#52/156 - The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden
A sweet romance set in the U.S. during the Gilded Age, which is an unusual combination in my browsing. The story was fascinating, with elements of politics and business that reached beyond the core story and obviously set up for two other stories about other characters that played a supporting role in this one. I'll probably pick up the other two eventually when I'm looking for something lighter to read.
#53 - Fate by Helen Hardt
I keep saying I'm done with this series, and I keep picking up the next title when it becomes available from my library's ebook platform. It is like a soap opera - crazy implausible at times, with over-the-top characters and massive, sprawling conspiracies, but no less enjoyable for its lack of believability. This story is a prequel of sorts, telling the story of the parents of the siblings featured in the first 12 titles, and is just as fast-paced, crazy and engrossing as the rest.
#54 - The Call of the Wild by Jack London
I picked this one up partly because of the movie, and partly because I didn't think I'd read it before. I didn't get very far into it before I realized I did read it, way back in elementary school. Still, it is a classic and an enjoyable story. What's not to love about an adventure told from the dog's point of view?
#55 - Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
I always enjoy Gladwell's work, and this was a particularly good one. He investigates various elements of communication and the strategies human beings use to make sense to people they do not know, and how those strategies work - or don't - in specific situations in modern life. The overarching question starts with the story of Sandra Bland and how a traffic stop led to days in jail and her eventual suicide, and to explore that question he pulls together case studies involving everything from Cuban spies to the difficulty of proving child sexual abuse to the misapplication of data-based police tactics. Each chapter was really fascinating on its own, and the way it all came together made a very convincing case.
#56 - The Gilded Lady by Elizabeth Camden
The second in the trilogy that started with The Spice King. This one wasn't nearly as good as a romantic story, but the historical elements - the love story unfolds against the backdrop of McKinley's reelection campaign and assassination - were enough to keep me reading. And I will probably still pick up the third one when it is released because the political/historic intrigue that started in the first book isn't fully resolved yet and the third book will center around the most interesting of the three main characters.
