Last month passed by in a daze in more ways than one. Usually I have a list going of forthcoming books and I seem to have missed some good ones left and right. So I've pulled out my trusty notebook and have started to jot down some books I'll be on the look out for. Some are already out and others are coming soon.
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran -- I've yet to read any of her crime novels, but they sound good--wonderfully atmospheric. "Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. She has brilliant deductive skills and is an ace at discovering evidence. But Claire also uses her dreams, omens, and mind-expanding herbs to help her solve mysteries, and relies on Détection — the only book published by the late, great, and mysterious French detective Jacques Silette." This is the first in a new series.
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton -- I've yet to read Lupton's Sister (it's on my TBR pile) but here's her new book due to be published in April. " Powerful and beautiful, with a riveting story and Lupton’s trademark elegant style that made Sister such a sweeping success, Afterwards explores the depths of a mother’s unswerving love."
Another Time, Another Life: The Story of a Crime by Leif G.W. Persson -- "In 1975 , six young people stormed the West German embassy in Stockholm, taking the entire staff hostage. They demanded the immediate release of members of the Baader- Meinhof group being held as prisoners in West Germany, but twelve hours into the siege, the embassy was blown up, two hostages were dead, and many others were injured, including the captors. Thus begins Leif GW Persson’s Another Time, Another Life."
The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe -- This is set in 1915 Boston. "From the opium dens of Boston’s Chinatown to the opulent salons of high society, from the back alleys of colonial Shanghai to the decks of the Titanic, The House of Velvet and Glass weaves together meticulous period detail, intoxicating romance, and a final shocking twist that will leave readers breathless."
The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani -- Several years back I read Lucia, Lucia and quite enjoyed it, but haven't tried another of her books since. I do like the sound of this one and the fact that it is set in the Italian Alps. It's a "riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny." (Love the cover illustration, too).
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd -- My library has this on order and I am hoping it crosses my desk--I plan on snapping it right up if I can! I've already heard good things about it via a few favorite British bloggers. "Moving from Vienna to London's West End, from the battlefields of France to hotel rooms in Geneva, Waiting for Sunrise is a mesmerizing journey into the human psyche, a beautifully observed portrait of wartime Europe, a plot-twisting thriller, and a literary tour de force."
Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham -- I loved his Night Ferry and have wanted to try another book by him. Maybe this one? "A teenage girl--Sienna, a troubled friend of his daughter--comes to Joe O'Loughlin's door one night. She is terrorized, incoherent-and covered in blood. The police find Sienna's father, a celebrated former cop, murdered in the home he shared with Sienna. Tests confirm that it's his blood on Sienna. She says she remembers nothing. Joe O'Loughlin is a psychologist with troubles of his own. His marriage is coming to an end and his daughter will barely speak to him. He tries to help Sienna, hoping that if he succeeds it will win back his daughter's affection. But Sienna is unreachable, unable to mourn her father's death or to explain it. Investigators take aim at Sienna. O'Loughlin senses something different is happening, something subterranean and terrifying to Sienna. It may be something in her mind. Or it may be something real. Someone real. Someone capable of the most grim and gruesome murder, and willing to kill again if anyone gets too close."
Dublin Dead by Gerard O'Donovan -- "Irish detective Mike Mulcahy returns in this suspenseful follow-up to the highly acclaimed international bestseller The Priest—and now he’s hot on the trail of an international drugs gang." This is a second book in a series, so perhaps I should start with his first book, but an Irish detective story has a certain appeal at the moment.
What They Do in the Dark by Amanda Coe -- I starred this one on my list and am already in line for it at the library. "Spoiled but emotionally neglected Gemma, who seems to have everything, and semi-feral Pauline, who has less than nothing, are two very different ten-year-old girls growing up in a tough Yorkshire town in the 1970s. Pauline longs for the simple luxuries of Gemma’s life: her neatly folded socks and her clean hair. Gemma, upset by her parent’s breakup, loses herself in fantasies of meeting the child television star Lallie. When Lallie shoots a movie in their hometown, Gemma and Pauline grab the chance for their wildest dreams to come true. But the film becomes a terrible catalyst for the larger forces acting on the two girls, a dysfunctional adult world that trickles down to the children; and playground bullying escalates, with dreadful consequences."
Starboard Sea by Amber Dermot -- "Set against the backdrop of the 1987 stock market collapse, The Starboard Sea is an examination of the abuses of class privilege, the mutability of sexual desire, the thrill and risk of competitive sailing, and the adult cost of teenage recklessness. It is a powerful and provocative novel about a young man finding his moral center, trying to forgive himself, and accepting the gift of love." I love stories with academic settings.
Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison -- It's been ages since I've read any of Harrison's work. "From Kathryn Harrison, one of America’s most admired literary voices, comes a gorgeously written, enthralling novel set in the final days of Russia’s Romanov Empire." Another one I'm already in line for.
Londoners by Craig Taylor -- This one is for Anglophiles (or London-philes--is there such a thing?). "Five years in the making, Londoners is a fresh and compulsively readable view of one of the world's most fascinating cities—a vibrant narrative portrait of the London of our own time, featuring unforgettable stories told by the real people who make the city hum.
Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey -- Not sure how I missed this one, but I'm not at the end of a very long line. "Set in Scotland and Iceland in the 1950s and '60s, The Flight of Gemma Hardy—a captivating homage to Charlotte BrontË's Jane Eyre—is a sweeping saga that resurrects the timeless themes of the original but is destined to become a classic all its own."
Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey -- Another one that everyone else seems to be reading and talking about that I missed. "laska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them."
The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer by Anne-Marie O'Connor -- Klimt is one of my favorite artists, so I have to borrow or maybe even buy this one. I saw this portrait in Vienna when it was part of the Belvedere's collection. It is now in a New York City museum. "The spellbinding story, part fairy tale, part suspense, of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, one of the most emblematic portraits of its time; of the beautiful, seductive Viennese Jewish salon hostess who sat for it; the notorious artist who painted it; the now vanished turn-of-the-century Vienna that shaped it; and the strange twisted fate that befell it."
Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear -- This is the first time in a long time I've not managed to finagle a review copy of a Maisie Dobbs mystery from the publisher. I've by and large stopped taking review copies and I don't seem to be on many publisher's lists anymore, so I'm trying to patiently wait for my public library to receive copies of her newest. Less than three weeks to go.
An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi -- "Clare Moorhouse, the American wife of a high-ranking diplomat in Paris, is arranging an official dinner crucial to her husband's career. As she shops for fresh stalks of asparagus and works out the menu and seating arrangements, her day is complicated by the unexpected arrival of her son and a random encounter with a Turkish man, whom she discovers is a suspected terrorist. More unnerving is a recurring face in the crowd, one that belonged to another, darker era of her life. One she never expected to see again. But it can't be him--he's been dead for 20 years...."
Sorry for the canned descriptions--I just grabbed the blurbs rather than trying to give really brief run downs.
What are you reading that's new? And what am I missing? Browsing can be dangerous, but I like to know what new and exciting to look forward to.