Meg's Picks: June 2014, part 1

As you may have guessed, I look forward to new books just as much as other readers.  The difference is that I often know about these titles months in advance.  So I keep a running list of all the goodies I have to tell you about when the time comes--in some cases, these lists have been running for more than six months by the time I finally get to post and share titles that I'm particularly looking forward to.  To give you an idea--it's only May and I've been ordering holiday-themed fiction for more than a month already.  Ordering Christmas books in April?  It's enough to give me goosebumps sometimes, which is why I keep some of these things under my hat until closer to release dates.  And speaking of, here are a few goodies you just might want to check out next month.

Summer House with Swimming Pool, by Herman Koch.  Dutch author Koch made quite a name for himself among American readers in 2012 with the US release of his psychological thriller The Dinner.  Now he's back with a novel that critics are already hailing as "razor-sharp" and "compulsively readable"--a medical procedure goes wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier is dead, and everyone is looking to Dr. Marc Schlosser for answers.  Truly, Marc isn't sorry Ralph is dead and he knows he can't hide from the truth forever.  The story between the two men goes further back, to a summer vacation that ended badly for all involved.  I'm very interested to see how this latest from Koch fares with readers, since the critics are already enamored.

Mambo in Chinatown, by Jean Kwok.  The author of 2010's very successful Girl in Translation has returned with a story of a sheltered young woman who has grown up within the confines of New York City's Chinatown.  Though born in America, Charlie Wong has seen very little outside of her small neighborhood where she lives, with her widowered father and younger sister, and works very unhappily as a dishwasher.  It is only after Charlie lands a new job as a receptionist in a ballroom dance studio that she finally comes into her own after an interval of awkward adjustments.  When tragedy again strikes her small family, however, Charlie is forced to evaluate the conflicting influences of East and West in her life.  Book clubs take note--there would be a lot to discuss here!

I’ll Be Right There, by Kyung-sook Shin.  Shin returns after 2011's successful Please Look After Mom (which was a world-wide bestseller translated into thirty languages) with this new offering, following Jung Yoon in 1980's South Korea as she recounts her own background and those of three friends among political turmoil.  A chain of poignantly-recounted formative experiences, this is sure to please fans of her previous work.  American readers might also be interested to know that Shin has actually written seventeen novels and is South Korea's most widely-read and acclaimed novelists. 

Road Ends, by Mary Lawson.  You'll have to forgive me if I've saved my personal favorite for the last offering in this post.  Lawson is one of those authors who is not prolific, but when she does come out with a new novel, readers sit up and take notice.  Twelve years ago, I fell utterly in love with her prose in her debut novel, Crow Lake.  I can tell you that in over a decade, I've read hundreds if not thousands of books.  Crow Lake is one which has stuck with me, continuing to resonate years later.  Lawson returned to her home setting of Ontario, Canada in 2006's The Other Side of the Bridge, again exploring family conflict in a rural setting to beautifully haunting effect.  

Now, readers are being gifted with Road Ends, in which twenty-one-year-old Megan Cartwright, the second-oldest of seven children and the caregiver of the family, has finally decided to leave the small community of Struan, Ontario and heads out on her own to find her own path, which takes her to London.  In her absence, however, her family begins to unravel, pulling away from one another into isolation and denial.  Megan is then left with the impossible choice: family or independence.  

To say I'm looking forward to this title would be an understatement.


I'll be back next Tuesday with my final batch of picks for June.  In the meantime, happy reading!

Reading Ahead: June 2014, part 4

Need a a sweet or spicy novel to throw in your beach bag or suitcase this summer?  I've got just the ticket.  From family sagas to sultry romance, there's a little something for everyone in this list.

The Hurricane Sisters, by Dorothea Benton Frank

Stormy Persuasion, by Johanna Lindsey

Nantucket Sisters, by Nancy Thayer

The Matchmaker, by Elin Hilderbrand

I'll be back on Thursday for the start of my Meg's Pick list for next month--there are a bunch, so I'll see you then!  In the meantime, happy reading!

Reading Ahead: June 2014, part 3

In the book world (publishing, libraries, book stores), summer is perhaps second only to the holiday season for deluges of new titles.  I'm hoping you've got a little time set aside this summer, because the publishing world has got literally scores of new fiction books just begging to be read.  So whether your plans will include being at the shore, pool- or lake-side, or just some downtime enjoying your own backyard, I'll make sure you have a book to go along with you.  In this case, fiction of all stripes--book clubs and beach readers, take note!

The Arsonist, by Sue Miller.  Troubled by the feeling that she belongs nowhere after working in East Africa for 15 years, Frankie Rowley has come home—home to the small New Hampshire town of Pomeroy and the farmhouse where her family has always summered. On her first night back, a house up the road burns to the ground. Is it an accident, or arson?  When another summer house burns, and then another, the social fault-lines of the town open up and what was once a community built on trust and respect begins to dissolve into chaos and suspicion.  Miller (The Senator's Wife, While I Was Gone) excels at emotional insight--this should be excellent.

China Dolls, by Lisa See.  See is best known for 2005's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, about a long friendship between two women in early 19th-century China and the secrets they shared.  Here in her latest novel, See again examines the binding nature of secrets and the strength of friendship, this time among three women of Chinese descent who meet in 1938 San Francisco, a time when the city is about to open the World's Fair on Treasure Island and the country hovers on the cusp of war.  Book clubs should absolutely take notice.

All Fall Down, by Jennifer Weiner.  Weiner has a delicate touch when it comes to emotional subject matter, and in her new novel, All Fall Down, it's about as emotional as it gets.  From the outside, Allison Weiss has the perfect fairy-tale life.  Handsome husband, adorable daughter, big house, great job.  It's all perfect, that is, until she gets a little wake-up call that forces her to stop and examine her life and the way she avoids dealing with some of the less-than-perfect things, like her husband beginning to become distant or her father's worsening early Alzheimer's.  A painkiller at the end of a long day is no different than a glass of wine if it helps her unwind, right?  Except her dependence is getting expensive and increasingly hard to hide.  Weighty stuff, but the critics are giving it major kudos. 

The Beekeeper’s Ball, by Susan Wiggs.  Wiggs's fresh entry in her Bella Vista chronicles follows chef Isabel Johansen as she comes to Bella Vista to set about the project of transforming her childhood home into a culinary arts retreat.  All is well until journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives, war-torn and full of bravado, to dig into Isabel's secret past.  Susan Wiggs is great with stories of the heart and examining the ties that bind families together--this should make for great beach reading this summer.

Save the Date, by Mary Kay Andrews. A Savannah florist is about to score the wedding of a lifetime—one that will solidify her career as the go-to-girl for society nuptials. Ironically, Cara Kryzik doesn't believe in love, even though she creates beautiful flower arrangements to celebrate them. But when the bride goes missing and the wedding is in jeopardy, Cara must find the bride and figure out what she believes in.  Maybe love really does exist outside of fairy tales after all.  Chick-lit by one of the masters, told with wit and candor.  

That rounds out my offerings today, but there is still so much more coming in June--if you can believe it, I've only covered half so far!  I'll be back with more next week.  In the meantime, happy reading!

Reading Ahead: June 2014, part 2

I have to admit: even though the weather remains cool, I'm really starting to get psyched up for summer.  Why?  Because there are so many great books coming out, of course!  Just look at today's list.  Suspense, thrillers, horror, mysteries.  What's not to love?

Cop Town, by Karin Slaughter

Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King

Phantom Instinct, by Meg Gardiner

Vertigo 42, by Martha Grimes

Eyes on You, by Kate White

Top Secret Twenty-One, by Janet Evanovich

I am a huge Karin Slaughter fan and really enjoyed Criminal, which tracks back into a crime from 1975 and the original team who worked that case.  Now in Cop Town, Slaughter goes back to mid-1970s Atlanta in her first stand-alone novel.  The city is in turmoil, a serial killer is targeting cops, and a divided police force must track him down before any more of their own fall.  Slaughter is far and away my favorite crime novelist, and I am eagerly anticipating this new novel.  New to her work?  Start at the beginning with Blindsighted.

I'm also intrigued by the premise of Stephen King's new novel, Mr. Mercedes.  King is a master of horror and regularly pits good against evil in a small-town setting, but never before has he done it like this.  In a novel more suspense than horror, he pits retired cop Bill Hodges against a young man who has killed before and vows to do so again, using a Mercedes as his weapon of choice.  

I'm back on Thursday with a list of new contemporary fiction for your summer reading enjoyment.  In the meantime, happy reading!

Reading Ahead: June 2014, part 1

While winter lasted approximately forever this year, and spring has been slow and cool, I promise that summer will be here.  And when it gets here, you're going to want to be ready with a stack of books!  Today, I've got an assortment of suspense and thriller titles slated to be released in June.

Invisible, by James Patterson & David Ellis

That Night, by Chevy Stevens

Terminal City, by Linda Fairstein

Robert Ludlum’s the Bourne Ascendency, by Eric Lustbader

The Red Room, by Ridley Pearson

What's made it onto my list?  I tend to be pretty picky about my suspense novels, but I really have enjoyed Chevy Stevens past work, especially Still Missing and Never Knowing.  In her latest novel, it has been sixteen years since Toni Murphy and her boyfriend Ryan were convicted for the murder of Toni's younger sister.  Now on parole, Toni is back in her hometown trying to keep her head down and her nose clean, except no one is making that easy.  Her mother doubt's Toni's claim of innocence.  Toni's former classmates, who tormented her in high school, seem set on picking up where they left off.  And Ryan is determined to find the truth, even if his digging puts both him and Toni back in prison.  The truth, it seems, may just be the only way Toni can clear her name and truly move on, even if it means risking everything to prove it.  I have high hopes for this one!