Catching up…and looking forward

I had a bit of a nasty shock this week – I requested yet more books from netgalley (I have no self control…) and found I was being rejected by some of the publishers. I think it might be because I’ve overdone it a little, so the month ahead is going to be catch-up time! 

Let me tell you about some of the lovely reads I have waiting, and will soon be immersed in.

I love my romantic fiction, and I have some wonderful books waiting for me. Once I’ve finished Jill Mansell’s excellent The Unpredictable Consequences of Love, first up will be Summer At The Lake by Erica James. I’ve been an unashamed fan of Erica’s writing since discovering her through The Holiday, but my all-time favourites are probably Precious Time and Hidden Talents, but this latest one looks quite perfect. Have a look at Anne’s excellent review at Random Things Through My Letterbox and you’ll see why I can hardly wait.

I haven’t read any Katie Fforde for a long time – my last was A Perfect Proposal in 2011, but she’s a writer I remember fondly from my relative youth and I couldn’t resist her 20th novel The Perfect Match, due for publication on 13th March. I’m rather hoping Katie will be joining me for a Q+A to accompany that review too. 

And there’s more. I’m really looking forward to the new one from Giovanna Fletcher, You’re The One That I Want, her follow up to Billy And Me.  Then there’s Fanny Blake’s The Secrets Women Keep – I haven’t read her books before, but it looks just my kind of read where Rose is waiting for her family to arrive at their villa in Tuscany when a casual glance at her husband’s phone reveals a message that tips her world upside down. 

Emma Hannigan is a new author to me too, but I really like the look of Perfect Wives where Jodi returns from the media glare of LA to the Dublin village of Bakers Valley to raise her young son, leaving her husband behind and waking old ghosts. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Then there’s An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey, excitingly another new author and “a compelling tale of obsession and mystery”, has allowed her to indulge in her obsessions with food, history and travel.  You can see why I liked the look of this one, can’t you?

Then there are a few reads that are a little more off-piste for me. First there’s The Free by Willy Vlautin. I’ve heard great things, and it’s good to try something a little different. The description says that it captures how it is the small acts of kindness which can make a difference between life and death, between imprisonment and liberty. Haunting and essential, The Free is an unforgettable read. Sounds good to me!

Not my usual kind of thing, but I’ve really enjoyed other books by Tom Rob Smith, Child 44 and The Secret Speech.  I’m hearing great things about his latest The Farm, and really wanted to give it a try.

Then there’s Beautiful Day by Kate Anthony, another debut author for Penguin Books UK.  It sounds quite excellent – a story of unexpected friendship; of the messy, muddy territory of those broken by life – and what it takes to fix them. It reminds us that the very darkest of days can be funny, heart-warming and even beautiful. 

Oh dear, I’m just realising how many there are! No, make that “oh good” rather than “oh dear”… among others, I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t got round to reading Nina Stibbe’s Love Nina that so many of you have enthused about.  Then there’s the latest in Nicci French’s excellent series about Frieda Klein, Thursday’s Children. And the latest by Matthew Quick, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock…

Not from netgalley, but having read her Dangerous Waters this month, I’d also like to catch up with Finding Mother by the excellent Anne Allen, and review both together.

And there are (many) more… it’s a good job I’m retiring soon, isn’t it? I have a few lovely book related outings planned too. On 14th March I’m off to see Carole Matthews talk at the Oswestry LitFest – really looking forward to that one, and hope to squeeze in a read of her latest, A Place To Call Home, before I go.  Then there’s Rowan Coleman’s lunch in York on 26th March – did you see my review of her wonderful The Memory Book? – which I’m looking forward to immensely.

And then I need to give some more thought to what I’m going to do for the joint celebration of my first blogoversary and my early retirement.  Not a bad life really, is it?