Tag: New Releases

My Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2018

December 26, 2017 Book Lists 29

Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2018


It’s a new year with new books…and, a new method for picking books for me!

After many of my 2017 Most Anticipated Books flopped, I re-evaluated my system for picking books. Previously, I’d comb the publishers’ catalogs and Preview lists from various bookish media sources looking for books that appealed to me. But, all I had to go on was the description of the book and marketing material provided by the publisher. There are precious little unbiased opinions out there months before a book is published.

I realized this system wasn’t serving me well and was leading me to waste time with a lot of books that didn’t pan out. So, I’ve changed things up this year…and it will hopefully benefit you too!

My Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2018 list is almost entirely made up of books from trusted sources (to find your personal trusted recommendation sources, check out this post and free downloadable template) who, in as many cases as possible, have already read the book. For the first time ever, I did not look at a single publisher’s catalog to create this list. I’m sharing the recommendation source for each book and will specify if that source has or has not read it yet.

Finally, I’ve already read two of the books on this list myself and can personally vouch for them!

This post contains affiliate links (plus: here’s your Amazon Smile-specific affiliate link).

January

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates (January 9, Picador)
You know how I always rave about the 2014 novel, Black Chalk (my review)?! Well, Grist Mill Road is Yates’s sophomore novel. I’ve already read this one and the bottom line is that, despite some structural elements that bothered me, I couldn’t put it down. A dark, twisty, coming of age story about friendship.

The year is 1982, the setting an Edenic hamlet some 90 miles north of New York City. There, among the craggy rock cliffs and glacial ponds of timeworn mountains, three friends—Patrick, Matthew and Hannah— are bound together by a single, terrible, and seemingly senseless crime. Twenty six years later, in New York City, living lives their younger selves could never have predicted, the three meet again–with even more devastating results.

Recommendation Source(s): Trusted author and I’ve already read the book

Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan (January 9, Random House)
This memoir absolutely spoke to me in a “yes, that’s exactly how it is” kind of way. It’s funny, relatable, and covers all kinds of big life issues including marriage, motherhood, illness, and religion…yet, it’s a light, easy read. This might be for you if you loved Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake or This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

In channeling the characteristically streetwise, ever-relatable voice that has defined Corrigan’s work, Tell Me More is a meaningful, touching take on the power of the right words at the right moment to change everything.

Recommendation Source(s): Already read by Annie Jones on From the Front Porch podcast (one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources) and me

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (January 9, Putnam)
This is not a book that would naturally appeal to me (psychics?! No, thanks!), but the good reports from trusted sources are piling up and my recent enjoyment of The Rules of Magic (another book with magical elements) has made me more open to these themes I don’t normally go for. I just started it and am enjoying it so far. 

If you were told the date of your death, how would it shape your present?

It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

Their prophecies inform their next five decades.

Recommendation Source(s): Already read by Renee at It’s Book Talk (trusted book blogger), Susie at Novel Visits (trusted book blogger), and Michael Kindness (co-host of the now defunct Books on the Nightstand podcast)

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin (January 16, Delacorte Press)
Melanie Benjamin wrote The Swans of Fifth Avenue (my review), one of my favorite books of 2016 and very best of the Brain Candy. This is all I needed to know to grab this book immediately…but, a trusted book blogger has also read it already. So, we’ve got some icing on the cake!

An intimate portrait of the close friendship and powerful creative partnership between two of Hollywood’s earliest female superstars: Frances Marion and Mary Pickford.

Recommendation Source(s): Trusted author and already read by Susie at Novel Visits (trusted book blogger)

February

Berlin 1936: Sixteen Days in August by Oliver Hilmes (February 6, Other Press)
I have a slight (OK, massive) obsession with the Olympics and became fascinated with the 1936 Olympics in particular after reading The Boys in the Boat. This was the “Nazi Olympics” and it was used by Hitler’s regime as a propaganda tool. I’m certain the events of this story are fascinating and I hope the book about them proves to be too!

A lively account of the 1936 Olympics told through the voices and stories of those who witnessed it, from an award-winning historian and biographer.

Recommendation Source(s): Published by Other Press (the publisher who brought me Quicksand, one of my favorite books of 2017)

The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson (February 6, Touchstone)
I love novels about dysfunctional families and literary suspense (though, I hear this one is a slower burn). Plus, this novel is getting fantastic reviews from regular readers on Goodreads.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller comes a gripping literary suspense novel set in the 1960s about a deeply troubled family and three women who will reveal its dark truths.

Recommendation Source(s): Susie at Novel Visits (trusted book blogger) via her 2018 Winter Preview (not yet read)

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (February 6, Algonquin Books)
I love a good marriage drama and this one is getting great reviews from regular readers on Goodreads. I’ve heard you want to go into this one as blind as possible.

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

Recommendation Source(s): Already read and loved by Nicole Bonia (host of The Readerly Report Podcast), published by one of my Go-To Imprints

Sunburn by Laura Lippman (February 20, William Morrow)
Lippman is a new-to-me author and I’m always a little skeptical of psychological thrillers. But, Annie Jones (one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources) said it was “a different kind of thriller,” which are the kinds that generally appeal to me.

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with a superb novel of psychological suspense about a pair of lovers with the best intentions and the worst luck: two people locked in a passionate yet uncompromising game of cat and mouse. But instead of rules, this game has dark secrets, forbidden desires, inevitable betrayals—and cold-blooded murder. . .

Recommendation Source(s): Already read by Annie Jones on From the Front Porch podcast (one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources)

March

Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman (March 6, Dutton)
I should probably be embarrassed to admit that this is one of the books I’m most excited about for 2018, but I’m truly not! Amy Kaufman has covered The Bachelor for the LA Times for years and I’ve been following her on Twitter for awhile now. I’ll be listening to this on audio the very second it’s released!

The first definitive, unauthorized, behind-the-scenes cultural history of the Bachelor franchise, America’s favorite guilty pleasure.

Recommendation Source(s): Honestly, I don’t even need a recommendation source for this one. I’d read it even if people said it was terrible. But, Annie Jones on From the Front Porch podcast (one of my Go-To Bookish Media Sources) has already read it, so there!

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao (March 6, Flatiron Books)
I love the focus on female friendship coupled with the India setting. Plus, the Goodreads reviews from regular readers are outstanding. Plus, it’s a debut, which I’m always eager to try.

A searing, electrifying debut novel set in India and America, about a once-in-a-lifetime friendship between two girls who are driven apart but never stop trying to find one another again.

Recommendation Source(s): Liberty Hardy (co-host of Book Riot’s All the Books podcast) on Instagram (has not yet read the book), published by one of my Go-To Imprints.

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian (March 13, Doubleday)
Bohjalian’s page turners always have an unique element that makes them stand out from the sea of run-of-the-mill thrillers out there. I hear the main character in this one may not be especially likable (which doesn’t bother me, but does bother some readers).

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room, a powerful story about the ways an entire life can change in one night: A flight attendant wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened.

Recommendation Source(s): Trusted author

Tangerine by Christine Mangan (March 27, Ecco)
I like the 1950’s Morocco setting and the reports of extreme tension in this friendship. Plus, it’s another debut.

The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. After the accident at Bennington, the two friends—once inseparable roommates—haven’t spoken in over a year.

But soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice—she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. Then Alice’s husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her: her relationship with her enigmatic friend, her decision to ever come to Tangier, and her very own state of mind.

Recommendation Source(s): Liberty Hardy via Book Riot’s 101 2018 Books list (unclear whether she’s read the book yet).

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads (edited for length).

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My Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2017

May 23, 2017 Book Lists 34

Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2017


In case you missed it last week, I posted my 2017 Summer Reading Guide, which is chock full of awesome books for summer that I’ve already vetted. Today’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2017 list focuses on upcoming releases that I’m excited about, but (for the most part) have not yet read. I hope I’ll be adding many of these to my Summer Reading Guide as the summer goes on.

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

June

Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy (June 6, Riverhead)
Bookpage included this novel on its 2017 preview and Ann Patchett (one of my favorite authors, most recently of Commonwealth) called it “smart and thrilling and impossible to put down.” I’ve almost finished this one and it’s a perfect page-turning beach read…as long as you’re not traveling with kids in a foreign country! 

From a beloved, award-winning writer, the much-anticipated novel about what happens when two families go on a tropical vacation and the children go missing.

The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Grinder (June 6, Flatiron Books)
I’ve got to be honest…I put this book on my TBR list mostly because of the title. And, also because it sounds a bit like Seating Arrangements (my review) and Jennifer Close (author of The Hopefuls) called it “family dysfunction at its best” (and ya’ll know I can’t resist that). 

A bitingly funny, hugely entertaining novel in which a fractured family from the Chicago suburbs must gather in London for their eldest daughter’s marriage to an upper-crust Englishman, proving that the harder we strain against the ties that bind, the tighter they hold us close.

Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash (June 6, Coffee House Press)
Ya’ll know how much I love sports fiction and this novel has a bit of a John Irving ring to it. Not to mention Hanya Yanigahara (author of A Little Life, one of my favorite books of 2015) called it “a coming-of-age story with its own, often explosive, rhythm and velocity.”

Foxcatcher meets The Art of Fielding, Stephen Florida follows a college wrestler in his senior season, when every practice, every match, is a step closer to greatness and a step further from sanity. Profane, manic, and tipping into the uncanny, it’s a story of loneliness, obsession, and the drive to leave a mark.

The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs (June 6, Simon & Schuster)
I realize trying to match When Breath Becomes Air (see below) could be a fool’s errand, but I’m still intrigued. Especially since it’s gotten starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and a blurb from Lucy Kalanithi (Paul Kalanithi of When Breath Becomes Air‘s widow). 

An exquisite memoir about how to live—and love—every day with “death in the room,” from poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in the tradition of When Breath Becomes Air.

July

Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam (July 4, Random House)
When Meg Wolitzer (author of The Interestings) calls a book “funny, dark, big, and bold,” that’s all I need to hear. Plus, blurbs from Jonathan Tropper and Curtis Sittenfeld. 

Two people, who are married to other people, meet at a conference for artists and writers in a charming seaside village. Rich, a formerly sort-of-famous cartoonist, and Amy, a student of narrative painting, shared a moment of passion the summer before, and have returned to see what happens next. In the wicked events that follow, both of their lives completely unravel.

What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons (July 11, Viking)
This debut novel has been compared to The Mothers (one of my favorite books of last year) and was #1 on Buzzfeed’s list of 22 Exciting New Books You Need to Read this Summer. 

From a debut author of rare, haunting power, a stunning novel about a young African-American woman coming of age—a deeply felt meditation on race, sex, family, and country.

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong (July 11, Henry Holt)
Another debut novel that made Buzzfeed’s list of 22 Exciting New Books You Need to Read this Summer! And Stephanie Danler (author of Sweetbitter) said this about it: “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more candid portrait of love between family members.” 

Freshly disengaged from her fiancé and feeling that life has not turned out quite the way she planned, thirty-year-old Ruth quits her job, leaves town and arrives at her parents’ home to find that situation more complicated than she’d realized. Her father, a prominent history professor, is losing his memory and is only erratically lucid. Ruth’s mother, meanwhile, is lucidly erratic. But as Ruth’s father’s condition intensifies, the comedy in her situation takes hold, gently transforming her all her grief.

Final Girls by Riley Sager (July 11, Dutton)
I’m desperately searching for a satisfying thriller and Stephen King called this one “the first great thriller of 2017.” If Stephen King is wrong, then I’m give up. It also got a starred review from Kirkus.

An intense and imaginative horror story, Final Girls follows the lone survivor of a massacre, who must reclaim her locked-away memories when faced with another threat ten years later.

August

The Lauras by Sara Taylor (August 1, Hogarth)
I loved Taylor’s 2015 debut novel, The Shore (my review), and have been looking forward to her follow-up! 

The gritty, fierce, and winning story of an unforgettable pair on a road trip across the United States, and their shared journey into the past.

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (August 1, Atlantic Monthly Press)
Yay – fiction based on true crime! I went through a period of loving these a few years ago, but haven’t read one in awhile. I’m looking forward to this!

In this riveting debut novel, Sarah Schmidt recasts one of the most fascinating murder cases of all time (the Lizzie Borden case) into an intimate story of a volatile household and a family devoid of love.

The Futilitarians by Anne Gisleson (August 22, Little, Brown)
Gisleson has been compared to Cheryl Strayed (Tiny Beautiful Things, one of my absolute favorite memoirs) and Jami Attenberg (author of All Grown Up) said it was her favorite memoir of the year. 

A memoir of friendship and literature chronicling a search for meaning and comfort in great books, and a beautiful path out of grief.

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin (August 22, Algonquin Books)
Zevin’s previous novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (my review) was my favorite book of 2014. And, I love the focus of her latest on the double standards between men and women facing public scandal. 

Young Jane Young‘s heroine is Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern in Florida who makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss‑‑who is beloved, admired, successful, and very married‑‑and blogging about it.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.

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My Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2017

March 14, 2017 Book Lists 26

Most Anticipated Books Spring 2017

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You may notice that my most anticipated books of Spring 2017 list leans toward the lighter side. I like to spend April and May trying to find spell-binding books to be included in my annual Summer Reading Guide, which means I’m seeking out books that aren’t overly difficult to read, yet still smart (aka brain candy). Here’s what’s caught my eye…

April

No One Is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell (April 4, Ecco)
This debut novel had me at The Great Gatsby, plus Elle Magazine included it in its list of 25 Most Anticipated Books by Women for 2017.

The Great Gatsby brilliantly recast in the contemporary South: a powerful first novel about an extended African-American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream.

Somebody with a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill (April 4, Pantheon Books)
Though I’ve never read Gaitskill before, I heard great things about her novel, The Mare, and I tend to love authors pontificating on life (i.e. Pat Conroy, Ann Patchett).

[…] a searingly intelligent book of essays on matters literary, social, cultural, and personal.

Marlena by Julie Buntin (April 4, 2017, Henry Holt)
The Millions called this debut “an important story about addiction and poverty in middle America” in their 2017 Great Book Preview. But, the fact that Stephanie Danler (author of Sweetbitter, one of my favorite books of 2016) called it “lacerating” sealed the deal for me.

An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades.

Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout (April 25, Random House)
My Name Is Lucy Barton (my review) was one of my favorite books of 2016, so I’m naturally going to read its companion piece!

Written in tandem with My Name Is Lucy Barton and drawing on the small-town characters evoked there, these pages reverberate with the themes of love, loss, and hope that have drawn millions of readers to Strout’s work.

Startup by Doree Shafrir (April 25, Little Brown)
The Millions included this debut in its 2017 Great Book Preview and Kirkus called it a “page-turning pleasure that packs a punch” in its starred review.

A hilarious debut novel by a BuzzFeed culture writer about the difficulties of real life connection in the heart of New York City’s tech world.

May

The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris (May 2, Little Brown)
I’ve never read Ferris, though his last novel (To Rise Again at a Decent Hour) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. I like my short stories fairly dark, so this collection sounds right up my alley.

Full of the keenly observed, mordant wit that characterizes his beloved, award-winning novels, the stories in The Dinner Party are about people searching for answers in the aftermath of life’s emotional fissures–those abrupt, sometimes violent, moments that change lives forever.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko (May 2, Algonquin Books)
This debut novel has already won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that addresses issues of social justice, and is one of the most anticipated debuts of th year. Plus, there’s a blurb from Ann Patchett, one of my favorite authors.

Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid and moving examination of borders and belonging. It’s the story of how one boy comes into his own when everything he’s loved has been taken away–and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of her past.

No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal (May 2, Picador)
I’ve had great luck with stories about immigrants trying to fit in in the United States (Shelter, Everything I Never Told You, and The Book of Unknown Americans) and with this particular publisher (Shelter, The Woman Next Door).

A humorous and tender multi-generational novel about immigrants and outsiders—those trying to find their place in American society and within their own families.

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki (May 9, Little Brown)
Lepucki’s (author of 2014’s California) latest novel has been called “darkly comic, twisty and tense”…music to my ears!

A sinister, sexy noir about art, motherhood, and the intensity of female friendships, set in the posh hills above Los Angeles, from the New York Times bestselling author of California.

Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan (May 9, Bloomsbury USA)
I’ve recently been on the hunt for a satisfying thriller (I’m decidedly not satisfied by so many of them) and this one gets bonus points for this one being true crime.

The international sensation that sold half a million copies in France: a chilling work of true-crime literature about a friendship gone terrifyingly toxic and the very nature of reality.

The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (May 16, Flatiron Books)
This true crime memoir has been recommended for fans of In Cold Blood, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Serial, and Making A Murderer. Talk about an all-star line-up! Also, Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You (review), called it a “marvel.”

An intellectual and emotional thriller that is also a different kind of murder mystery, The Fact Of a Body is a book not only about how the story of one crime was constructed―but about how we grapple with our own personal histories. Along the way it tackles questions about the nature of forgiveness, and if a single narrative can ever really contain something as definitive as the truth.

Trophy Son by Douglas Brunt (May 30, St. Martin’s Press)
I really enjoyed Brunt’s novel about Wall Street excess, Ghosts of Manhattan (my review), and am a huge tennis fan. So, I’m intrigued by what Brunt will do with pro tennis excess!

Written with an insider knowledge of the tennis circuit, Trophy Son explores a young man striving to find balance in his life, navigating moral compromises, performance-enhancing drugs, and the elusive lure of wealth and celebrity.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.

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My Most Anticipated DEBUTS of Winter 2017

January 3, 2017 Book Lists 24

Most Anticipated debuts of winter 2017

This post contains affiliate links.

A little while ago, I shared My Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2017, but that list did not include debuts. And, thank God, because there are so many debuts I’m looking forward to this year! There’s no way would I have been able to combine everything into one list. Last year, 6 of my top 10 books of the year were debuts, so this crop has extra large shoes to fill!

January

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson (January 10, Random House)
Demented high school books always suck me in…plus, a blurb by Megan Abbott, the queen of demented high school books.

A captivating debut novel for readers of Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You and Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth unleashes an unforgettable cast of characters into a realm known for its cruelty and peril: the American high school.

The Futures by Anna Pitoniak (January 17, Lee Boudreaux Books)
Another type of book I’m a sucker for: the coming of age in New York City story. And, the publisher claims this book is for fans of Adelle Waldman (The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.) and Maggie Shipstead (Seating Arrangements).

The Futures is a glittering story of a couple coming of age and a tender, searing portrait of what it’s like to be young and full of hope in a city that often seems determined to break us down—but ultimately may be the very thing that saves us.

February

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (February 14, Viking)
This is the only book on this list that I’ve already read, so I can recommend it wholeheartedly. It’s a mind-blowing story and feels like a page turner.

An extraordinary, propulsive novel based on the true story of a family of Polish Jews who are separated at the start of the Second World War, determined to survive and to reunite.

Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz (February 28, Random House)
I’m interested in reading more about South Korea and Kate at Parchment Girl included this book on her Winter 2017 Book Preview.

Two young women of vastly different means each struggle to find her own way during the darkest hours of South Korea s economic miracle in a striking debut novel for readers of Anthony Marra and Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.

March

The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis (March 7, Hogarth)
I’ve had great luck with debut Southern coming of age stories (My Sunshine Away, Only Love Can Break Your Heart) the past few years…this one is set in North Carolina.

A richly textured coming-of-age story about fathers and sons, home and family, recalling classics by Thomas Wolfe and William Styron, by a powerful new voice in fiction.

Down City by Leah Carroll (March 7, Grand Central)
This memoir was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick and ya’ll know I love dysfunctional childhood memoirs.

Down City is a raw, wrenching memoir of a broken family and an indelible portrait of Rhode Island – a tiny state where the ghosts of mafia kingpins live alongside the feisty, stubborn people working hard just to get by.

The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo (March 14, Simon & Schuster)
I loved Perabo’s short story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, despite generally having trouble with short stories.

The suspenseful, breakout novel from the critically acclaimed author of the short story collections Who I Was Supposed to Be and Why They Run the Way They Do—when a middle school girl is abducted in broad daylight, a fellow student and witness to the crime copes with the tragedy in an unforgettable way.

The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill (March 21, Knopf)
Another Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick and I’m having visions of the movie The Thomas Crown Affair.

Hilarious and poignant, The Gargoyle Hunters is a love letter to a vanishing city, and a deeply emotional story of fathers and sons. […], the novel solves the mystery of a brazen and seemingly impossible architectural heist – the theft of an entire historic Manhattan building – that stunned the city and made the front page of The New York Times in 1974.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.

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My Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2017

December 13, 2016 Book Lists 50

My Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2017

This post contains affiliate links.

When I posted My Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2016 list a few months ago, I lamented that I hadn’t been very good at picking winners in the past (I ended up loving only one book from my Summer preview and big, fat zero from my Spring preview). Well, I’m thrilled to say that I bucked that trend with my Fall post…loving 4 out of 10 books. Cheers to hoping for an even better success rate with my winter picks!

This list does NOT include debuts, as they will get their very own post on January 3, 2017 (and there are some that I’m super excited about).

January

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian (January 10, Doubleday)
Bohjalian, author of The Guest Room (review), is one of my “I’ll read whatever he/she writes” authors and reading his seemingly annual January release is fast becoming a late December tradition for me.

[…] a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire – the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night.

Human Acts by Han Kang (January 17, Hogarth)
I missed Kang’s internationally bestselling novel (The Vegetarian) last year, but am intrigued by the South Korea setting of this short book.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.
The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre.

Valley of the Gods by Alexandra Wolfe (January 17, Simon & Schuster)
This nonfiction title hits my “gossip-y business books” hot button.

In Valley of the Gods, Wolfe follows three of these upstarts who have “stopped out” of college and real life to live and work in Silicon Valley in the hopes of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.

February

A Separation by Katie Kitamura (February 7, Riverhead Books)
I’m a sucker for books that break down the psychology of marriage and Rebecca Schinsky mentioned on Book Riot’s Holiday Recommendations podcast that she was excited about this one.

A mesmerizing, psychologically taut novel about a marriage’s end and the secrets we all carry.

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller (February 7, Tin House Books)
Another novel about marriage…plus, I loved Fuller’s 2015 debut, Our Endless Numbered Days (review).

Sexy and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious and complicated truths of a passionate and troubled marriage.

The Brain Defense by Kevin Davis (February 28, Penguin Press)
Courtroom drama and investigation of how the brain works? Yes, please! Kate at Parchment Girl had this book on her 50 Amazing Books to get Excited About This Winter list.

Thought-provoking and brilliantly crafted, The Brain Defense marries a murder mystery complete with colorful characters and courtroom drama with a sophisticated discussion of how our legal system has changed and must continue to change as we broaden our understanding of the human mind.

Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (February 28, Little Brown)
This one is sort of my random shot in the dark. I know nothing about the author or the book, but the premise intrigued me.

Neurosurgeon Eitan Green has the perfect life–married to a beautiful police officer and father of two young boys. Then, speeding along a deserted moonlit road after an exhausting hospital shift, he hits someone. Seeing that the man, an African migrant, is beyond help, he flees the scene.

March

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg (March 7, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
I loved Attenberg’s 2015 novel, Saint Mazie (review), and Book Riot’s Rebecca Schinsky is already raving about her latest.

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Middlesteins comes a wickedly funny novel about a thirty-nine-year-old single, childfree woman who defies convention as she seeks connection.

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel (March 7, Riverhead Books)
Kerry at Entomology of a Bookworm said this dysfunctional families novel (total sucker for these too!) is “totally F’d up, yet compelling.”

The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.

Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein (March 21, Algonquin Books)
Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You (review), blurbed this novel and that’s all the convincing I need. 

[…] when Jacob’s father, Dave, found out Karen was pregnant and made it clear that fatherhood wasn’t in his plans, Karen walked out of the relationship, never telling Dave her intention was to raise their child alone. But now Jake is asking to meet his dad, and with good reason: Karen is dying.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.

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My Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2016

August 18, 2016 Book Lists 32

My Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2016


These quarterly Most Anticipated Books lists are one of my favorite types of posts to put together because they get me excited about all the shiny, new books coming up (and, especially Fall, because that’s when a lot of the really “big” books are generally published)! But, when I look back at my Spring and Summer posts from this year, I noticed I’m really not fantastic at picking winners in advance (I ended up loving one book from my Summer preview and big, fat zero from my Spring preview)! But, this round has a good chance of breaking the pattern since it’s filled with a lot of authors I’ve loved in the past.

September

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (September 6, Viking)
I loved Towles’ debut, Rules of Civility, years ago and am interested in his sophomore effort that sounds completely different from Rules of Civility.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch (September 6, Crown)
I absolutely loved the biting social commentary in Koch’s The Dinner.

From various perspectives, Herman Koch tells the dark tale of a writer in decline, a teenage couple in love, a missing teacher, and a single book that entwines all of their fates. Thanks to M’s novel, supposedly a work of fiction, everyone seems to be linked forever, until something unexpected spins the “story” off its rails.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (September 13, Harper)
And the third book in the “I absolutely loved X’s previous book” sweepstakes (State of Wonder, in this case) !

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimeer McBride (September 20, Hogarth)
I heard good things about this book on one of the Book Riot podcasts.

A redemptive, captivating story of passion and innocence set across the bedsits of mid-1990s London, McBride holds new love under her fierce gaze, giving us all a chance to remember what it’s like to fall hard for another.

October

Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt (October 4, Algonquin Books)
Catherine at Gilmore Guide to Books had good things to say about this new-to-me author!

Set in the early 1970s against the specter of the Manson girls, when the peace and love movement begins to turn ugly, this is the story of a runaway teenager’s disappearance and her sister’s quest to discover the truth.

The Wangs vs. The World by Jade Chang (October 4, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
This debut novel is getting some good buzz…

A hilarious debut novel about a wealthy but fractured Chinese immigrant family that had it all, only to lose every last cent—and about the road trip they take across America that binds them back together.

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple (October 4, Little Brown)
Author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette? Yes, please!

A genius novel from the author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, about a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, forced to abandon her small ambitions when she awakes to a strange, new future unfolding.

Hungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner (October 11, Atria Books)
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve read Jennifer Weiner’s fiction, but I follow her on Twitter and adore her commentary on life and pop culture (particular The Bachelor franchise)…so, I’m intrigued her this collection of nonfiction essays.

Jennifer Weiner is many things: a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Twitter phenomenon, and “an unlikely feminist enforcer” (The New Yorker). She’s also a mom, a daughter, and a sister; a former rower and current cyclist; a best friend and a reality TV junkie. In her first foray into nonfiction, she takes the raw stuff of her personal life and spins into a collection of essays on modern womanhood as uproariously funny and moving as the best of Tina Fey, Fran Lebowitz, and Nora Ephron.

The Mothers by Brit Bennett (October 11, Riverhead Books)
Another debut that’s getting a lot of buzz…

Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett’s mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret.

December

The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis (December 6, W.W. Norton)
My all-time favorite nonfiction writer takes on the decision-making process. For the most part, Lewis could make any topic fascinating for me.

Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original studies undoing our assumptions about the decision-making process. Their papers showed the ways in which the human mind erred, systematically, when forced to make judgments about uncertain situations.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.

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My Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2016

May 31, 2016 Top Ten Tuesday 21

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is Beach Reads Week.

Last week, I posted my 2016 Summer Reading Guide, which is chock full of great books for summer, all of which I’ve already read. Now it’s time to focus on the new summer releases I’m looking forward to!

My Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2016

 

June

Grunt by Mary Roach (June 7, W.W. Norton)
Roach has a totally oddball, yet addictively fascinating style of digging deep into quirky topics (i.e. she explores the fates of human cadavers in Stiff). I’ve always been interested in the mental aspect of war, so her latest is firmly up my alley!

Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier’s most challenging adversaries—panic, exhaustion, heat, noise—and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (June 7, Knopf)
Shannon at River City Reading has already raved about this novel.

Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and will live in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, […]. Esi, imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, will be sold into slavery.

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel (June 14, Riverhead Books)
Doesn’t this sound like a 1960’s/70’s version of The Nest?! You know I can’t resist a novel about wealthy family dysfunction!

An imaginative novel about a wealthy New England family in the 1960s and ’70s that suddenly loses its fortune—and its bearings.

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere by John Gregory Brown (June 28, Lee Boudreaux Books)
Doesn’t this sound like a 1960’s/70’s version of The Nest?! You know I can’t resist a novel about wealthy family dysfunction!

Fleeing New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Henry Garrett is haunted by the ruins of his marriage, a squandered inheritance, and the teaching job he inexplicably quit. He pulls into a small Virginia town after three days on the road, hoping to silence the ceaseless clamor in his head. But this quest for peace and quiet as the only guest at a roadside motel is destroyed when Henry finds himself at the center of a bizarre and violent tragedy.

July

Listen to Me by Hannah Pittard (July 5, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Pittard’s irreverent writing in Reunion made it one of my favorite books of 2014, so I’m anxiously awaiting her latest. Plus, it’s only 208 pages!

A modern gothic about a marriage and road trip gone hauntingly awry.

The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock (July 12, Doubleday)
In her 2016 preview post, Rory at Fourth Street Review (my go-to source for dark, gritty fiction) said “absolutely nothing overshadows Donald Ray Pollock’s new novel”. I have never read this author, but Rory’s stamp of approval was enough to convince me to get my hands on this book!

In the gothic tradition of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy with a healthy dose of cinematic violence reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, the Jewetts and the Fiddlers will find their lives colliding in increasingly dark and horrific ways, placing Donald Ray Pollock firmly in the company of the genre’s literary masters.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (July 26, Little Brown)
Megan Abbott is a master at writing demented young girls (i.e. The Fever) and I can’t think of a better setting for those types of characters than elite gymnastics. Plus, I’m kind of obsessed with the Olympics.

Katie and Eric Knox have dedicated their lives to their fifteen-year-old daughter Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful. But when a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community just weeks before an all-important competition, everything the Knoxes have worked so hard for feels suddenly at risk.

Home Field by Hannah Gersen (July 26, William Morrow Paperbacks)
I have a feeling this debut novel could be either a huge winner or huge bomb for me. But, I obviously have to give it shot if since it’s being compared to Friday Night Lights (my favorite TV show of all time).

The heart of Friday Night Lights meets the emotional resonance and nostalgia of My So-Called Life in this utterly moving debut novel about tradition, family, love, and football.

August

Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney (August 2, Knopf)
I loved McInerney’s first two books about Russell and Corrine Calloway, Brightness Falls and The Good Life.

Russell and Corrine Calloway seem to be living the New York dream […]. Then Corrine’s world is turned upside down when the man with whom she’d had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change–including Obama’s historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited — the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have anticipated.

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (August 23, Random House)
The Book Riot girls have been talking about this debut for awhile. Plus, I have a fascination with the 2008 financial crisis, which this book centers around.

For fans of Americanah and The Lowland comes a debut novel about an immigrant couple striving to get ahead as the Great Recession hits home. With profound empathy, keen insight, and sly wit, Imbolo Mbue has written a compulsively readable story about marriage, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream.

*All book summaries (in block quotes) are from Goodreads.




Ten Books to Watch For This Spring (2016)

March 15, 2016 Top Ten Tuesday 27

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is Ten Books On My Spring TBR.  

I’ve focused on new releases…and this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the books I’m looking forward to this spring. I didn’t include spring releases that I’d already shared on my Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2016 and Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I’m Anticipating lists, so check those out for even more spring picks.

Ten Books to Watch for this spring 2016
March

As Close to Us As Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner (March 15, Lee Boudreaux Books)
Ever since I loved Tender from the new Lee Boudreaux Books imprint, I’ve been looking forward to this multi-generational family saga (I’m a sucker for these!).

A multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer by “a wonderful talent [who] should be read widely”

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (March 22, Ecco)
This debut novel is getting a lot of buzz and hits my dysfunctional families hot button.

A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein (March 29, Harper)
As a mother of a young daughter, this book piques my interest/scares me.

A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and the New York Times best-selling author of books like Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Orenstein spoke to psychologists, academics, and other experts in the field and yes, 70 young women, to offer an in-depth picture of “girls and sex” today.

April

Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday by Christine Reilly (April 5, Touchstone)
Yet more of my reading hot buttons (eccentric families, 1990’s NYC) in this debut!

The Middlesteins meets The Virgin Suicides in this arresting family love story about the eccentric yet tight knit Simone family, coping with tragedy during 90s New York, struggling to reconnect with each other and heal.

Ladivine by Marie NDiaye (April 26, Knopf)
I’ve had good luck with Knopf in the past…plus, secrets and double lives.

The first Tuesday of every month, Clarisse Rivière leaves her husband and young daughter to take the train to Bordeaux and visit her mother, Ladivine. Clarisse has concealed nearly every aspect of her adult life from this woman whom she dreads and despises but also pities, and who knows her as Malinka. But after twenty-five years, the idyllic life she has built from scratch cannot survive the walls she’s put up to protect it.

May

The Bricks That Built the Houses by Kate Tempest (May 3, Bloomsbury USA)
One of those books where you’re confused about what it’s actually about even after reading the blurb, but I’m intrigued.

Explores a cross-section of contemporary urban life with a powerful moral microscope, giving us intimate stories of hidden lives, and showing us that good intentions don’t always lead to the right decisions.

Zero K by Don DeLillo (May 3, Scribner)
I’ve never read DeLillo, but he’s been on my TBR list for awhile. 

Don DeLillo’s seductive, spectacularly observed and brilliant new novel weighs the darkness of the world—terrorism, floods, fires, famine, plague—against the beauty and humanity of everyday life; love, awe, “the intimate touch of earth and sun.”

The After Party by Anton Disclafani (May 17, Riverhead)
This one reminds me of a cross between The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Big Rich (i.e. wealthy people behaving badly).

From the nationally bestselling author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls comes a story of 1950s Texas socialites and the one irresistible, controversial woman at the bright, hot center of it all.

Happy Family by Tracy Barone (May 26, Lee Boudreaux Books)
After Tender, I’m pretty much excited about anything from Lee Boudreaux Books.

In Tracy Barone’s mordantly funny debut, a fiercely independent woman is forced to come to terms with the family who raised her, the one who gave her away and the one she desperately wants.

June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (May 31, Crown)
Bittersweet, Beverly-Whittemore’s 2014 novel, is one of my top beach read recommendations, so I was excited to hear she had a new book coming out.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet comes a novel of suspense and passion about a terrible mistake made sixty years ago that threatens to change a modern family forever.




Top Ten 2016 Non-Debut Releases I’m Anticipating (through May) & Tuesday Intro

December 29, 2015 Top Ten Tuesday 35

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This year, I’m actually on top of upcoming releases…yay! This is mostly due to my effort (thanks to Shannon’s post) to pay attention to imprints that have been successful for me in the past. I already shared my Top Ten 2016 Debuts I’m Anticipating (some of my most anticipated 2016 releases are debuts, so check out this list!) in an earlier post, so today’s list contains only non-debut releases.

I also have to mention After the Crash by Michel Bussi (January 5, Hachette). I didn’t include it in this list because I’ve already read it, but it’s a fantastic suck-you-in-type page turner.

Top Ten 2016 Non-Debut Releases I’m Anticipating (through May)

Top Ten 2016 Non-Debut Releases I'm Anticipating
January

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian (January 5, Doubleday)
Bohjalian is one of my go-to authors and I’m about 3/4 of the way through his latest (enjoying it so far)!

“The spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room; two women are on the run from police; and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams.”

American Housewife by Helen Ellis (January 12, Doubleday)
After loving Nickolas Butler’s Beneath the Bonfire last year, I’m trying to be more open to short stories in 2016.

“A sharp, funny, delightfully unhinged collection of stories set in the dark world of domesticity, American Housewife features murderous ladies who lunch, celebrity treasure hunters, and the best bra fitter south of the Mason Dixon line.”

February

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon (February 16, Doubleday)
From the author of my favorite debut of 2014 (The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress):

“With everyone onboard harboring dark secrets and at least one person determined to make sure the airship doesn’t make the return trip, Flight of Dreams gives an utterly suspenseful, heart-wrenching explanation for one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century.”

Tender by Belinda McKeon (February 16, Lee Boudreaux Books)
I’ve heard good things about this new Hachette imprint.

“By turns exhilarating and devastating, Tender is a dazzling exploration of human relationships, of the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we are taught to tell. It is the story of first love and lost innocence, of discovery and betrayal. A tense high-wire act with keen psychological insights…”

March

The Legends Club by John Feinstein (March 1, Doubleday)
One of my favorite sports writers on the best rivalry in college basketball (featuring my grad school alma mater – UNC).

“The riveting inside story of college basketball’s fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends—University of North Carolina’s Dean Smith, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State’s Jim Valvano—by the king of college basketball writers…”

The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (March 29, Knopf)
This sophomore novel was published last year in Europe and shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.

“The Year of the Runaways tells of the bold dreams and daily struggles of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstance. Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in desperate search of a new life. Sweeping between India and England, and between childhood and the present day, Sunjeev Sahota’s generous, unforgettable novel is […] a story of dignity in the face of adversity and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.”

Burning Down the House by Jane Mendelsohn (March 15, Knopf)
This novel screams “wealthy people behaving badly”, one of my favorite reading themes.

“A bold, deeply engrossing novel about the fall of a wealthy New York family whose struggles to face the challenges of familial rivalry, an explosively revealing love affair, and involvement, however unwitting, in a world of international crime unfold with the inexorability of Greek tragedy.”

April

The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth (April 5, Henry Holt)
This nonfiction hits my weakness for true crime!

“A sweeping narrative history of a terrifying serial killer–America’s first–who stalked Austin, Texas in 1885.”

Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg (April 12, Ecco)
I saw this book in Book Riot’s The Best Books We Read in November and the Megan Abbott blurb caught my attention. Plus, it’s only 200 pages!

“A taut, erotically charged literary noir set in Houston about a woman caught up in her friend’s shocking murder, and the dark truths she uncovers.”

May

Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips (May 31, Henry Holt)
Author of The Beautiful Bureaucrat…nuff said.

“Some Possible Solutions offers an idiosyncratic series of “What ifs”: What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through everybody’s skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers of you? Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, Phillips’ characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world.”

*All quotes from Goodreads

Tuesday Intro

First Chapter First Paragraph
Every Tuesday, fellow blogger Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where bloggers share the first paragraph of the book they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon.

Guest Room, Chris Bohjalian


I’m about 70% through this one and am enjoying it so far. However, I do wonder how things will wrap up and hope it takes a surprising direction.

Plot Summary from Amazon (adapted for length)

[A] spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams. 3067

Here’s the first part of the first paragraph (from an uncorrected proof):

Richard Chapman presumed there would be a stripper at his brother Philip’s bachelor party. Perhaps if he had actually thought about it, he might even have expected two. Sure, in sitcoms the stripper always arrived alone, but he knew in real life strippers often came in pairs. How else could there be a little pretend (or not pretend) girl-on-girl action on the living room carpet? Besides, he worked in mergers and acquisitions, he understood the exigencies of commerce as well as anyone: two strippers meant you could have two gentlemen squirming at once. You could have two girls hovering just above two sets of thighs – or if the girls saw the right combination of neediness and dollar signs in the men’s eyes, not hovering but in fact descending upon each of the men’s laps. Richard wasn’t especially wild about the idea of an exotic dancer in his family’s living room: there was a place for everything in his mind, even the acrobatically tensed sinews of a stripper. But that place wasn’t his home. […]

Would you keep reading?

September 2015 Monthly Round-Up

October 2, 2015 Monthly Round-Ups 9

Wow…I feel like September just started! This month felt particularly short…maybe due to the late Labor Day (it still feels like August to me until after Labor Day, regardless of when Labor Day falls) and the kids not starting their full school schedule until last week (who dreamed up this ridiculous school calendar?!). It was also filled with lots of behind the scenes blog work…fixing issues from a WordPress upgrade, researching a new host, and implementing a weekly email subscription option (you can sign up at the end of this post!).

In October, I’ll be teaming up for a third time with the lovely Anne Tollett of Hanover Avenue (check out our previous collaborations: A True Reader’s Library and White Knight Bedroom) to stock three different bathroom designs with reading material. And, San Francisco based artist and designer Shannon Kaye will also be joining us! Anyone who claims not to read in the bathroom is a big, fat liar!! 

September Reading

September 2015 Monthly Round-Up


My last month of reading was a bit of mediocrity bookended by greatness! I was on vacation during the beginning of the month, which tends to bode well for my reading and this time was no different. I finished up The Animals, My Southern Journey, and Infinite Home…all of which I enjoyed immensely. Not on Fire, But Burning blew me away in some ways, but a key element just didn’t work for me, coloring my overall impression. Sadly, A Place We Knew Well was just an all-around disappointment. And, September ended with me jumping firmly and happily on the Did You Ever Have A Family bandwagon.

Best Book of the Month

Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg (September 8, 2015)
Fiction, 304 Pages (review coming soon)
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

October Releases I’m Excited About

City on Fire, Speed Kings, Three-Year Swim Club


City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (October 13)
Speed Kings by Andy Bull (October 20)
The Three-Year Swim Club by Julie Checkoway (October 27)

Top Non-Review Books on my “To Be Read” List

A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Where All the Light Tends to Go by David Joy

Most Popular September Posts

Why Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Left Me Utterly Conflicted
Top Ten Books on my Fall 2015 TBR List
#30Authors: Brian Panowich on Soil by Jamie Kornegay

Favorite Posts by Fellow Bloggers

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