I was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison

This Jenny Cooper's diary of her time spent with Jane Austen. Jenny and Jane attended the same boarding school. Jane was very ill at the boarding school when Jenny posted a letter to Jane's mother. The terrible thing that happened to Jenny was that she left the boarding school at midnight so that the letter will get to the Austen's by the morning mail. While Jenny was out at midnight trying to get to the posting Inn she met Captain Thomas Williams. Being the gentleman he was , he made certain Jenny got back to the boarding school safe and he promised to keep this midnight walk to himself never to tell another person. If that was so then how did Jenny's sister in law find out?

Jenny's diary begins in February 1791 and ends April 1791. It is a diary kept by a girl with all her comings and goings, day to day private moments, the good things and the bad things that happen to Jenny. I enjoyed the book. A inside look of Jane Austen.

Book of a Thousand Days written by Shannon Hale

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

I had a difficult time reading this book. For me it had a slow start but gradually as I read the book, I enjoyed it more. This is a story about Princess Saren and her mucker maid, Dashti. They are locked up into a tower, the entrance was bricked closed. The 2 girls had no way out of the tower. They had visitors but could only to talk to the visitors through a little flap. This flap allowed them to dump waste water and receive milk. In the end, we find out that the book was a diary kept by Dashti. Why does Dashti want Kahn Tegus to read it? What does Princess Saren know about Khasar? Who marries Kahn Tegus?

This book is based on the fairy tale "Maid Maleen" as recorded by the Grimm Brothers, the author took many liberties with the original in her quest to find Dashti's story.

This is one of 10 books from the Virginia Readers Choice selection; click on book cover.