Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Meg's Picks: May 2015, part 1

I have to confess: sometimes it's really difficult for me to wait so long to share what I'm looking forward to reading. In many cases, I'm ordering new fiction six months in advance. Which means I'm already ordering holiday books, folks. I know. And I'm sorry.

However, what this also means is that by the time the books are finally about to be published, I've got all my ducks in a row, ready to share with you! Ready?




I Take You, by Eliza Kennedy. Kennedy's debut is being heralded as one of the funniest, most clever debut novels since Bridget Jones's Diary, and those are some significant stilettos to fill. I'm going to tell you right now: this will be one of the must-have beach-reads this summer. Lily Wilder has everything. A New York lawyer and bride-to-be, she has a family full of charismatic and loving women, and a total catch of a fiancĂ©. Also? She has no business getting married. Lily’s fiancĂ© Will is a brilliant, handsome archaeologist. Lily is sassy, impulsive, fond of a good drink (or five) and completely incapable of being faithful to just one man.  As the wedding approaches, Lily’s nights—and mornings, and afternoons—of booze, laughter and questionable decisions become a growing reminder that the happiest day of her life might turn out to be her worst mistake yet.

Early Warning, by Jane Smiley. For readers who want something engrossing and entertaining, but more family saga than all-out-drama, Smiley's new novel (continuing the story begun in 2014's very popular Some Luck) may be just what you're looking for. Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdon family at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch, Walter, who with his wife, Rosanna, sustained their farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children, now adults, looking to the future. Only one will remain in Iowa to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, D.C., California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of post–World War II optimism through the darker landscape of the Cold War and the social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s and ’70s, and then into the unprecedented wealth—for some—of the early 1980s, the Langdon children each follow a different path in a rapidly changing world. If you're adrift in between installments of Jeffrey Archer's family saga The Clifton Chronicles, consider these to help you through.

The Ice Twins, by S.K. Tremayne. Early reviews for this have mentioned both Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) for comparisons, so that should give you some idea about both the plot and the anticipated popularity. A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity--that she, in fact, is Lydia--their world comes crashing down once again. As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

Disclaimer, by Renee Knight. A psychological thriller, already an international bestseller, finally comes to the States. Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction, The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day she became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew—and that person is dead. Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine’s world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day . . . even if the shocking truth might destroy her. Thriller readers have a lot to look forward to this summer!

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