D.E.A.R. – Fall Books

Do you remember D.E.A.R? At my elementary school that meant “Drop Everything And Read,” something we typically did for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Best part of my day, really. As my TBR and Library piles are battling for supremacy and trying to sneak in around the review copies who have staked out places on my calendar, I’m thinking back to the simpler days of D.E.A.R., when I believed I had time to get to any book I wanted. And that, of course, got me fantasizing about a world where I really could just Drop Everything And Read for more than just 15 minutes a day.

This fall has been a great time for new books, maybe too great of a time. For awhile there I was getting an average of 3 fall books per day EVERY day. Obviously, there simply isn’t even close to enough to time to read all of those, particularly since most of them showed up unsolicited. There were definitely some that could immediately be identified as things I didn’t care to read, but others I desperately tried – and failed – to fit into my reading schedule. Below are 10 of the August and September titles that I most wanted to get to and hope to still read in the future. Titles are ordered by release date and title.

Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwartz, August 23 from Harper Perennial Reprints Edition, an imprint of HarperCollins

Displaced Persons is the story of a Polish Jew released from the concentration camps after WWII, the decisions he must make for survival, and the way those decisions will continue to influence the rest of his life, even after he emigrates to America. Unless I’m mistaken, this promises to be a heart-breaker.

The Legacy by Katherine Webb, August 30 from Harper Paperbacks, an imprint of HarperCollins

This book was pitched to me as being reminiscent of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeld, which made me want it immediately. It is the story of a family delving in to the mystery of a long missing cousin, and seems as if it would be delightfully gothic.

Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely, August 30 from Minotaur Books, an imprint of Macmillan

I’ve been meaning to read Tracy Kiely for some time. She is Austen-inspired fiction, which I don’t always like, but I appreciate the way she takes Austen as an inspiration for modern-day mysteries – or at least the idea of how she does it, since I haven’t read her yet. Murder Most Persuasive is, on one level, your standard, run-of-the-mill mystery/cozy with a dead body discovered under a swimming pool. At the same time, however, the lives of the main characters echo those of the characters in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

Cross Currents by John Shors, September 6 from NAL Trade, an imprint of Penguin

According to Serena from Savvy Verse & Wit, Cross Currents is devastatingly beautiful, a two-word phrase which can sell me on a book without any other knowledge, honestly. Essentially, though, it seems to be the story of two families in a resort-town in Thailand whose lives cross paths to dramatic consequences.

Irma Voth by Miriam Toews, September 6 from Harper Books, an imprint of HarperCollins

All I needed to know about Irma Voth is that it is set inside a Mennonite community in Mexico. I had no idea that there was such a thing, so it immediately piqued my curiosity.  It sounds like a great, dramatic novel about faith, family, and identity, though, and I’m a sucker for those, so it is on my “hurry up and get to me soon!” list.

Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway’s First Wife by Gioia Dilberto, September 6 from Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins

Although I didn’t completely love Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife this spring, I did enjoy it, and I was fascinated by Hadley Richardson Hemingway and her life with Ernest in Paris. Paris Without End is a biography of Hadley and their marriage, updated and rereleased. I’ve heard amazing things about Dilberto’s previous books, so I have extremely high hopes for this one.

The Taker Almata Katsu, September 6 from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

So I’ve heard the buzz about The Taker since its UK release back in April, and I’m not exactly sure how and why I haven’t managed to read it yet. Love, lust, eternity, immortality, all without sparkly vampires and with better prose than Stephenie Meyers, how could it fail to be completely absorbing? Maybe I’m just waiting for the perfect dark and stormy night.

The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker, September 13 from Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

When the child of two extremely overprotective parents disappears, they are both sure that the dark parts of their pasts are to blame. As a mom of a little boy, The Winters in Bloom may horrify me past the ability to actually read it, but I have skimmed through much of the first chapter and it just looks absolutely lovely, and as if there is the possibility of redemption in addition to simply terror.

The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of the President by Candice Millard, September 20 from Doubleday, an imprint of Random House

This is my second nonfiction title on the list, and I’m pretty sure that nobody needs to go any further than the subtitle to figure out why I want to read it. I mean, is that dramatic, or what? The Destiny of the Republic details the events surrounding President Garfield’s assassination; I know almost nothing about Garfield or his death, and I’m an absolutely fool for things I don’t know anything about (see: my reasons for wanting to read Irma Voth) so this is a no-brainer.

Child Wonder by Roy Jacobsen, September 27 from Graywolf Press

This is probably the book I’m most ashamed of not having gotten to yet, because I’ve had a galley for a ridiculously long time, and I’ve wanted to read it for even longer. Child Wonder is the story of a young boy growing up in Oslo, Norway in the early 1960s. For that interesting cultural viewpoint alone I’d probably pick this up, but it also looks like a really moving novel of family and childhood.

All of these books were provided to me for possible review.

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