The fall season has plenty of new pop culture delights to savor such as potentially award winning films, the return of our favorite TV shows and a crop of new books ripe and ready for the reading.
For September and October, the air is filled with spices(and I don't mean pumpkin spice!) such as newly sharpened pencils, sweet apple cider and the crisp scent of paper pages being slowly turned for one of these engagingly fresh reads before you:
Ann Patchett gives us a fictional tour of The Dutch House, a home shared by more than one generation of a family whose relationships are in part shaped from taking up residence there.
When Cyril Conroy buys the elaborate 1920s mansion for his growing family, his young wife Elna feels so oppressed by the rather stately manor that she leaves in search of a better, more emotionally fulfilling life. However, her two children, Maeve and Danny, are left far behind.
The kids receive little comfort from their remote father and not much from their new stepmother, who loves the house so much that she insists upon claiming the property for herself alone upon the death of her husband. Despite the dark cloud of sorrow that follows them around, Danny and his sister Maeve prove to have a stronger foundation than the house where most of the memories of their lives were made.
Patchett has a remarkable talent for painting quietly vivid portraits of people set in vital places in their lives and this upcoming exhibit should be the literary masterpiece indeed(September).
Ten years later, Olive is still showing the rough side of her nature yet can't help being part of the everyday world. Her second marriage has it's ups and downs, her son Christopher is in and out of her life and a former student or two pop up when least expected.
Even with her hackles raised, Olive has much to offer to others and while acknowledging her own shortcomings, is not at all about to give into complete despair. This feels like a welcome return and with any luck, we'll get another wonderful HBO adaptation out of it to boot(October):
While Sophie decides to channel her grief from the loss of her husband through using her inheritance to create scholarships for other women seeking to become doctors, Anna has concerns both within and out of her control.
In addition to losing custody of her foster children, she is worried for the safety of her detective husband Jack, who,along with his partner Ollie, is searching for a ruthless serial killer.
The victims of his vicious wrath are desperate women in need of a safe solution for their unexpected pregnancies, which makes most of the authorities less than sympathetic to their plight. Nonetheless, Anna and Sophie are determined to save the women in their care from such horrors but what risks will they and Jack take that won't endanger them as well?
This blend of historical fiction with serial killer sinister storytelling offers great insights into the difficulties that women both back in the day and sadly, in our day and age, still face yet not without some courage and dignity to accompany them on this heartfelt journey(September):
In Bob Proehl's The Nobody People, a father named Avi realizes that his daughter Emmeline's uniqueness is more than just a personality quirk. She and many other young people are displaying extraordinary abilities such as telekinesis, invisibility and unusual mechanical prowess that leads to fear and persecution.
While Avi is able to find a school that can help Emmeline learn to use her gifts safely, others are not as fortunate, with some being hunted down by secretive government forces.
To make matters worse, the violent action of a pushed too hard young man with otherworldly powers puts everyone in this new community in jeopardy. Can Avi save Emmeline from such threats or is he simply to step aside and let what happens, happen? Proehl intends to follow this up with another book and I hope that we see it sooner rather than later(September):
When less than romantic heroine Miranda enters The House of Brides, she gets quite the rude awakening and then some. In Jane Cockram's debut novel, our leading lady is taking a nanny job under false pretenses as she's more interested in the titled home than watching over the three siblings living there.
Miranda's late mother Tessa once wrote a one and done novel about the place and since Miranda herself is in the unhappy position of needing to stay out of the spotlight for now, pretending to be the new nanny for her distant relatives seems ideal.
Yet, nothing is what it appears to be and when push comes to potential lethal shove, Miranda has to gather up what courage and cleverness she possesses in order to save the day and then some. This seems to have a flavor combo of Rebecca meets The Nanny Diaries and that could hit the right sweet spot for many a reader out there(October).
MAKING HOLIDAY PLANS:
Cassie is happy to spend this special time of year with her grandmother Pat in the small town of Lissbeg where her father grew up. She even has friends in the community and joins the new writing group at the local library.
However, there are tensions hovering all about her that make this festive season feel less than bright. Also, getting the attentions of the charming and handsome Shay is very nice indeed but should she think that his notice means more than local hospitality? A lovely holiday themed story that highlights both family and romantic love sounds like a nice bookish gift pack to me(October).
This tenth entry into The Bakeshop Mystery series has Jules Capshaw and friends getting ready to celebrate Christmas in all of it's edible glory. While her family bakery Torte is doing well and then some at this time of year, Jules wants to take a time out for a bit of real holiday feasting.
Setting up a Dickensian feast for all of her family and friends sounds perfect and while the food is nicely delightful, the weather outside is growing naughtily frightful. Even more menacing than the snow storm is the sudden death of a dinner guest, which makes Jules have to take off her Santa hat to put on a detective cap to solve the case.
I do love this cozy little series and not shy about saying that I do have this book on pre-order and plan to save it for a Christmas themed readathon later this year. This book is truly a great gift to give to yourself as well as other fans of cozy mysteries looking for a little lightness before the new year arrives(September):
Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend and ready for the fresh fall season ahead of us. I know that there are plenty of great things to look forward to, including the arrival of Downton Abbey to the cinema and another fabulous film visit with the March sisters(which really looks awesome!):
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