#51/130 - The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
This was a fascinating read, a fictionalization of actual events in the life of actress Hedy Lamarr. I'm usually not big on WWII stories, which seems to be the overdone genre of the moment, but this one only dealt with the war in the most oblique ways, focusing on the ways it impacted Lamarr's life and on her unexpected talents that really weren't appreciated at the time but had a lasting legacy. And it was told from a distinctly feminine (and feminist) perspective, addressing head-on the way women's options were constrained by their gender and the coping mechanisms some developed to navigate those disadvantages at a turbulent time in history.
#52 - Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day
#53 - Lucien's Gamble
More romance novel escapism. These both stand alone but exist in the same fictionalized Victorian England, with the second centering around a background character in the first. Both were light, easy reading, maybe a bit heavier on the sex scenes than necessary but not so much so that it slowed the story down, not particularly memorable or noteworthy, but fun nonetheless.
#54 - 48 Hours by William R. Forstchen
Another end-of-the-world book by the author of One Second After, this one was more science-fiction than the previous trilogy. The whole story takes place in a very short period of time, starting in the wake of a solar storm that did major damage to the electrical grid (seems like a theme with this guy) and continuing through the discovery of a solar event that could essentially wipe out life on Earth, and is much more tightly written than his earlier books even though it spent a fair bit of time on the science of the looming apocalypse. Unlike a lot of books in this genre, the story wasn't about a race to prevent the apocalypse but rather the way various elements of society, from the president and federal government to a security guard in Missouri, deal with the impending crisis. Like his other books, there is a strong military element and there was one scene in particular that I had a hard time with just from lack of familiarity with the types of military vehicles involved. But overall it was an enjoyable read, a real page-turner of the sort that keeps you up past bedtime because you really want to know what happens next, and the ending didn't disappoint at all.