Looking forward to buying or borrowing (buying if I get a gift card for Christmas or borrowing if I don't), but especially looking forward to reading one way or another. My wishlist has been growing since I last shared a list of forthcoming books that have caught my eye. In the case of hardcovers I almost always opt for a library copy, but occasionally (like the first book on the list), I'll buy the book outright because the author is a favorite.
Jacqueline Winspear usually publishes a new Maisie Dobbs book early in the spring, so round about December I'm thinking how nice it will be to have something good to look forward to after the rush and excitement of the holidays. January is always so bland, but by March when Leaving Everything Most Loved comes out, I'll be ready for a new Maisie Dobbs adventure.
A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry -- "Freelance writer Troy Chance is snapping photos of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival ice palace when the ice-cutting machine falls silent. Encased in the ice is the shadowy outline of a body--a man she knows. One of her roommates falls under suspicion, and the media descends. Troy's assigned to write an in-depth feature on the dead man, who, it turns out, was the privileged son of a wealthy Connecticut family who had been playing at a blue collar life in this Adirondack village. And the deeper Troy digs into his life and mysterious death, the murkier things become."
News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories by Jennifer Haigh --". . . a collection of interconnected short stories, Jennifer Haigh returns to
the vividly imagined world of Bakerton, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town
rocked by decades of painful transition. From its heyday during two
World Wars through its slow decline, Bakerton is a town that refuses to
give up gracefully, binding—sometimes cruelly—succeeding generations to
the place that made them." I read and enjoyed Baker Towers a number of
years ago and have always meant to revisit her work. I love the sound of this collection of stories.
Baksheesh (a Kati Hirschel Istanbul Mystery) by Esmahan Aykol -- "Kati Hirschel, the owner of Istanbul's only mystery bookstore, is fed up. It all started when her lover Selim insisted that she behave like the Turkish wife of a respectable lawyer. Looking demure and making witty small talk were the only requirements. Then her landlord announced an outrageous rent increase on her Istanbul apartment." Her first mystery, The Hotel Bosphorus, was a light entertaining read. Not high art and maybe suffering somewhat from a clunky translation, but I'm still curious about her next book. Kati has potential, and I'm curious to read more literature translated from Turkish.
A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Pineiro -- Loved her book Thursday Night Widows, and now she has a new one coming out. "Pablo Simó's life is a mess. His career as an architect is at a deadend; reduced to designing soulless office buildings desecrating the heart of Buenos Aires. His marriage seems to be one endless argument with his wife over the theatrics of their rebellious teenage daughter. To complicate matters, Pablo has long been attracted to sexy office secretary Marta Horvat, who is probably having an affair with his boss. Everything changes with the unexpected appearance of Leonor, a beautiful young woman who brings to light a crime that happened years before, a crime that everyone in the office wants forgotten, at all costs."
Motherland by William Nicholson -- "Epic in its reach from wartime Sussex to Nazi-occupied France to London after the war, perceptive and compassionate in its illumination of life’s greatest challenges and triumphs, Motherland follows three characters sharing their hopes and dreams, love and losses amidst war and its aftermath." I'm really looking forward to this one as I loved his The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life.
Firebird by Susanna Kearsley -- Yay a new book by Susanna Kearsley (though I should really first read the couple of unread books I have by her in my pile). "Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she
sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives
with a small
wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see
the object's history and knows that it was named after the Firebird-the
mythical creature from an old Russian fable. Compelled to know
more, Nicola follows a young girl named Anna into the past who leads her
on a quest through the glittering backdrops of the Jacobites and
Russian courts, unearthing a tale of love, courage, and redemption."
Georgette Heyer by Jennifer Kloester -- I've been coveting this book ever since it was published in the UK. Finally is it being published (and even in paperback) here in the US. I read and enjoyed Jane Aiken Hodge's The Private World of Georgette Heyer, but this new biography promises to "offer new insight" into her life. It's dur out January 1, so I should order my copy soon (this is one I think I want to own). I have somehow managed to not read any of Heyer's books this year--must remedy that in 2013. Maybe I'll pick one to read over my holiday break.
Last Friends by Jane Gardam -- Another author whose works I want to read more of. I loved Old Filth and have The Man in the Wooden Hat tucked away to read. "Third book in the Old Filth trilogy. The
marriage of Edward Feathers and Betty as seen
through the eyes of Edwards friend and Betty's lover Terry Veneering."
The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier -- "In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape."
Lots of good books to look forward to, and this is only part of my list. I may have to share a few more in the next week or so. Are there any forthcoming books you're looking forward to? Or books I've missed (and I am sure there are plenty) that I should add to my own list?