Friday, April 24, 2015

Spring New Releases I Can't Wait to Read

It's spring! The flower trees are blooming, the sun is shining (sometimes), the pollen is making me sneeze . . . and some lovely new novels are on the horizon!

Here are a few which have caught my eye and I can't wait read in the coming weeks . . .

Sara Taylor's debut novel, The Shore, will be published on May 26, and I think this novel of linked narratives looks intriguing. The stories center on women living on islands off the coast of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay . . . but a light beach read, this is NOT. From the publisher's synopsis: "These women struggle against domestic violence, savage wilderness, and the corrosive effects of poverty and addiction to secure a sense of well-being for themselves and for those they love." I read the first chapter last night, and it blew me away!

If you read Kate Atkinson's compelling 2013 novel Life After Life, you probably know that A God in Ruins is a sequel of sorts. This novel, to be published on May 5, is the story of Ursula's brother Teddy, the RAF pilot. Well, while I didn't absolutely LOVE Life After Life, I was certainly fascinated and challenged by it . . . and so, of course, A God in Ruins is one of the spring releases I am most anticipating.

Early Warning is the second installment of Jane Smiley's planned trilogy about the Langdon family. I love Jane Smiley, and I truly enjoyed Some Luck, her first novel about the Langdons (you can see my review of Some Luck here). Early Warning, which will be published on April 28, begins in 1953, as the family grieves the death of Walter. I look forward to finding out how the five Langdon children experience the turbulence and passion of America in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

If you like historical fiction, a new release for spring that might interest you is Sarah McCoy's The Mapmaker's Children, set for release on May 5. McCoy tells the stories of Sarah Brown, the daughter of abolitionist John Brown and a woman active in the Underground Railroad, and Eden, a modern woman anxious to conceive a child. The two women are linked by a house in West Virginia with secrets in the root cellar. (Confession--I read this one already! Review to come soon)

In the Unlikely Event is a new novel by Judy Blume . . . yes, THE Judy Blume! That's all you need to know--just buy it on June 2 and start reading! Seriously, though, that is pretty cool--a new novel for adults from 77-year-old Blume. It takes place in New Jersey in 1951-1952, as a series of passenger airlines crash in the same area within a three month period. I will certainly not miss this novel, but I will probably wait until July to read it (our family vacation in June involves airplane travel. Does this book sound like good airplane reading to you? Um, I'll wait a few weeks).

Do any of these new releases strike your fancy? What books are you looking forward to this spring?

5 comments:

  1. I can't wait for the Kate Atkinson!

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    1. Yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing Teddy's story! While I didn't love Life After Life, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

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  2. The Shore, The Shore!! Can't wait to start it - will be doing that in the next few weeks. And - looking forward to the Judy Blume, although I never read her when I was young (I know, that's weird).

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    1. I finished The Shore this weekend--I really enjoyed it!! I definitely think this is going to be one of the "talked about" books for early summer.

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  3. Hi Leila - I'd like to offer you a literary historical novel to review, but I'd be guessing at your email address if I did. Would you mind emailing me first so I have your e-dress? Mine is stephanie at stephaniebarko dot com

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