Space Station Mir

12. Peony in Love by Lisa See  Lisa See brings another little known (at least in the Western world) phenomenon from Chinese women's history to life. Peony, the character and the book, is representative of a historical cohort of women who fell in love with a fifteenth century opera,  The Peony Pavilion , and, in imitation of the main character, wasted away from 'lovesickness.' Read my full review here.  13. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson 14. The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson Like the first book, A Girl of Fire and Thorns , the second and third books in this compelling trilogy, show that author Rae Carson is not afraid to pull the hard punches. The novels continue to be strong on character development, especially for the main character Princess Elisa, and world-building, set in a mostly desert world with a fascinating religious backstory. Overall, I think the first book is my favorite, but I'm glad I continued to follow Elisa...

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper This was an uneven book that ultimately triumphed because of the sensitive and nuanced portrayal of its protagonist. While the story differs significantly in detail from Philippa Gregory's better known The Other Boleyn Girl, in   this novel,   Mary   Boleyn is also both sympathetic and a fascinating character in her own right. 2. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (audiobook) I've finally managed to read the famous Rainbow Rowell. However, I had never heard of Attachments before I found it in the audiobook section of the library. It's not a book I'd normally read, but it sounded like a light and fun audiobook for my commute, and it was. The gimmick of Lincoln discovering Beth through e-mail proved interesting, and all the characters were lovably quirky. A scene where the characters play Dungeons & Dragons didn't smell right to me when the author mentioned that the characters switch off playing the Dungeon Master every ...