Ooh, look what I found! Sarah at Reading the Past has one of her most excellent historical fiction book lists up and here it is, the book I am waiting for: Sarah Waters's forthcoming novel! The Paying Guests is due out in the US September 16 (so far away it seems, but it will come sooner than I think!). Here's the blurb:
"It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers. For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be. This is vintage Sarah Waters: beautifully described with excruciating tension, real tenderness, believable characters, and surprises. It is above all a wonderful, compelling story."
Vintage Sarah Waters. It has been "sold" in my mind since I heard she was writing a new book. According to Sarah 500 galleys are being given away at BEA. I wish I could go. Sigh. It is being released August 28 in the UK, but for once I think I like the US cover design more than the UK design. Surely I can wait an additional three weeks (biting fingernails as I type that) for the US edition?
Okay. Patience. I have plenty to keep me busy while I wait. And lots of new reading goodies even. Here's a bit of 'ready for the weekend' randomness (I don't know about you, but I am very ready for the weekend!). All in pictures, too. This is the stack of books I have read that I have not yet written about. One of my goals this year is to write about the books I finish (in some way or other). I have a few to catch up on. Seeing as I am reading so slowly and finishing fewer than in previous years, the stack is actually not too out of control. My most recent finish is the Chekhov on the top of the pile.
My next novella? One of these three, I think. As yet undetermined, but I'll decide this weekend. And if I can write about at least one of the books in the photo up above, it will be an industrious sort of weekend, too.
And, hey, while I'm at it I have been thinking about the book by Pat Barker I just finished and had heard that her previous book was a companion of sorts. When I read the description in the dust jacket it sounded as though the stories run almost concurrently, which intrigues me so I have added it to my pile as well. Why not, right? I can at least dip into it this weekend.
After feeling so miserable last weekend, I think I am finally getting my equilibrium back (thankfully) and am settling back into a routine where I can sort of keep up with things. I am greatly looking forward to reading some short stories again. Strange as it sounds, I missed them last weekend.
It's about time, too, for me to pick up the next Little House book. And while I was in Texas I discovered a new-to-me artist whose work I am trying to track down. I found that she had illustrated a children's book written by James Thurber. More about her, the book, and her work next week.
And maybe this weekend I will finally have a chance to browse my Persephone Biannually that greeted me when I came back from my trip?
Since I am sharing photos, here is my progress this week on my Bee sampler. I am working on the hive and should have it finished tonight. I'm making slow but steady progress and enjoying every stitch.
I think I have sufficient reading material to keep me busy this weekend (and then there are the books on my night table--see sidebar--to fall back on . . . just in case).
Have a happy and reading-filled weekend everyone.