Reading Ahead: April 2013, part 1

I can hardly believe we're in the home stretch of winter, and can look forward to all sorts of things, like seeing our lawns again, seeing trees budding and daffodils coming up, the return of robins.  And spring book releases!  There are a slew this spring, so keep some room on your dance cards!  You're going to need it!

Paris, by Edward Rutherfurd

Starting Now, by Debbie Macomber

Tapestry of Fortunes, by Elizabeth Berg

Sidney Sheldon’s Tides of Memory, by Tilly Bagshawe

The Mystery of Mercy Close, by Marian Keyes

What catches my eye?  Rutherfurd's latest, for sure.  Here he applies the same treatment to the City of Light as he has used with great success with New York, London, Russka, etc. The cast of characters are in some cases fictional, but often real (Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIV), and the story spans centuries of war, intrigue and art.  It makes me downright giddy to contemplate.

Another one to consider is Marian Keyes's The Mystery of Mercy Close, the latest in her Walsh Sisters novels (after Anybody Out There? 2006).  The youngest of the five Walsh girls, Helen is in her early thirties and floundering.  Her career as a private investigator is not proving as lucrative as she'd hoped, and after losing her flat, she's living back at home with Mammy Walsh.  Boyfriend trouble and a long-shot case keep her more than occupied in this entry from one of the pioneers of the chick-lit genre.  I'm betting it will hold true to Keyes's standard of funny but with some meaty subject matter.  

I'll be back Thursday with the next entry in the list.  In the meantime, happy reading!