski


24. 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith


25. Ready or Not? by Chris Manby


26. The Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle


27. Wolves in Chic Clothing by Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman


28. The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford


29. The Summer of Us by Holly Chamberlin


30. The Wedding Day by Catherine Alliott


31. Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews


32. Getting Home by Celia Brayfield
    


33. Dead Famous by Ben Elton


34. Do You Come Here Often? by Alexandra Potter


35. Ain't She Sweet? by Susan Elizabeth Phillips


36. Prep by Curtis Sittenfield


37. Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik


38. Drive Me Crazy by Nancy Warren


39. Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons


40. Monkey Business by Sarah Mlynowski
    



41. Mafia Chic by Erica Orloff


42. Adored by Tilly Bagshawe


43. Bite by CJ Tosh


44. Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell


45. Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips


46. The Go-To Girl by Louise Bagshawe


47. Mike Nelson's Death Rat by Michael J. Nelson


48. I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty


49. Love @ First Site by Jane Moore


50. Better Homes and Husbands by Valerie Ann Leff


51. Man Camp by Adrienne Brodeur


52. A Certain Chemistry by Mil Millington


53. Christmas Cards from the Edge by Lisa Cach, Jennifer Ashley, and Naomi Neale
    


54. Mad Girls in Love by Michael Lee West


55. Hard by Emma Gold


56. The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives by Sarah Strohmeyer