Waiting on Wednesday: A Fine Imitation

    

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring A Fine Imitation, the debut novel from Amber Brock that will be available next week.

 

Publisher:  Crown/Archetype

Publication Date:  May 3, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  Set in the glamorous 1920s, A Fine Imitation is an intoxicating debut that sweeps readers into a privileged Manhattan socialite's restless life and the affair with a mysterious painter that upends her world, flashing back to her years at Vassar and the friendship that brought her to the brink of ruin.

Vera Bellington has beauty, pedigree, and a penthouse at The Angelus—the most coveted address on Park Avenue. But behind the sparkling social whirl, Vera is living a life of quiet desperation. Her days are an unbroken loop of empty, champagne-soaked socializing, while her nights are silent and cold, spent waiting alone in her cavernous apartment for a husband who seldom comes home. 

Then Emil Hallan arrives at The Angelus to paint a mural above its glittering subterranean pool. The handsome French artist moves into the building, shrouds his work in secrecy, and piques Vera's curiosity, especially when the painter keeps dodging questions about his past. Is he the man he claims to be? Even as she finds herself increasingly drawn to Hallan's warmth and passion, Vera can't suppress her suspicions. After all, she has plenty of secrets, too—and some of them involve art forgers like her bold, artistically talented former friend, Bea, who years ago, at Vassar, brought Vera to the brink of catastrophe and social exile. 

When the dangerous mysteries of Emil's past are revealed, Vera faces an impossible choice—whether to cling to her familiar world of privilege and propriety or to risk her future with the enigmatic man who has taken her heart. A Fine Imitation explores what happens when we realize that the life we've always led is not the life we want to have.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: A Fine Imitation was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.)

 

First Paragraph ~ First Chapter

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring my current read, As Time Goes By, the latest mystery from bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark, borrowed from the library.

 

 Goodreads Page 

Prologue

The first wail of the infant was so penetrating that the two couples outside the birthing room of midwife Cora Banks gasped in unison.  James and Jennifer Wright's eyes lit up with joy.  Relief and resignation formed the expression on the faces of Rose and Martin Ryan, whose seventeen-year-old daughter had just given birth.

The couples knew each other as the Smiths and the Joneses.  Neither one had any desire to know the true identity of the other.  A full fifteen minutes later they were still waiting anxiously to see the newborn child.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

Having been a fan of hers for years, I never miss the chance to read the latest MHC mystery.  In this new novel, the search for a birth mother intersects a murder trial, with the author's trademark fast-paced plot revealing other mysteries to be solved along the way.  Clark's quirky characters Alvirah Meehan and her husband Willy are featured prominently in the story.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

 

Waiting on Wednesday: Modern Lovers

    

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring Modern Lovers, the new novel from Emma Straub.

 

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Publication Date:  May 31, 2016 

From barnesandnoble.com:  From the New York Times‒bestselling author of The Vacationers, a smart, highly entertaining novel about a tight-knit group of friends from college—their own kids now going to college—and what it means to finally grow up well after adulthood has set in.
 
Friends and former college bandmates Elizabeth and Andrew and Zoe have watched one another marry, buy real estate, and start businesses and families, all while trying to hold on to the identities of their youth. But nothing ages them like having to suddenly pass the torch (of sexuality, independence, and the ineffable alchemy of cool) to their own offspring.

Back in the band's heyday, Elizabeth put on a snarl over her Midwestern smile, Andrew let his unwashed hair grow past his chin, and Zoe was the lesbian all the straight women wanted to sleep with. Now nearing fifty, they all live within shouting distance in the same neighborhood deep in gentrified Brooklyn, and the trappings of the adult world seem to have arrived with ease. But the summer that their children reach maturity (and start sleeping together), the fabric of the adult lives suddenly begins to unravel, and the secrets and revelations that are finally let loose—about themselves, and about the famous fourth band member who soared and fell without them—can never be reclaimed.

Straub packs wisdom and insight and humor together in a satisfying book about neighbors and nosiness, ambition and pleasure, the excitement of youth, the shock of middle age, and the fact that our passions—be they food, or friendship, or music—never go away, they just evolve and grow along with us.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: Modern Lovers was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.)

First Paragraph ~ First Chapter

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring The Door by Magda Szabo, which I borrowed from the library. 

 

Goodreads Page

THE DOOR

I seldom dream.  When I do, I wake with a start, bathed in sweat.  Then I lie back, waiting for my frantic heart to slow, and reflect on the overwhelming power of night's spell.  As a child and young woman, I had no dreams, either good or bad, but in old age I am confronted repeatedly with horrors from my past, all the more dismaying because compressed and compacted, and more terrible than anything I have lived through.  In fact nothing has ever happened to me of the kind that now drags me screaming from my sleep.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

This book has been well-received by authors and critics alike, and I am very curious to read about the author's story of the relationship between two very different women.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

Waiting on Wednesday: What We Become

    

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring What We Become, the new novel from Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

  

Publisher:  Atria Books

Publication Date:  June 7, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  #1 bestselling author and Dagger Award winner Arturo Pérez-Reverte delivers an epic historical tale following the dangerous and passionate love affair between a beautiful high society woman and an elegant thief. A story of romance, adventure, and espionage, this novel solidifies Pérez-Reverte as an international literary giant.

En route from Lisbon to Buenos Aires in 1928, Max and Mecha meet aboard a luxurious transatlantic cruise ship. There Max teaches the stunning stranger and her erudite husband to dance the tango. A steamy affair ignites at sea and continues as the seedy decadence of Buenos Aires envelops the secret lovers.

Nice, 1937. Still drawn to one another a decade later, Max and Mecha rekindle their dalliance. In the wake of a perilous mission gone awry, Mecha looks after her charming paramour until a deadly encounter with a Spanish spy forces him to flee.

Sorrento, 1966. Max once again runs into trouble—and Mecha. She offers him temporary shelter from the KGB agents on his trail, but their undeniable attraction offers only a small glimmer of hope that their paths will ever cross again.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte is at his finest here, offering readers a bittersweet, richly rendered portrait of a powerful, forbidden love story that burns brightly over forty years, from the fervor of youth to the dawn of old age.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: What We Become was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.)

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring The Widow by Fiona Barton, which I borrowed from the library.  This debut thriller is very popular in the blogosphere.

  

Goodreads Page

ONE

The Widow

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I can hear the sound of her crunching up the path.  Heavy-footed in high heels.  She's almost at the door, hesitating and smoothing her hair out of her face.  Nice outfit: jacket with big buttons, decent dress underneath, and glasses perched on her head.  Not a Jehovah's Witness or from the Labour party.  Must be a reporter, but not the usual.  She's my second one today--fourth this week, and it's only Wednesday.  I bet she says, "I'm sorry to bother you at such a difficult time." They all say that and put on that stupid face.  Like they care.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

After cracking the spine of this book, I became so thoroughly engrossed that I read 100 pages before I came up for air.  Told in alternating chapters by the widow, the reporter, and the detective, this story is a compulsive page turner.  

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring Fool Me Once, the latest book by bestselling author Harlan Coben, which I borrowed from the library.  It's one of his stand-alone novels. 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

They buried Joe three days after his murder.  Maya wore black, as befitted a grieving widow.  The sun pounded down with an unflagging fury that reminded her of her months in the desert.  The family pastor spouted the cliches, but Maya wasn't listening.  Her eyes drifted to the schoolyard across the street.

 

Yes, the cemetery overlooked an elementary school.

 

  

***************

 

Page 56:  "First thought when Maya woke up: Check out the nanny cam video."

 

***************

 

My thoughts:  Coben's stand-alone novels are automatic reads for me.  They hook the reader on the first page and keep you turning pages at a frantic pace.

 

****************

 

 From Goodreads:  In the course of eight consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, millions of readers have discovered Harlan Coben’s page-turning thrillers, filled with his trademark edge-of-your-seat suspense and gut-wrenching emotion. In Fool Me Once, Coben once again outdoes himself.

Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya’s husband, Joe—who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The provocative question at the heart of the mystery: Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband—and herself.

 

 

Which book are you reading now or about to start?

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday: A Certain Age

    

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring A Certain Age, the new novel from best-selling author Beatriz Williams.

 

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Publication Date:  June 28, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.

But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.

Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: A Certain Age was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.)

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman, which I borrowed from the library.

 

Goodreads Page

Prologue

She walked down the stairs of the old two-family house in the dark, careful not to slip.  The steps were steep and uneven, hidden almost entirely beneath the snow.  It had been falling rapidly for hours and there had been too much excitement going on inside the house for anyone to think about shoveling steps for a departing midwife.  Perhaps if the fathers of the two babies born had been present, they would have thought to shovel.  But the storm had prevented their return, and neither had been home.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?   

This book was selected by one of my book clubs.  Most of the members of this particular group grew up in two-family homes in Brooklyn.  We are all expecting that this book will be a somewhat nostalgic read.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith, which I borrowed from the library.  It is the first book in a new historical mystery series set in London in the early twentieth century.

  

Goodreads Page

 Chapter 1

5 November 1913 

A scattering of snow lay across the railway yard, transforming the industrial clutter into a picture postcard: a work of art that could be hung for a night but removed when light and sanity returned.  A woman, whose skeletal frame was wrapped in a coat that had once been worn to Royal Ascot and a silk scarf that had graced the owner's neck at a reception at Windsor Castle, picked her way from sleeper to sleeper.  She hoped to reach the commuter station at Slough before the snow soaked through her kidskin shoes and her frozen fingers lost all feeling.

A whiz, squeal, bang caught her attention and she watched as green, blue, and red flares lit up the sky above the roof of the locomotive sheds.  She wondered for a while what it might be, not really caring, but at least it gave her mind something to think about apart from the limb-numbing cold.

***************

 

Page 56:  "It had taken him a while to agree to the delivery.  He had been told when he first got the job that he should not engage with any of the residents."

 

***************

 

My thoughts:  I'm always interested in finding a new historical series, and look forward to reading this one which is set in one of my favorite locations.

 

****************

 

From Goodreads:  Introducing Poppy Denby, a young journalist in London during the Roaring Twenties, investigating crime in the highest social circles!

In 1920, twenty-two year old Poppy Denby moves from Northumberland to live with her paraplegic aunt in London. Aunt Dot, a suffragette who was injured in battles with the police in 1910, is a feisty and well-connected lady.

Poppy has always dreamed of being a journalist, and quickly lands a position as an editorial assistant at the Daily Globe. Then one of the paper's writers, Bert Isaacs, dies suddenly--and messily. Poppy and her attractive co-worker, photographer Daniel Rokeby begin to wonder if it wasn't a natural death, but murder.

After she writes a sensational exposé, The Globe's editor invites her to dig deeper. Poppy starts sifting through the dead man's files and unearths a major mystery which takes her to France--and into deadly danger.

Which book are you reading now or about to start?

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.