My 48 Hours are up

Strangely, I didn't read all 71 (give or take) books in my to be read pile (I seriously doubt I'll ever read some of them). But I did read six more books in the 23 hours since my last update, and each of them was a pleasure (with one exception. Guess which).

Austenland, by Shannon Hale 194 pages

The Man without a Country by Edward Everett Hale. 66 pages. This fell off the shelf when I was pulling out Austenland, and I checked it out, thinking that perhaps I was Meant to read it. It is a patriotic screed written during the Civil War, propaganda for the Union side. Reading it did not make me feel much more patriotic. Possibly because I am from Virginia.

Terry's Best Term, by Evelyn Smith. 208 pages. Another pleasant school story.

Millicent Min, Girl Genius, by Lisa Yee. 248 pages. I was tickled to see that mine is not the only family that uses the term "reindeer games" to describe family fun.

Lush, by Natasha Friend 178 pages. A large part of this I read at a Monster Mini Golf Birthday Party to which my five year old was invited. We were both horrified by the loud noise and the crowds of people, had no interest in the golfing part, and ended up siting in a (relatively) quite corner for a while until it was polite to leave. Viz the book--although the "lush" of the title is the narrator's father, much is made of the fact that she is well endowed, breast wise, and I can't help wonder if Natasha Friend was consciously using lush in its other meaning to describe her as well, or if it's just a coincidence.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Jeanne Birdsall. 308 pages. How can one not like a book whose characters read and reference one's own favorite books?