And the Books Continue

This week, I am going to start with some of the more popular authors who have books coming out next month. I'm not sure they need the publicity but just in case you didn't know, now you will.

Ken Follet is a perennial favorite. One of my most favorite books is his 'The Pillars of the Earth'. I read many different genres or types of books and in historical fiction, I think Follet excels. Now I kind of like Hilary mantel's Thomas Cromwell books too but Follet's work is outstanding. Follet published the very popular 'Fall of Giants' in 2010. It was the first in the Century Trilogy cover the time of WWI and the Russian Revolution and covering 5 families from different places (American, Russian, Welsh, English and German). On September 18, the second in the series arrives, Winter of the World, which will follow the same 5 families through the rise of Hitler through WWII.

Lee Child's books always go right up the charts. The Wanted Man comes out on September 11 and I am sure will head the same way. If you read 'Worth Dying For', Child's 2010 Reacher title, this book takes up minutes after that one ends. Reacher is picked by 2 men and a woman while attempting to hitchhike to Virginia. He realizes that something about them is off kilter and then becomes involved in a case involving almost every Federal agency. Reviews have been very strong but then, Child's is that type of author.

Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series are also very popular. Her titles are always well written, suspenseful and full of surprises. In The Last to Die, which comes out on Aug 28, Policewoman Jane Rizzoli transports a charge to a special school in Main to protect the twice orphaned boy from future harm. When his story matches eerily with two other teens at the school,she decides that it's much more than a coincidence. And so the story goes..... Get ready for a roller coaster ride on this one.

OK - now on to some authors whose names you might not know.

Tim O'Brien, the executive editor of the Huffington Post, debuts a historical thriller, The Lincoln Conspiracy, on September 18. An Irish-American detective, Temple McFadden, comes upon two diaries immediately after Lincoln's assassination. One of the diaries is written by Mary Todd Lincoln and the other in code by John Wilkes Booth. Two different gangs are trying to gain control of the diaries. What could be in them that causes such concern. Lots of action, good historical detail and a very enthralling plot. Reviews are tremendous.

So I read Wolf Hall and loved it and am listening to Bring Up the Bodies and really enjoying that. I can't help it, I like historical fiction. Carolly Erickson, a prize-winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction, has penned  The Unfaithful Queen which comes out on September 18. Henry the VIII is a popular subject of fiction right now. This work tells the story of his 5th wife, Catherine Howard. She was young, lively and pretty so Henry married her. Henry was old, not particularly attractive, and close to impotent. Catherine had been involved with men before her marriage and she didn't stop when she became Queen. When the King is informed of her exploits, her family abandoned her and she ends up as her cousin, Anne Boleyn did. The sense of intrigue in the Tudor Court is fascinating.

Douglas Nicholas, an award winner poet, has written what started out in the form of a short story as a Christmas present for his wife and ended up has an exceptionally descriptive tale of 13th century England.  A woman, her lover, her "granddaughter", and an apprentice are travelling through an epic snowstorm, and "something" is killing people. A compelling plot, intriguing characters, nasty villains, sorcery, shape shifters, castles, and sword fights! What more could you ask for?! But what is best about this book is Nicholas' descriptions of people and places. He really transports you to a time and place. It is part fable, part fantasy and part mythology. People seem to have the need to reread this one and then read it again. That is usually the definition of a classic.