Not to muddy the "I'm weeding my books right now" process, and should be reading from my immense TBR, but I am also in line at the library for more than a couple of new releases that I am excited to get my hands on. I am trying very hard to remain patient (not easy when my library is not even actually physically open save for a slow curbside pickup option--not complaining--so happy to have it) and not break down and just order said titles. (Okay maybe I have ordered one or two). I shall just try and savor the anticipation.
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell -- I keep hearing how spectacularly good this novel is and how it should win the Women's Prize (it is on the shortlist--so annoying to have a book on the list that you can't even get your hands on!). It just came out this week and I keep resisting the urge to not order a copy and wait for the library copy, of which I am first in line. I know we are living in the middle of a pandemic and this is about the (in part anyway) Black Death, but beautiful prose beats sad circumstances. "A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a tender and unforgettable re-imagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, and whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing, seductive, impossible to put down—a magnificent leap forward from one of our most gifted novelists."
The Nesting Dolls by Alina Adams -- This was meant to be my year of big, chunky books and at least one of them is set in Russia. Alas, not much big book reading going on right now, but this (slightly less chunky) might be a suitable story to pick up in the interim. "Spanning nearly a century, from 1930s Siberia to contemporary Brighton Beach, a page turning, epic family saga centering on three generations of women in one Russian Jewish family―each striving to break free of fate and history, each yearning for love and personal fulfillment―and how the consequences of their choices ripple through time."
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue -- Double dipping? I am still in line for this, but I admit that I did order a copy (for which I am now waiting to arrive) as I had a little left on a gift card. I really try and avoid buying hardcovers, but this is another book I have heard many good things about. Yes, another book with a very timely setting--this time the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. It was even due to be published later, but with the timing and subject matter the publisher brought it out early. "In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders -- Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police , and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney."
The Silence of the White City by Eva Garcia Saenz -- More good press for this international mystery novel. This one is chunky coming in at over 500 pages, but I think it is (at least) a paperback. "Inspector Unai López de Ayala, known as "Kraken," is charged with investigating a series of ritualistic murders. The killings are eerily similar to ones that terrorized the citizens of Vitoria twenty years earlier. But back then, police were sure they had discovered the killer, a prestigious archaeologist who is currently in jail. Now Kraken must race to determine whether the killer had an accomplice or if the wrong man has been incarcerated for two decades. This fast-paced, unrelenting thriller weaves in and out of the mythology and legends of the Basque country as it hurtles to its shocking conclusion."
The Lost Diary of Venice by Margaux DeRoux -- Set in Venice. Historical fiction. Parallel plotlines. Smattering of romance. One jack blurb reads "enchanting from the first page". Checks a lot of my personal favorite boxes in terms of storytelling. "In the wake of her father’s death, Rose Newlin finds solace in her work as a book restorer. Then, one rainy Connecticut afternoon, a struggling painter appears at her door. William Lomazzo brings with him a sixteenth-century treatise on art, which Rose quickly identifies as a palimpsest: a document written over a hidden diary that had purposely been scraped away. Yet the restoration sparks an unforeseen challenge when William—a married man—and Rose experience an instant, unspoken attraction. Five centuries earlier, Renaissance-era Venetians find themselves at the mercy of an encroaching Ottoman fleet preparing for a bloody war. Giovanni Lomazzo, a portrait artist grappling with tragedy, discovers that his vision is fading with each passing day. Facing the possibility of a completely dark world, Gio begins to document his every encounter, including what may be his final artistic feat: a commission to paint the enchanting courtesan of one of Venice’s most powerful military commanders. Soon, however, Gio finds himself enraptured by a magnificent forbidden love." I hope it is as good as it sounds.
The Two Mrs. Carlyles by Suzanne Rindell -- (Oops, kind of ordered this one too as I didn't want to get in the back of a really long library line . . .). Another author I have heard good things about (she has several books to her name but I have yet to read any of them--will start with this one!). In this case-San Francisco. More historical fiction. A smattering of romance. A character reinventing herself. Smattering of romance. Can't pass it up. "San Francisco, 1906. Violet is one of three people grateful for the destruction of the big earthquake. It leaves her and her two best friends unexpectedly wealthy--if the secret that binds them together stays buried beneath the rubble. Fearing discovery, the women strike out on their own, and orphaned, wallflower Violet reinvents herself. When a whirlwind romance with the city's most eligible widower, Harry Carlyle, lands her in a luxurious mansion as the second Mrs. Carlyle, it seems like her dreams of happiness and love have come true. But all is not right in the Carlyle home, and Violet soon finds herself trapped by the lingering specter of the first Mrs. Carlyle, and by the inescapable secrets of her own violent history."
Too many irresistible stories. And I need good (and consuming) stories right now. How about you? Is there any new releases that are piquing your curiosity?