Hugh Pentecost, The Evil That Men Do. A very early entry - the second book in the series, I think. I liked the plot quite a bit, though. Vivid characters, a little bit of twisting and turning - not bad.
Jean Zimmerman, The Women of the House. I picked this one up at the Museum of Natural History last summer. It's the story of a family dynasty in New Amsterdam/early New York. Not only is it an interesting history of this family and of the area, it's extremely detailed - the early chapters especially are incredibly vivid and well depicted.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, On the Banks of Plum Creek. Obviously a reread, although I haven't read this one in a long time. It's not one of my favorites in the series - but of course, a wonderful classic! I find it interesting in rereading the early books of the series to watch the interactions between the characters. Laura clearly felt herself to be Pa's favorite ... I wonder how different the books would have been had Mary written them. And circumstances where the family is separated take their toll on the children, but how much harder it must have been on Ma, as she sat waiting and wondering. You can see only the bare outlines of these feelings, as clearly the children had little to no inkling of the deadly seriousness.
Tom Standage, A History of the World in Six Glasses. Fascinating book, tracing mankind's history through the rise and fall of six beverages, beginning with the early invention of beer and ending with Coke and the globalization it represents. (The appendix adds a seventh - the popularity of and backlash against bottled water.) It's fairly short, but moves along readably and has a lot of very interesting points to make. While I might have liked a bit more to it, I'm pleased with what I got.
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