Best Sellers

Saturday, May 27, 2017

A Mixture of Genres That Appeal To Me

Gosh - the last one for June titles. How time flies. I have dipped into a few different genres this week mostly because these sound interesting to me and I hope one or two will interest you also. Let's get started.

Elin Hilderbrand has The Identicals coming out on June 13. Hilderbrand is usually considered a 'women's author' and she does generally write about women. Here she looks at 2 identical twins,  Tabitha and Harper Frost, who may look alike but are completely different. So different in fact that they haven't been in real communication for years even though one lives in Nantucket and one on Martha's Vineyard. When a family crisis arises - they are forced to come together and overcome their differences. As a side note - Hilderbrand has a twin brother who is NOT an author. Hmmmmm.

Neil Jordan has Carnivalesque coming out on June 1. This title is defined as Fantasy but I might almost push it into the Horror genre. It is the story of a young male, Andy, who slips away from his parents when they take him to the circus and enters the Amazing Hall of Mirrors. Andy walks right into a mirror and a changeling walk out - someone that looks like Andy but is not. While Andy stays behind in the land of the circus. Think Night Circus by Morgenstern is you want to compare the atmosphere to another title. Warning - some readers have found it TOO descriptive while others loved it for it's descriptiveness.

Ann Kidd Taylor has The Shark Club coming out on June 6. Honest truth here - 2 things attracted me to this title. One is that Taylor is the daughter of Sue Monk Kidd and I have loved her work. This is Taylor's first novel although she co-wrote a memoir with her mother. Second - well - SHARKS!!!! I have lived on the coast and even seen a shark or two and I will never forget the first time I saw Jaws. But this work focuses on Maeve Donnelly who had been attacked by a shark when she was 12 and is now a world famous marine biologist. She returns home to find her ex fiance as the chef in the hotel and she is also involved with a British co-worker. So - part romance perhaps but mostly the story of a young woman trying to make up her mind.

Hallie Ephron has You'll Never Know, Dear coming out also on June 6. 40 years ago, 7 year old Lissie was playing with porcelain dolls on the front lawn with her 4 year old sister. While Lissie was chasing a puppy - her sister and her sister's doll, disappeared. Lissie still blames herself and every year, on the anniversary of her disappearance, her mother places an add for the doll. Then, one fateful day, the doll comes home. However, someone wants the truth to remain hidden.

Lastly, Joseph Finder has The Switch coming out on June 13. If you haven't read any of Finder's work (and he has written 14 works) generally deal with the common man being put in an extraordinary occurrence. Here, Michael Tanner, mistakenly pick up the wrong MacBook after going thought airport security. He has the one belonging to Senator Susan Robbins which has top secret files regarding a secret US spying mission. Obviously, more than one group wants it. He goes on the run to protect his family and he isn't sure who to trust.

OK - there are the last five coming out in June. Next week - we start July. Happy summer reading.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

More June Thrillers

June is a big month for suspense or thrillers. There are quite a few more coming this month so I will start on the first bunch.

Mary Kubica has Every Last Lie coming out on June 27. In this title, Clara Solberg has just had her second child when she is informed that her husband has been in a car accident and is dead. Their 4 year old daughter miraculously survived. When their 4 year old starts having nightmares, Clara starts to feel as if the car accident was NOT an accident and must investigate. The story is told by alternating points of view, Clara's as she is investigating and her husband's (in the month before his death). Some secrets are better left alone.

Karen Robards has The Ultimatum coming on June 13. Robards in my opinion is the closest to Mary Higgins Clark in romantic suspense. Here Bianca Saint-Yves has been trained by her father to be a successful thief but she chooses to con money from thieves and in her 'real' life - run a security agency. When one of the jobs goes wrong and her father is killed, Bianca escapes to her 'real' job. Then she gets an email implying her father is not dead. Just what is going on?

Haylen Beck has Here and Gone coming on June 20. This one sounds good! It is from a pseudonymous Edgar Award nominated author. A women, Audra Kinney and her two children (11 year old Sean and 6 year old Louise) are fleeing an abusive marriage when they are pulled over on a desolate Arizona highway. The sheriff 'finds' marijuana in the car and arrests her - as she is being put in jail - she asks about her children and gets the reply "What children?" The true horror starts.

Ben Coes has his seventh Dewey Andreas title, Trap the Devil, coming out on June 20 also. A coup aimed at toppling the US Government is planned and the CIA director sends Dewey as an extra layer of protection for the Secretary of State but this assassin is smart enough to plan the murder and lay it at the feet of Andreas. Now Dewey has to solve the crime while being on the run from the people who should be his friends.

Marc Elsberg has Blackout coming out on June 6. This work is particularly frightening because you can almost see it happening. One night, the nights all over Europe go out. The nuclear reactors begin to overheat. A former hacker starts to investigate the cause and is immediately accused of doing it. He and an American reporter go on the run and try to get the grid back up while threats are arising to the US.This was a best seller in Europe.

OK - That gives you a few more to choose from. Hope you find something interesting. I will have move next week.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

June LibraryReads List

The LibraryReads list for June just came out and I will quickly go over them. This list to me is kind of mixed - there are entries that I totally agree with and others that leave me baffled. Basically, it is proof that librarians worldwide have different tastes when reading.

Number one on the list and one I voted for too is Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders. Horowitz also writes a fiction series for elementary aged boys but for adults, I consider his book literary mysteries. Here, Susan Ryeland, an editor for a London firm, receives the latest title from a popular mystery author. As she reads it, she feels that something else is going on. Then she realizes that the last 3 chapters are missing AND the author turns up dead. How can she not investigate.

The rest in no particular order:

Nalini Singh has Silver Silence on the list. Singh writes paranormal romance....passionate paranormal romance. This is the first in the series Psy-Changling Trinity. Silver Mercant is head of an aid organization reacting to terrorism. Valentin Nikolaev - from the Bear Clan - feels the need to protect her. Good thing, since someone or several someones are out to kill her.

Callie Bates had The Waking Land on the list. This fantasy is Bates first novel. Here Lady Elanna Voltai, who was kidnapped from her home and raised by the king in her adopted homeland, is accused of the kings murder and must flee. She returns to her birth country and realizes that the things she has been told about it are untrue. Since people are still after her, perhaps a rebellion is in store.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire is on the list. Another fantasy --- hum....McGuire also writes as Mira Grant. This work is the second in the Wayward Children series. Here two sisters 'fall down a rabbit hole' and disappear. They enter a world of fairy tale horror and magic and the Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.This is what happened to them first.

Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy. This sounds frightening. Two families (the mothers are cousins) decide to take a family cruising vacation. There are 4 children altogether. They are having an enjoyable time - children included - when they decide to take an off ship adventure and the two moms and the children leave the ship in a Central American country. Then, through a series of misadventures, the children disappear. Told through the eyes of the parent and the children.

Kate Quinn has The Alice Network on the list. Quinn's work involves a young, pregnant socialite who has been exiled from her family who is looking for her cousin, Rose, who was a member of The Alice Network during WWI. To try to locate her, she contacts Eve Gardiner who had been a member of the Alice Network.

Fiona Barton has The Child on the list. A baby skeleton is unearthed at a construction site. Kate Waters, a reporter, investigates but finds more than she bargained for. She traces it back to a newborn stolen from a maternity ward but who? why? how? That is the story to be told.

The Little French Bistro by Nina George is on the list. Marianne, depressed after decades in a unhappy marriage, attempts suicide but is rescued. Then, her husband abandons her. She drops everything and head to Brittany where she works at a seaside bistro. Being in the company of a diverse community leads her to life, the way it is suppose to be.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is on the list. It is a tale of old Hollywood where Monique Grant interviews a powerful star, Evelyn Hugo, and learns all about her career and seven husbands. The mystery is why Hugo - a famous woman - chose Monique Grant, a close to broken journalist, for this task.

Lastly, Matthew Sullivan's Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore is on the list. Sullivan is an award winning short story writer but this is his first novel. It centers on Lydia Smith - an employee at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. When one of the regulars commits suicide in the backroom of the bookstore and leaves all his possession to Lydia, she feels she must investigate WHY? By doing so, she opens up all sorts of trauma from her childhood. Really highly reviewed and declared a MUST READ by many.

OK - there you go. Perhaps there is something there for you. Even though I hadn't planned on it, I am going to read Matthew Sullivan's work. But then.....I love bookstores.



Saturday, May 6, 2017

June's Top Authors

June is another popular publishing month and there are a lot of really good titles coming out. There are quite a few 'A List' authors who are publishing this month too. I will start with those.

Janet Evanovich has Dangerous Minds coming out on June 20. This is the second in the Knight and Moon series following Curious Minds (in case you want to read them in order). Knight is a handsome, rich, charming totally socially inept man. Moon is a Harvard Business and Law degreesfemale who has been kind of swept up in Knights path. Here, Knight has taken on the job of finding a missing island. Sound quirky enough for you?

Dean Koontz has The Silent Corner coming out also on June 20. Jane Hawk, an FBI agent, takes leave after her successful husband commits suicide. All Jane wants is to find out why. What she finds out is that many people who were successful and seemingly happy have been committing suicide recently. And the other thing she discovers puts her life in danger because some very high placed individuals are out to keep her from talking.

Eric Van Lustbadder has Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Initiative coming out on June 13. Bourne is hunted by his own when the head of the Russian FSB, Karpov, dies but leaves a plot in place. Bourne was the only one Karpov trusted so all are convinced that Bourne has betrayed his country. Karpov's plot entailed stealing the United States nuclear launch codes. Could Bourne have done it? Now he must unite with his worst enemies to solve the riddle.

James Patterson teams with Howard Roughan for Murder Games which comes out on June 26. Here, Elizabeth Needham, a NYC detective enlists Dylan Reinhart, a professor/author, in the hunt for a serial killer who is operating on the streets of Manhattan. The only clue he leaves behind is a playing card hinting at his next victim.

Lee Child is the editor for Matchup: The  Battle of the Sexes Just Got Thrilling which comes out on June 13. 11 female writers are paired with 11 male writers for 11 stories. Just as an example, Child's writes with Kathy Reichs where Temperance Brennan and Jack Reacher pair up also.Sounds interesting.

Terry Brooks, a gigantic name in the fantasy world, has The Black Elfstone coming out on June 13. This is the start of the end for Shannara. It is the first of a four book series which close the series for good. There has been peace, but now a force of invaders are cutting their way through the land. Who will face them? Four individuals including an exiled High Druid; a confused warrior, a teenage girl and a young orphan. Shannara has been around for 40 years. I don't think it will disappear before the last books come out.

Lastly, Nora Roberts has Come Sundown arriving on May 30 which isn't exactly June but it almost is. Bo runs the family ranch and resort in Montana. Suddenly, women are being murdered. Police suspect a new hire Callen Skinner but for some reason Bo trusts him. Involved with this somehow is Aunt Alice who had been missing since before Bo was born. Suddenly she is back but can she believe her. Can Bo really trust Cal. Who is murdering people? Nothing but questions here. Enjoy.

Hope there is something above that interests you. We will start slightly less know authors next week.