Waiting on Wednesday: That Summer

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

From Goodreads…

2009: When Julia Conley hears that she has inherited a house outside London from an unknown great-aunt, she assumes it’s a joke. She hasn’t been back to England since the car crash that killed her mother when she was six, an event she remembers only in her nightmares. But when she arrives at Herne Hill to sort through the house—with the help of her cousin Natasha and sexy antiques dealer Nicholas—bits of memory start coming back. And then she discovers a pre-Raphaelite painting, hidden behind the false back of an old wardrobe, and a window onto the house’s shrouded history begins to open…1849: Imogen Grantham has spent nearly a decade trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man, Arthur. The one bright spot in her life is her step-daughter, Evie, a high-spirited sixteen year old who is the closest thing to a child Imogen hopes to have. But everything changes when three young painters come to see Arthur’s collection of medieval artifacts, including Gavin Thorne, a quiet man with the unsettling ability to read Imogen better than anyone ever has. When Arthur hires Gavin to paint her portrait, none of them can guess what the hands of fate have set in motion.From modern-day England to the early days of the Preraphaelite movement, Lauren Willig’s That Summer takes readers on an un-put-downable journey through a mysterious old house, a hidden love affair, and one woman’s search for the truth about her past—and herself.

I’ll read pretty much anything Lauren Willig writes by this point.  I love the Pink Carnation series and I really enjoyed her first non-Pink book, The Ashford Affair.  I have high hopes for That Summer!  Who hasn’t had that fantasy of an amazing inheritance from someone you’ve never met?  Or is that just me?

Waiting on Wednesday – Rogue Edition

Holly

Hi. Holly here. Amanda is out-of-town and she left me unsupervised. Amateur move, sister.

Amanda usually does these Waiting on Wednesday* posts, which makes sense because, she finishes about 6 books to every 1 of mine. Generally, I can’t be bothered to look at books that haven’t even come out yet, because I’m trying to keep up reading just enough to be able to write a review every week or so. Amanda, however, clearly needs to read all of the book just to keep herself occupied on her daily commute. Don’t worry though, as of this morning, the woman has 1087 books on her to-read shelf on Goodreads. That should do her for a month or two.

Wait, where was I going, besides making fun of my best pal? Right. Waiting on Wednesday.

So, for this Holly-edition of Waiting on Wednesday, I’m not going to tell you about a not-yet-released book that I’m anticipating. I’m going to list a few books that I’m excited to read, just as soon as I finish my library books – which, incidentally, I have managed to renew 4 times since checking out. Here’s hoping I finish before I reach the renewal limit!

 

1. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed – because of this review. Well, actually just because of this line: “Cheryl Strayed can write like a motherfucker, and that talent is on display in every one of her lovely, profane, honest and frustrated columns collected in this book.” Sold.

2. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund – because, since I started trying to keep up with Amanda, I realized just how much YA dystopia, fantasy, sci-fi-sh stuff is out there, and I thought perhaps I’d try to get ahead of the game for once instead of picking up things after everyone else has raved about them (see: Divergent). A lot of the YA reviews I read don’t appeal to me, but this one? Yes. Okay, maybe everyone is already raving about this one, but haven’t seen it all over the place yet.

3. A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom – because I like to know what I’m getting myself into.

 

 

 

* Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Waiting on Wednesday — Bossy Sister Edition

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause, Heath Hardage Lee

From amazon.com:

Varina Anne “Winnie” Davis was born into a war-torn South in June of 1864, the youngest daughter of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his second wife, Varina Howell Davis. Born only a month after the death of beloved Confederate hero General J.E.B. Stuart during a string of Confederate victories, Winnie’s birth was hailed as a blessing by war-weary Southerners. They felt her arrival was a good omen signifying future victory. But after the Confederacy’s ultimate defeat in the Civil War, Winnie would spend her early life as a genteel refugee and a European expatriate abroad.

After returning to the South from German boarding school, Winnie was christened the “Daughter of the Confederacy” in 1886. This role was bestowed upon her by a Southern culture trying to sublimate its war losses. Particularly idolized by Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Winnie became an icon of the Lost Cause, eclipsing even her father Jefferson in popularity.

Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause is the first published biography of this little-known woman who unwittingly became the symbolic female figure of the defeated South. Her controversial engagement in 1890 to a Northerner lawyer whose grandfather was a famous abolitionist, and her later move to work as a writer in New York City, shocked her friends, family, and the Southern groups who worshiped her. Faced with the pressures of a community who violently rejected the match, Winnie desperately attempted to reconcile her prominent Old South history with her personal desire for tolerance and acceptance of her personal choices.

Seriously, could there be a better book for my sister to request (unless its one of my other 45 library recommendations)?  You’re welcome Holly.

Waiting on Wednesday: Prisoner of Night and Fog

Prisoner of Night and Fog, Anne Blankman

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

From Goodreads…

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners, and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her “uncle” Dolf, has been shielded from that side of society ever since her father traded his life for Dolf’s, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler.

And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen. Gretchen should despise Daniel, yet she can’t stop herself from listening to his story: that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade. She also can’t help the fierce attraction brewing between them, despite everything she’s been taught to believe about Jews.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she’s always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of her former life as a Nazi darling, or will she dare to dig up the truth—even if it could get her and Daniel killed?

From debut author Anne Blankman comes this harrowing and evocative story about an ordinary girl faced with the extraordinary decision to give up everything she’s ever believed . . . and to trust her own heart instead.

Sounds intense!

Waiting on Wednesay: The Magicians’s Land

Waiting on Wednesdays: The Magician’s Land, Lev Grossman The Magicians #3

Amanda

From Goodreads:

In The Magician’s Land, the stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy—on-sale from Viking on August 5—Quentin Coldwater has been cast out of Fillory, the secret magical land of his childhood dreams. With nothing left to lose he returns to where his story be­gan, the Brakebills Preparatory College of Magic. But he can’t hide from his past, and it’s not long before it comes looking for him.

Along with Plum, a brilliant young under­graduate with a dark secret of her own, Quentin sets out on a crooked path through a magical demi­monde of gray magic and desperate characters. But all roads lead back to Fillory, and his new life takes him to old haunts, like Antarctica, and to buried secrets and old friends he thought were lost for­ever. He uncovers the key to a sorcery masterwork, a spell that could create magical utopia, a new Fillory—but casting it will set in motion a chain of events that will bring Earth and Fillory crashing together. To save them he will have to risk sacrific­ing everything.

The Magician’s Land is an intricate thriller, a fantastical epic, and an epic of love and redemp­tion that brings the Magicians trilogy to a magnifi­cent conclusion, confirming it as one of the great achievements in modern fantasy. It’s the story of a boy becoming a man, an apprentice becoming a master, and a broken land finally becoming whole

I am definitely going to have to have a re-read of the Magicians and Magician King before August.  I can’t wait to go back to Brakebills!! Has Quentin grown up at all?  Lev Grossman’s email about the book says he thinks it may be the best he’s written-that definitely makes me want to get my paws on it!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday: The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Ok I have to start by saying I think this is a horrid title.  I love Lauren Willig and her Pink Carnation Series, and while I think all the flower titles have been fun, however, this is just way too much in one name.  I’m all for alliteration, but in my mind this just gets silly! I enjoy historical fiction and these have just enough modern chick lit to be different from the average historical romance.  I was very disappointed when I looked this book up today because I was thinking it would be out in January-August seems ridiculously far away! I feel like her publication schedule changed without my approval -boo! The Pink Carnation is a spy in her twenties helping the British Crown mostly in the war against Napolean, but her influence extends as far as India as well.  Through the series her friends and acquaintances get caught up in her schemes and ultimately end up in love. They’re not overly complicated, but they are entertaining and feel good books.  The series also features a modern graduate student who is researching the Pink Carnation and enjoying her own romance in London.   I enjoyed Sally Fitzhugh in her brother’s book, The Mischief of the Mistletoe and I look forward to seeing what she gets up to with a “vampire” in her own story.  If you’re like me and enjoy getting drawn into long series of books I recommend checking out The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.  Or if you want one book, the above mentioned Mischief of the Mistletoe is a good Christmas read.  The first is not the strongest of the series, but they get much better from there.  I definitely don’t want the series to end, but I really do want to see some romance in Jane’s life! Also, Lauren Willig’s website is a good source for finding more suggestions of historical fiction, historical romance, and sometimes a few other random reads.  I should stay away as my to read list grows daily-but I think you should check it out!

Waiting on Wednesday

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

From Goodreads:

 The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi’s “masterpiece” Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Times bestselling Through the Ever Night (Examiner.com).

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it’s time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won’t even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn’t just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he’s also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

I was so into the first book of this series, Under the Never Sky, which I had from the library that I broke down and bought the second book because I couldn’t wait.  That says a lot because I have a compulsive need to own whole series of books and also I am trying to control my book buying impulses.  I cannot wait to find out what happens to Perry and Aria! Is the Still Blue really there?! January 28 come quickly!

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday

Amanda

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

My pick  is Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire.  As I’ve said already I’m obsessed with Feed, written by McGuire’s alter ego Mira Grant.  I think the InCryptid series might be among the most bizarre books I’ve read, but I loved the first two.  This series follows a family of cryptozoologists.  Right-what?  There are dragons, there are talking mice, there is just a ton of bizarre beasts and ghouls in these books.  But as always McGuire’s protagonists include amazing women who are brave, loyal and have kick-ass attitudes.   Half-Off Ragnarok follows a brother of the Price clan so I’m looking forward to one of McGuire’s books from the male perspective.  In the meantime there are a ton of short stories that she’s published from this series so I need to start reading to keep myself busy!  Go check them out!