August's LibraryReads!

The August list is out from LibraryReads today. There are some really good books on it so I for sure want to share them.

Number one on the list is Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb. This title has caused a lot of buzz by publishers and reviewers. I am unsure about whether I can read it because I tend to get emotionally involved in stories like this. Gottlieb is telling the story from the point of view of a 50 year old autistic man who has lived in an institution most of his life. When a new attendant arrives that he instinctively doesn't like and a new resident that he does - he starts to want to go home. The story is said to be moving and funny and remarkable.

Next comes a title by perennial favorite Louise Penny, The Nature of the Beast. All our old friends from Three Pines are there and there is one young boy who likes to tell tall tales, But then he disappears and everyone wonders which of his tall tales might have been true. Said to be one of Penny's best ..... but then they always say that.

Elisabeth Egan is on the list with her debut novel, A Window Opens.  A married mother who works part-time has to take on more of the bread winning responsibilities when her husband, a lawyer, threw his laptop across the room after being informed he didn't make partner - therefore, he lost his job too. Juggling children, full time work, unemployed spouse and sick parent becomes too much and forces her to decide what she really wants.

Alice Hoffman is always a highly reviewed author and her new one The Marriage of Opposites is next on the list. Hoffman tells about the mother of Camille Pissarro, the father of Impressionism. It takes place on the island of St. Thomas. Rachel, Pissarro's mother, was made to marry a much older man. When he died, she began an affair with his much younger nephew. Said to be Hoffman's finest work to date.

Next on the list is Stephanie Clifford's debut novel Everybody Rises. This work pictures NYC and area before the 2008 recession. Evelyn's mother pushes her to mix with the old money crowd. Evelyn tries. By floating on the edges, she meets socialite Camilla Rutherford and then things get crazy. The more she tried to fit in, the deeper the hole she was digging. A fun read.

The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick also looks at NYC in it's glory days but these glory days are in the 80's. This is the story of people working in the financial industry and making money - I mean MONEY. If you can get whatever you want - what does it end up costing you. Watching the fall of these 'princes' is gut wrenching. Goolrick can really suck you in to the story though and his writing is exceptional.

Ruth War has In A Dark, Dark Wood making the list. This debut work has been compared to S.J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep and the recent bestseller, The Girl on the Train. How can you not want to read it? Nora Shaw is a crime writer who lives in London. She receives an invitation to a 'hen party' from an old schoolmate. Nora had walked away from the school, friends and boy friend many years before and can not understand the invitation. But she goes and find it in a remote location ....in a dark, dark wood. You can take things from there.

Next comes Julia Heaberlin's Black-Eyed Susans. Tessie disappeared in 1995 while out running. She was found later in an abandoned field  barely surviving as a victim of the Black-Eyed Susan serial killer. Now, a single mother, Julia is disturbed by the sudden appearance of black-eyed susan popping up around her home. The person who was convicted of the killing is approaching his execution and the people who are working to free him, want her to undergo hypnosis to try to recall the face of the killer. A really taut psychological thriller.

Now, we want fun. Donna Andrews Lord of the Wings will give that to us. This is the umpteenth Meg Langslow romp. It is Halloween in Caerphilly and neg is convinced to save Halloween when bodies start appearing at the haunted house.

Lastly, a nonfiction work by Michael Dirda, Browsings: A year of reading, collecting, and living with Books. I mean really, how could librarians and people that work in libraries not love this book? This contains 50 of his musings on the topics of reading, authors, and collecting books.

OK - this should give you some ideas for the month of August. Hope you find something good in them.