My good friends, you are such great sports. I am sorry I have been so absent online here of late. This week even more than normal. The semester begins next week and work has been hectic as we gear up for the influx of students. Faculty are back and are prepping for their courses so I have been especially busy. On top of that I have just been more fatigued than normal--I blame it on the lingering heat, though it has been relatively mild compared with earlier in the summer. I seem to tolerate the heat less and less it seems. I do have bookish notes to share, but maybe I will catch up on Monday and today will just share a handful of books that are coming out soon. It is always nice to read about new books, right?
The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear -- I need to read To Die But Once, still, and already there is her new one looming on the early 2019 horizon. Intriguing title, don't you think? "Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival."
The Heavens by Sandra Newman -- "A work of rare literary brilliance and emotional power, The Heavens is a mesmerizing novel of love and dreams that moves between a reimagined New York City and Elizabethan England and asks how our world comes to be."
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye -- "The year is 1921, and "Nobody" Alice James is on a cross-country train, carrying a bullet wound and fleeing for her life following an illicit drug and liquor deal gone horribly wrong. Desperate to get as far away as possible from New York City and those who want her dead, she has her sights set on Oregon: a distant frontier that seems the end of the line. Why was "Nobody" Alice James forced to escape Harlem? Why do the Paragon's denizens live in fear--and what other sins are they hiding? Where did the orphaned child who went missing from the hotel, Davy Lee, come from in the first place? And, perhaps most important, why does Blossom Fontaine seem to be at the very center of this tangled web?"
The Night Visitors by Carol Goodman -- "The latest thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Lake of Dead Languages and The Other Mother, a story of mistaken identities and missed chances, forgiveness, and vengeance."
The Orphan of Salt Winds by Elizabeth Brooks -- "England, 1939. Ten-year-old Virginia Wrathmell arrives at Salt Winds, a secluded house on the edge of a marsh, to meet her adoptive parents—practical, dependable Clem and glamorous, mercurial Lorna. The marsh, with its deceptive tides, is a beautiful but threatening place. Virginia’s new parents’ marriage is full of secrets and tensions
she doesn’t quite understand, and their wealthy neighbor, Max Deering, drops by too often, taking an unwholesome interest in the family’s affairs. Only Clem offers a true sense of home. War feels far away among the birds and shifting sands—until the day a German fighter plane crashes into the marsh, and Clem ventures out to rescue the airman. What happens next sets into motion a crime so devastating it will haunt Virginia for the rest of her life. Seventy-five years later, she finds herself drawn back to the marsh, and to a teenage girl who appears there, nearly frozen and burdened by her own secrets. In her, Virginia might have a chance at retribution and a way to right a grave mistake she made as a child."
The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas -- "n 1967, four female scientists worked together to build the world’s first time machine. But just as they are about to debut their creation, one of them suffers a breakdown, putting the whole project―and future of time travel―in jeopardy. To protect their invention, one member is exiled from the team―erasing her contributions from history. Fifty years later, time travel is a big business. Twenty-something Ruby Rebello knows her beloved grandmother, Granny Bee, was one of the pioneers, though no one will tell her more. But when Bee receives a mysterious newspaper clipping from the future reporting the murder of an unidentified woman, Ruby becomes obsessed: could it be Bee? Who would want her dead? And most importantly of all: can her murder be stopped?"
The Poison Bed by Elizabeth Fremantle -- "A spellbinding thriller set in the Jacobean Court of 1615 surrounding a famed couple imprisoned on suspicion of murder―but was it Lord Robert or Lady Frances who committed the crime?"
Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks -- "A story of resistance, complicity, and an unlikely, transformative friendship, set in Paris, from internationally bestselling novelist Sebastian Faulks. From the sweltering streets of Tangier to deep beneath Paris via the Metro,
from the affecting recorded accounts of women in German-occupied France and into the future through our hopes for these characters, Paris Echo offers a tough and poignant story of injustices and dreams."
Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani -- I swear I feel an Adriana Trigiani binge coming on. And I love the cover by the way! "Set in the lush Big Band era of the 1940s and World War II, this spellbinding saga from beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani tells the story of two talented working class kids who marry and become a successful singing act, until time, temptation, and the responsibilities of home and family derail their dreams."
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths -- "A gripping contemporary Gothic thriller from the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries: Susan Hill meets Gone Girl and Disclaimer. Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year. Then Clare's life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body. The investigating police detective is convinced the writer's works somehow hold the key to the case."
As always, lots of good stuff coming out. I am still trying to keep my reading pile to a minimum, but I will say there are definitely moments I am ready to fall off the wagon. I have lots of catching up to do still, and thank you for leaving comments--they are always appreciated.
Happy reading everyone!