Book #9 (sort of): Without Mercy and Book #10(ish): The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise

For the record, I'm still working on what I originally called Book #8 (The Mysteries of St. Louis). It's a very interesting book, it just takes a lot of concentration to read, so it's slow going. In the meantime I decided that I would double team so that I don't fall too far behind. So technically speaking I've really only finished 9 books at this time ;)

My first back-up book (supposed book #9) was Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson. Normally I really enjoy her books and I still finished this one pretty quick, but it kind of felt like a chore. Normally her characters are really well developed and engaging and there are a lot of surprising plot twists. Not so much with this one. I found the main character rather whiny, in fact. While there was a fairly decent twist of a conclusion, by the time I got there, I found I didn't really care. Overall, really a disappointment but at least it counts toward my 50!

I'm currently working on (what I'm calling book #10) a book called The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart. I noticed it on the shelf at Borders a couple of weeks ago and found it intriguing. The wonderful man that I am dating noticed and went back and bought it for me :) Unlike Mysteries, it is a very easy read. I started reading it on Monday during my lunch and squeezed in about 30 pages, and then that evening read half the book! It's kind of whimsical fiction, but also relates quite a bit of history about The Tower of London. I'm really enjoying this one. And as an extra bonus, it counts toward my British book challenge!