Since I missed 2 weeks, I am going to try to do all the big names this week. Next week will start October. Some of these have been big names in the past and perhaps are not quite as popular today but....they are worth mentioning in my opinion. I have very fond memories of reading them. See if you can identify which ones I am talking about.
I am starting with my favorite author, Harlan Coben. Don't Let Go is coming out on September 26. Napoleon 'Nap' Dumas is a New Jersey police detective. 15 years ago, his twin brother and the brother's girlfriend were found dead on the railroad tracks and Nap's girlfriend had disappeared. 15 years later, her fingerprints were found at a murder scene.Can Nap find her and finally get some answers about his brother's death? What do you think.
Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell have The Romanov Ransom coming out on September 12. This is the ninth in the Fargo series. Here, Sam and Remi Fargo search for a Romanov fortune that was supposed to secure the safety of the Czar and his family. The search brings them into contact with a dangerous Neo-Nazi organization that is trying to bring the Fourth Reich into power.
Kyle Mills continues Vince Flynn's work with the sixteenth in the Mitch Rapp series. Enemy of the State comes out on September 5. Rapp is taking some rest time trying to heal after his last mission when the President calls on him to go very deep undercover. It has been discovered that a Saudi Prince is funneling money into ISIS while maneuvering himself to take over when the current king dies. In order to undertake this mission, Rapp quits the CIA and when it goes awry and his picture is taken, he becomes a high value target for both the Saudi's and the USA.
James Patterson and James O. Born have Haunted: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller coming out on September 18. This is the tenth in the Bennett series. Detective Bennett takes his family and goes on vacation to a small town in the Maine woods. Unfortunately, crimes happen everywhere and he gets pulled into a case where town children are disappearing and then bodies are found. Things that look idyllic aren't always what they appear.
J.D. Robb has Secrets In Death, the 45th in the series, coming out on September 5. When Larinda Mars, a professional gossip and blackmailer is killed right under Eve Dallas' nose, she must investigate. There are many suspects and Dallas has to dive into their secrets. She finds out more than she wanted to know.
Ken Follett has the third in the Kingsbridge series, A Column of Fire, coming out on September 12. I love Follett and The Pillars of the Earth (the first in the series) may be my favorite book in the genre ever. You do not have to read this as a series as each title takes place hundreds of years after the preceding one. Here, the main character, Ned Willard, becomes a spy for Princess Elizabeth as she becomes queen and has to fight Mary Queen of Scots. Reviewers have loved it. Two quotes from different reviewers are: "What Ken Follett does effortlessly is weave a wonderful story in and around with fact and fiction." and "Capturing the thrill and drama of religious and politically changing times in England and it's neighbors, Ken Follett writes a masterful telling of how it all could of been."
Jan Karon has To Be Where You Are, the twelfth in the Mitford series, coming out on September 12. We get reacquainted with Father Tim and Cynthia and also Dooley and Lace. The community may be idealized but they face real life problems. Come hang out in Mitford.
Lastly, Sharyn McCrumb has The Unquiet Grave coming out on September 12. I've always like McCrumb's books. Maybe it is because I went to school in the mountains in Virginia and it has that kind of flavor. Here, she has thoroughly researched the story of the Greenbrier Ghost. The story is told from two points of view. One is more than 30 years after the event by the first black attorney in West Virginia while an inpatient at an asylum after trying to committee suicide. The second is the mother of the daughter who was murdered. The daughter had been married to a man the mother did not approve of and several months later she was informed that her daughter had died in a fall. The mother said that her daughter's ghost has appeared to her and told her that she had been murdered. When the officials did an autopsy, they discovered the mother was right! In many ways, a true crime story of the late 1800's.
OK - that covers most of the ones that I consider 'big' names. Hope there is something there for you.
Friday, August 25, 2017
Friday, August 18, 2017
September LibraryReads
First let me apologize for missing 2 weeks. I had the horrible stomach bug that is going around and it took me a while to recover. However, the LibraryReads came out and although there are some - well - quirky ones on the list, I need to let you know about the titles chosen for September.
First place was Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. The Richardson's are respected members of the Shaker Heights, Ohio community. Elena, the wife, is an avid planner and rule follower. Her younger daughter, Izzy, is the brunt of teasing and never seems to make her mother happy. Into the community come Mia and her daughter Pearl. Mia is an artist and moves every few months to find inspiration. Pearl envies the Richardson's life style but all is not perfect in the Richardson family. Ng is able to have us really look at the individuals inside the family. A rewarding mother/daughter read that is compared to Jodi Piccoult.
And the rest:
Sourdough by Robin Sloan. One of the quirky ones. Sloan's first title was Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. The tone in this one is the same but the topic and plot is different. Here, Lois Clary is a software engineer in the near future San Francisco. She spends all day coding and collapses by herself at night. That is, until a neighborhood restaurant quickly closes and the brothers that ran it leave her with their sourdough started. The door to underground San Fran is opened. One reviewer called it 'delightful'.
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence. OK - first of all, this list is chosen by librarians or people that work in libraries so....the subtitle will tell you why this one made the list - it is A Librarian's Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life. A must read for all book lovers.
Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. Cashore is known for writing fantasy for young adults. This one is different. Quirky and different. Cashore, herself, says she started writing this title as a choose your own adventure type of story. Jane, is mourning the loss of her Aunt Magnolia - the person that raised her - when Kiran Thrash comes and asks her to go with her to her family's estate, Tu Reviens. Here, the story takes five different courses and Jane decides what choice to take. Those who like different and quirky might just find this is the book for them.
Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford. This title tells the story of the struggles of an abandoned part Chines young boy and is told in 2 time periods. One is the 1909 World's Fair where a 12 year old charity student at a boarding school is raffled off as the prize and ends up as the house boy at a high-class brothel. The other is the 1962 Worlds Fair where the man who had been that boy is trying to help his wife retain some of her memories. Not just a sweet love story but one reviewer has said "One of the first really good historical fiction reads of 2017, the characters that Mr. Ford creates are so well developed, they are unique and yet believable.
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. Before I even tell you anything about the plot, I want to cite some of the reviewers for this extraordinary work. One said"A wonderful, extraordinary book. The author speaks from her heart on every page." Another said it is "written with such ethereal grace it's like reading a holy relic but with subject matter so perverse and dark I find myself ricocheting from joy to sheer terror at the story being told." Lastly, one said although it addresses "themes of home, child abuse, memory, survival, fear of intimacy, and the necessity of stories, The Child Finder is absolutely glorious." High praise all around. Naomi Cottle is an investigator that specializes in finding missing children. Part of the reason she is so good at it is that she was a missing child herself and can remember nothing of the time before she was found. She takes the case of Madison Culver who disappeared three years before while her family was in the forest in the Pacific Northwest looking for a Christmas tree to cut down. What a story!!!!
The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones. This one is dystopian fiction and it is one I am not going to read. Why you ask???? Because the US has become infested with disease bearing ticks!!!! I hate ticks! OK - it may be because I have dogs and I get the willies when I find a tick on them but....they really are blood suckers. OK - so most of society lives behind a scorched line where ticks can not venture. Those who find that limiting, go beyond the line and leave themselves open to those ticks. There is more than the ticks out there. Which is the right side of the line?
Hanna Who Fell From The Sky by Christopher Meades. Truthfully, I am not sure what to say about this one. Hanna is approaching her 18th birthday in a polygamist community and on her birthday she is to marry a man her father's age who already has 4 wives. She meets Daniel, a young man in church and he opens her eyes to other possibilities. Then her mother tells her a secret. Should Hanna leave the life she has always known and live her own life on her own?
Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller. This novel has been authorized by the Little House estate. It retells the story from the point of view of Laura Ingalls' mother, Caroline from when she and her husband Charles left their home and family with their two young girls and ventured forth to make a life for themselves in Kansas.
Lastly, George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl. This is the story of two very different people who meet and get married. Lizzie is depressed and unsatisfied even before the marriage. George is happy and loves Lizzie completely. 10 years into the marriage, a long held secret of Lizzie's is revealed and she must make a decision. Can she move toward happiness?
OK - there you go. Some quirkiness for sure. Hope that is something that sounds interesting to you.
First place was Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. The Richardson's are respected members of the Shaker Heights, Ohio community. Elena, the wife, is an avid planner and rule follower. Her younger daughter, Izzy, is the brunt of teasing and never seems to make her mother happy. Into the community come Mia and her daughter Pearl. Mia is an artist and moves every few months to find inspiration. Pearl envies the Richardson's life style but all is not perfect in the Richardson family. Ng is able to have us really look at the individuals inside the family. A rewarding mother/daughter read that is compared to Jodi Piccoult.
And the rest:
Sourdough by Robin Sloan. One of the quirky ones. Sloan's first title was Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. The tone in this one is the same but the topic and plot is different. Here, Lois Clary is a software engineer in the near future San Francisco. She spends all day coding and collapses by herself at night. That is, until a neighborhood restaurant quickly closes and the brothers that ran it leave her with their sourdough started. The door to underground San Fran is opened. One reviewer called it 'delightful'.
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence. OK - first of all, this list is chosen by librarians or people that work in libraries so....the subtitle will tell you why this one made the list - it is A Librarian's Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life. A must read for all book lovers.
Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. Cashore is known for writing fantasy for young adults. This one is different. Quirky and different. Cashore, herself, says she started writing this title as a choose your own adventure type of story. Jane, is mourning the loss of her Aunt Magnolia - the person that raised her - when Kiran Thrash comes and asks her to go with her to her family's estate, Tu Reviens. Here, the story takes five different courses and Jane decides what choice to take. Those who like different and quirky might just find this is the book for them.
Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford. This title tells the story of the struggles of an abandoned part Chines young boy and is told in 2 time periods. One is the 1909 World's Fair where a 12 year old charity student at a boarding school is raffled off as the prize and ends up as the house boy at a high-class brothel. The other is the 1962 Worlds Fair where the man who had been that boy is trying to help his wife retain some of her memories. Not just a sweet love story but one reviewer has said "One of the first really good historical fiction reads of 2017, the characters that Mr. Ford creates are so well developed, they are unique and yet believable.
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. Before I even tell you anything about the plot, I want to cite some of the reviewers for this extraordinary work. One said"A wonderful, extraordinary book. The author speaks from her heart on every page." Another said it is "written with such ethereal grace it's like reading a holy relic but with subject matter so perverse and dark I find myself ricocheting from joy to sheer terror at the story being told." Lastly, one said although it addresses "themes of home, child abuse, memory, survival, fear of intimacy, and the necessity of stories, The Child Finder is absolutely glorious." High praise all around. Naomi Cottle is an investigator that specializes in finding missing children. Part of the reason she is so good at it is that she was a missing child herself and can remember nothing of the time before she was found. She takes the case of Madison Culver who disappeared three years before while her family was in the forest in the Pacific Northwest looking for a Christmas tree to cut down. What a story!!!!
The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones. This one is dystopian fiction and it is one I am not going to read. Why you ask???? Because the US has become infested with disease bearing ticks!!!! I hate ticks! OK - it may be because I have dogs and I get the willies when I find a tick on them but....they really are blood suckers. OK - so most of society lives behind a scorched line where ticks can not venture. Those who find that limiting, go beyond the line and leave themselves open to those ticks. There is more than the ticks out there. Which is the right side of the line?
Hanna Who Fell From The Sky by Christopher Meades. Truthfully, I am not sure what to say about this one. Hanna is approaching her 18th birthday in a polygamist community and on her birthday she is to marry a man her father's age who already has 4 wives. She meets Daniel, a young man in church and he opens her eyes to other possibilities. Then her mother tells her a secret. Should Hanna leave the life she has always known and live her own life on her own?
Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller. This novel has been authorized by the Little House estate. It retells the story from the point of view of Laura Ingalls' mother, Caroline from when she and her husband Charles left their home and family with their two young girls and ventured forth to make a life for themselves in Kansas.
Lastly, George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl. This is the story of two very different people who meet and get married. Lizzie is depressed and unsatisfied even before the marriage. George is happy and loves Lizzie completely. 10 years into the marriage, a long held secret of Lizzie's is revealed and she must make a decision. Can she move toward happiness?
OK - there you go. Some quirkiness for sure. Hope that is something that sounds interesting to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)