Reading Ahead: May 2014, part 4

So I realize I've spent three posts sharing titles of new suspense titles bound to vie for space on the bestsellers list.  But Meg, you ask.  What about the other genres.

No worries.  Neither the publishers nor I have forgotten you.

Delicious!, by Ruth Reichl.  Reichl, well known food critic, food writer and food magazine editor has now turned her sites on fiction.  Here in her debut novel, Reichl explores themes of love and loss, distance and history, and overcoming ones fears (all with a side of divine food descriptions she's so well known for).  Billie has traveled across the country to go it alone in NYC, working for the best-known of food magazines, Delicious!.  But when Delicious! suddenly closes, Billie agrees to stay on alone in the defunct offices to field customer complaints--she has to pay her bills somehow, after all.  But what she finds in the office's library, a cache of letters written during World War II, allows her to learn some very valuable lessons.  I'll go out on a limb here--I've really enjoyed Reichl's memoirs, and anticipate that her transition into fiction will be, well, delicious.

The Heiresses, by Sara Shepard.  Shepard is the best-selling author of the Pretty Little Liars teen series.  She sets her sights on mainstream fiction here with The Heiresses, a novel about a diamond family, the Saybrooks, who seem to have everything and yet are plagued by a series of tragic, mysterious deaths.  This is said to read like a cross between thriller and mystery, as the heiresses to the family fortune seek to uncover the family secrets that may cost them their lives.  Shepard writes a mean tale and has a great grasp of high society--might be a great read for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Adriana Trigiani.

Walking on Water, by Richard Paul Evans.  This is the fifth entry in Evans's bestselling Walk series, following Alan Christofferson's daring cross-country walk from Seattle to Key West.  Yet even as he nears his destination, he is pulled west by a crisis at home.  If you're new to the series, you'll want to start at the beginning with The Walk.

Any one of these would make a great beach book this summer--even if you can't get to it now, go ahead and add it to your list!