71. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

I'd never read this before, and enjoyed it immensely.  It has all the Robin Hood characters plus King Richard vs  Prince John, and Saxons vs Normans, and Knights Templar (and others) vs an enchanting Jewish heroine.  And a romance (Ivanhoe and Rowena) which ends happily ever after.

It reminded me, in fact, of Game of Thrones.  If you like Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, it will make sense when I say that Scott has a footnote about a tower on an island with a causeway under the water that takes a sharp turn; and that a Saxon father disinherits his son for fighting for Richard and the Normans, and wearing Norman clothing.  Of course, if you haven't read Game of Thrones, this won't mean much.

Sir Walter Scott seems to be on the side of the Saxons, more than anyone else.

70. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I only knew the story of Frankenstein from movie versions, so it was fascinating to read Mary Shelley's original. It's another story told in letters and journals by a third party. Shelley poses serious philosophical questions about good and evil. Are we created good, and become evil because of how we are treated or how people perceive us?

66. Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott

I read Rob Roy while on holiday in Bali, about as far as you can get from the Scottish highlands. I've never read any of Scott's historical novels. Rob. Roy's story is told almost as a side story to the main plot by young Francis Osbaldistone who visits his country cousins and falls in love with Di Vernon.

Fascinating for the insight into Scottish history and characters, and very readable (once you decipher the dialect)

61. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I've read all Jane Austen's novels over the years, but this time read them one after another in a collected edition. She seems very modern compared with everything I've read that precedes her. I can't put my finger on what the difference is. I hadn't realised that there is a satirical thread through all the novels, either.

Sense and Sensibility contrasts the feelings and behaviour of two sisters, Elinor and Mariane Dashwood. Jane was a wonderful observer of human behaviour. I wond if her friends and family recognised themselves in her characters?

62. The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth

This was enjoyable to read on several levels - as a romance in which virtuous hero is united with virtuous heroine, as social parody about English society, and as social commentary about absentee Irish landlords and corrupt agents and the effect on their tenants.