You can never have enough books on your wishlist, right? So here are a few more to tempt you. My own solution to new books like these is to request them from my local library. It makes me giddy with happiness to go and pick up a stack of books (like this past weekend). You never know what treasure you will find. Besides, most libraries keep an eye on circulation statistics and the more use they get often the better funding, too. So, support your local library, please. In no particular order, here are ten more books on my own wishlist:
The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera - "When Miss Prim, an independent, accomplished young woman, reads an ad in the newspaper seeking a feminine spirit to work as a librarian in the lush countryside of France, she finds herself compelled to apply. Little does she know what kind of world she is about to step into…". Ooh, France, libraries, what's not to love?
The Vacationers by Emma Straub - "An irresistible, deftly observed novel about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family’s two-week stay in Mallorca." A new book by the author Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures.
Fallout by Sadie Jones - "Sadie Jones, the award winning, bestselling author of The Uninvited Guests and The Outcast, explores the theater of love, the politics of theater, and the love of writing in this deeply romantic story about a young playwright in 1970s London." I read the very quirky The Uninvited Guests, and this one appeals to me even more.
The Turning Point by Judith Lennox - "A gripping novel of passion, intrigue and ambition, set against the backdrop of 1950s Britain in the popular tradition of Kate Morton." Okay, so this is actually out in the UK but not here. I do enjoy a good Judith Lennox story now and again--she's one of my comfort reads.
A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton - "Award-winning author Sharon Bolton has once again crafted a tightly-plotted, utterly unpredictable thriller around one of the most compelling characters in crime fiction today, enigmatic London police officer Lacey Flint." I've read all of Bolton's work save her most recent Lacey Flint novel and one standalone concerning snakes. I'll be getting this one as well, of course.
The Sea Garden by Deborah Lawrenson - "Ingeniously interconnected, this spellbinding triptych weaves three parallel narratives into one unique tale of love, mystery, and murder. The Sea Garden is a vivid and absorbing chronicle of love and loss in the fog of war—and a penetrating and perceptive examination of the impulses and circumstances that shape our lives." I quite enjoyed her novel The Lantern and am looking forward to this new story.
Wonderland by Stacy D'Erasmo - "A riveting look at the life of a musician, Wonderland is a moving inquiry into the life of a woman on an unconventional path, wondering what happens next and what her passions might have cost her, seeking a version of herself she might recognize. It takes us deep into a world many of us have spent hours imagining and wishing ourselves into—now we have a bit of that wish come true."
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman - "The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street is a wonderful read, by turns poignant and wickedly funny. This is the immigrant story updated, with a brazenly re-imagined American anti-hero, and delicious all along the way." (Kevin Baker, author of The Big Crowd and Paradise Alley)
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen - "Brilliantly written, powerfully observed, Still Life with Bread Crumbs is a deeply moving and often very funny story of unexpected love, and a stunningly crafted journey into the life of a woman, her heart, her mind, her days, as she discovers that life is a story with many levels, a story that is longer and more exciting than she ever imagined."
The Love-Charm of Bombs: Restless Lives in the Second World War by Lara Feigel - "Lara Feigel brilliantly and beautifully interweaves letters, diaries and fiction with official civil defence records to chart the history of a burning world in wartime London and post-war Vienna and Berlin. She reveals the haunting, ecstatic, often wrenching stories that triumphed amid the mess of a war-torn world." This one has been out for ages in the UK and is finally being released here (it is high on my wishlist!).
Lots of potential good reads to look forward to!