100 Books for 2018: 16 to 20

Book 16 - Ariel: A Literary Life of Jan Morris (Derek Johns)
After listening to Jan Morris' autobiographical account Conundrum I moved on to this biography by her long term literary agent, Derek Johns. I found it readable but mildly disappointing, though I now can't remember why!
*** 3 stars

Book 17 - The Troubadour's Tale (Ann Swinfen)
Still working through these medieval mysteries on my Kindle. While they very much stick to a formula I enjoyed both the characters and the setting, and felt she was able to keep up the pace and readability from one book to the next.
**** 4 stars

Book 18 - Betty: The Story of Betty MacDonald (Anne Wellman)
I stumbled across Betty MacDonald's account of her time in a tuberculosis sanatorium, The Plague and I, when I was still at school. Much later I read Mrs Piggle Wiggle to my daughters without having any inkling that the stories were by the same author. If I remember correctly, I had a free month's trial of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, and this was one of the books I downloaded. Betty MacDonald's was a fascinating life, and I am not sure why I did not rate this higher - I think it would have been a 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed for that.
*** 3 stars

Book 19 - How I Changed My Life in a Year (Shelley Wilson)
Another Kindle Unlimited book. The author decided to reboot her life by taking on a different challenge during each month over a year - mostly fairly obvious things like "lose weight", "get fit" or "do something creative". I am afraid it didn't inspire me.
** 2 stars

Book 20 - I Leap Over the Wall (Monica Baldwin)
Monica Baldwin, the niece of 1930s Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, entered a convent at the age of twenty in 1914. Realising that she was utterly unsuited for the life she was dispensed from her vows in 1941 and left her enclosed life for a wartime world that was changed in almost every respect from the pre-First World War society she had left behind. This book tells the story of her struggle to adapt to her new secular life. She was by third party accounts a difficult character which can't have made this any easier. A fascinating read.
**** 4 stars