I have so many books I'm looking forward to reading in my trusty little notebook that I decided to share a second round of titles. Most of these are forthcoming. My public library recently switched to a different software company for their online catalog and one of the features they just rolled out is a very slick library user account where you can see everything at a glance--the books you've got checked out, the books you're waiting for (which is all pretty standard, I realize, but this new software is much more easy to use and attractive to the eye), as well as virtual shelves, which is similar in setup to Goodreads. Now I can do more than simply request books, but add them to shelves for later. Hint, hint! Maybe this will encourage me to be a little more discerning on which books I get in line for and which I wait until I know I have time to read them (of course that's a pretty elusive idea...when I will have time to read them...).
But lists are good (and so is requesting as long as they don't all come available at the same time). I'm all for lists and keeping things organized. Part of the reason I like to share them here as I use this space as my own online reading journal and often come back to look up books in my various lists--just need to be better at tagging them for later searching. Anyway, here are a few more books I have my eye on.
The Woman Reader by Belinda Jack -- "This lively story has never been told before: the complete history of women's reading and the ceaseless controversies it has inspired. Belinda Jack's groundbreaking volume travels from the Cro-Magnon cave to the digital bookstores of our time, exploring what and how women of widely differing cultures have read through the ages." This sounds really interesting. It is a Yale University Press title, so hopefully it won't be too academic.
The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness -- This is the story of the last hundred days of Nicolae Ceausescu's rule in Romania. "By turns thrilling and satirical, studded with poetry and understated revelation, The Last Hundred Days captures the commonplace terror of Cold War Eastern Europe. Patrick McGuinness’s first novel is unforgettable."
Every Day, Every Hour by Natasa Dragnic -- A story of love lost and love found. "It is the mid-1960s in a small seaside town in Croatia. Two children, Luka and Dora, meet on their first day of kindergarten. Luka faints the first time he sees Dora and she wakes him with a kiss. The two become inseparable. Over the next few years, they wander the shores of their town, lying on their special rock by the sea as Luka paints—until Dora’s parents move to Paris. Bereft, Luka becomes a solitary young man, prey to the needs of his family, but a promising painter. In Paris, Dora blossoms and becomes a successful actress." I'm curious about this one as the author was born in Croatia and am interested in reading about that particular part of the world.
Ghost Song by Sarah Rayne -- I seem to collect Sarah Rayne's books and I swear someday I am going to get around to reading them. They always sound so appealing to me. "The old Tarleton music hall is the subject of a mysterious building restriction that has kept it closed for more than 90 years. When Robert Fallon is asked to survey the structure, he finds clues indicating that its long twilight sleep may contain a sinister secret. Joining forces with researcher Hilary Bryant, Robert discovers the legend of the Tarleton's ghost, a mysterious figure that was first glimpsed during the era of Toby Chance, a charismatic performer who vanished suddenly and inexplicably in the early 1900s." Apparently Rayne is a pseudonym for a well known British author. I wonder who it is?
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty -- "A captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both. Only a few years before becoming a famous actress and an icon for her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. She has no idea what she’s in for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous blunt bangs and black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever."
Only One Life by Sara Blaedel -- I have Blaedel's first book, Call Me Princess, which I have heard mixed reactions to, but I still like the sound of this one and the Danish setting. "Jealousy, obsession, and family honor have fatal consequences for an immigrant community on the fringes of seemingly idyllic Copenhagen society."
Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster -- "In this thrilling gothic suspense debut by Sara Foster in the tradition of Rosamund Lupton and Sophie Hannah, a young mother searches Yorkshire's windswept moors for the truth behind her husband's mysterious disappearance." I'm already in line at the library for this one.
The Innocents by Francesca Segal -- Inspired by Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence--I always tread carefully when an author does a 'retelling' of another author's work, but I am curious about it. "Newly engaged and unthinkingly self-satisfied, twenty-eight-year-old Adam Newman is the prize catch of Temple Fortune, a small, tight-knit Jewish suburb of London. He has been dating Rachel Gilbert since they were both sixteen and now, to the relief and happiness of the entire Gilbert family, they are finally to marry. To Adam, Rachel embodies the highest values of Temple Fortune; she is innocent, conventional, and entirely secure in her community—a place in which everyone still knows the whereabouts of their nursery school classmates. Marrying Rachel will cement Adam’s role in a warm, inclusive family he loves."
Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander -- A new Lady Emily mystery. Since I am now several books behind in reading, I should probably think of reading them rather than thinking of her Alexander's newest, but it serves as a good reminder to get back to this series. " Years ago, Emily's childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, scandalized polite society when she eloped to Venice with an Italian count. But now her father-in-law lies murdered, and her husband has vanished. There's no one Emma can turn to for help but Emily, who leaves at once with her husband, the dashing Colin Hargreaves, for Venice. There, her investigations take her from opulent palazzi to slums, libraries, and bordellos. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present day crime, she must first unravel a centuries old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people." I love the exotic settings of these books.
Detroit Breakdown by D.E. Johnson -- Historical fiction is sort of appealing to me right now. "Detroit, 1911. Will Anderson lives for nothing except revenge against the people who contributed to his friend Wesley's grisly murder—first among them crime boss Vito Adamo. When Will stumbles upon the body of Adamo's driver, he knows he'll be a suspect, particularly since he was spotted outside the dead man's apartment that same night. He sets out to find the killer, and the trail leads him to a vast conspiracy in an underworld populated by gangsters and lawyers. Worse, it places him directly in the middle of Detroit's first mob war. The Teamsters want a piece of Detroit Electric, and the Gianolla gang is there to be sure they get it. To save their families, Will and his ex-fiancee Elizabeth Hume enlist the help of Detroit Police Detective Riordan, the teenage members of what will one day be known as the Purple Gang, and Vito Adamo himself. They careen from one danger to the next, leading to a shattering climax readers won't soon forget."
Safe House by Chris Ewan -- "A brilliant thriller from the author of the acclaimed Good Thief's Guide series asks, how can a beautiful woman simply vanish?" The setting is the Isle of man, which totally appeals to me. Am I the only person who often chooses books not only for the story but also the setting?
The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood -- "An assistant at a nursing home, twenty-year-old Oscar Lowe has made a life for himself amid the colleges and spires of Cambridge and yet is a world apart from the privileged students who roam its grounds and study in the hallowed halls. By chance, he meets the wealthy, charismatic Bellwether siblings, Iris and Eden, after the otherworldly sounds of an organ entice him inside the chapel at King’s College. A masterful work of psychological suspense and emotional resonance sure to appeal to fans of Donna Tartt and Marisha Pessl, The Bellwether Revivals will hold readers spellbound until its breathtaking conclusion."
I am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits -- "A family is torn apart by fierce belief and private longing in this unprecedented journey deep inside the most insular Hasidic sect, the Satmar. Sweeping from the Central European countryside just before World War II to Paris to contemporary Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I Am Forbidden brings to life four generations of one Satmar family."
A Lady Cyclists Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson -- "It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister Lizzie are missionaries heading for the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva’s motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, she is ready for adventure. A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into one other. Beautifully written, and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda and Eva, gradually revealing the links between them and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way toward home."
As you can see my (potential) reading list is long, and I seem to add new titles to it almost every day! And lately I've been doing a bit of book browsing through my own personal library shelves. From day to day I never know whether I'll wake up feeling like reading only from my own stacks (I have lots of really good unread books that sound so inviting) or am drawn to all the shiny new books that are being released. Spoiled for choice I am!
{You can see the first part of my list here. Sorry this one's a bit long, but I tend to get a little enthusiastic when it comes to books that appeal to me.}