I have two piles of brand new adult fiction and non-fiction sitting on my desk as I type this week’s Library Lines. This is my favorite situation: surrounded by new books, ready to be cataloged, and a whole Monday stretching before me! Some of these new titles are from popular authors, but some are new-to-us authors — and all sound interesting. Let me share a couple of titles with you.
First, new installments in popular series have arrived. C. J. Box’s 14th book in his Joe Pickett series is called Stone Cold. Pickett, a game warden who has become the governor of Wyoming’s “troubleshooter” is out to investigate a mysterious ranch owner, whose wealth seems to be from killing people. Alexander McCall Smith has another story about Precious Ramotswe, owner and operator of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, titled The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café. If you haven’t tried this series yet, I urge you to check it out.
For those who like short stories, Joyce Carol Oates has a new collection out called Lovely, Dark, Deep, and Margaret Atwood does, too, with Stone Mattress. Both of these books are from wonderful authors that look deep into the human soul and write about the secrets they see there.
Non-fiction lovers will be happy with several new selections. The Woman Who Would Be King is a biography of Hatshepsut, the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt. Not My Father’s Son is a memoir by actor Alan Cumming, and tells the story of his journey through his family’s genealogy when he was invited to participate in the popular television show “So Who Do You Think You Are.” Not at all what he expected!
The Poet and the Vampyre: the Curse of Byron and the Birth of Literature’s Greatest Monsters follows Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Polidori as they spend a summer together in Geneva. Mary begins writing Frankenstein; Byron finishes his epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage; Polidori begins The Vampyre, the first great vampire novel, turning this summer into a period of extraordinary creativity.
Finally, some new to us authors. David Macfarlane’s newest novel is The Figures of Beauty, the story of Oliver Hughson, who travels to Europe in 1968, falls madly in love with Anna in Italy, but leaves her to return to his responsibilities in Canada. The story is narrated by the daughter he never knew he had, and gives us a beautiful love story.
What’s Left Behind is Lorrie Thomson’s second novel. Abby has survived two major losses in her life – being abandoned by her childhood sweetheart during her pregnancy, and the death of her only son, Luke, during his freshman year of college. Resolving to look forward, she is offered hope in the flesh when her son’s girlfriend shows up on Abby’s doorstep—pregnant and alone. Be sure to look for these and other new titles at McClintic Library this coming week.