Oh my gosh. I’ve made it
through nine of the 12 books I outlined for the first half of the year (and
many more which appeared along the way). I WILL catch up on the three I missed! It's also time to tackle my target list for the second half of 2019—some
I’ve been waiting for since the day I saw their book deals announced in Publisher’s Marketplace!
Relative Fortunes by Marlowe
Benn—July 1. This one’s dog-eared on my night stand at this very moment. It’s
1920s NYC, and there’s a mysterious death, early feminists, and an inheritance
to be had. I love the spunky main character, Julia Kydd.
A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean—July 1. This is a multi-generational saga about a granddaughter who seeks to uncover the truth about her family’s past, triggered by her discovery of an old photograph of her grandmother in the arms of a Nazi officer.
Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler—July 23. I loved Kibler’s debut (Calling Me Home, 2014)
so much, that her sophomore novel is much anticipated. Also a dual timeline
story, her new book features a university librarian who uncovers the hidden
histories of women in an early-1900s home for rehabilitating “ruined” girls.
Meet Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly’s Royal Wedding—July 23. My husband and I did an excursion into Monaco years ago, during our 30th anniversary trip to
France. We drove a convertible around the city, following along the route of
the Monaco Grand Prix—one of the world’s most prestigious automobile road
races. Between that and the gorgeous cover of this novel by Hazel Gaynor and Heather
Webb, their book is a must-read for me.
Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn
Jackson—July 30. I’ve had the honor of being a writing student of Joshilyn’s, and
I will attend her book-signing party in metro-Atlanta next week. The story is
about a game among friends and “what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.”
The suspense is killing me to learn what happens in this book!
The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis—July 30. Spanning
the 1940s-1960s, this novel surrounds one of New York’s iconic hotels, two women
with their eyes on Broadway, and the era’s political fallout from McCarthyism. Davis does NYC like nobody else!
We Are All Good People Here by Susan Rebecca White—August 6. My goodness, what an
amazing cover. I’d read this book—with its optical illusion of two faces—no matter what it’s about. But to know it spans 30 years beginning in 1962 and is a “multi-generational novel that
explores the complex relationship between two very different women and the
secrets they bequeath to their daughters,” it suggests I won’t be able to put it
down.
All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio—August 13. I love this book’s official logline: Two women are connected across time by the
city of Paris, a mysterious stack of love letters, and shocking secrets
sweeping from World War II to the present—for readers of Sarah’s
Key and The Nightingale. Wow. Enough said.
The Sisters of Summit Avenue by my friend and
beautiful writer, Lynn Cullen—September 10. This is one of the novels I’ve been
salivating all year to read! It’s about two sisters, a betrayal, and their
mother’s dark secrets, all set in the Midwest during the Great Depression. It even includes a backdrop of old test kitchens for Betty Crocker recipes, which sounds fascinating to me—in fact, I still have my original Betty Crocker cookbook I got at my bridal shower more than 40 years ago.
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes—October 8. Already pegged to be a major motion
picture, this novel is inspired by real women called the Horseback Librarians
of Kentucky. Set in the Depression era, it traces the women who face danger to
bring books to the people who’ve never had any.
I'm sure there's more to come!
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