By this I mean actual physical copies, which have been hard to come by during the worst of the pandemic (digital ones are fine yet nothing beats having a good story in page turning hand).
Recently, I was lucky enough to win a nice stack of upcoming titles via a giveaway at Discord and while they are a mix of science fiction and fantasy, one emerged from the pack to peak my Regency reading interest considerably.
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray takes place in the Jane Austen universe, where the former Emma Woodhouse and her loving husband Mr. Knightley are hosting a summer gathering with acquaintances old and new.
Unfortunately, the unexpected and unwelcome arrival of Mr. Wickham causes plenty of trouble yet propriety demands that he remain, despite the discomfort to more than one set of visitors.
When the title event occurs, it falls upon two of the younger guests, Juliet Tilney and the eldest Darcy son Jonathan, to sort the situation out before more foul play threatens all assembled.
For an Austen fan like me, this book seems like a wonderful surprise gift(that I will dive into as soon as I finish up the current Austen themed book I’m reading). Part of the official description for TMOMW calls it a blend of Austen and Agatha Christie, which is most certainly my cup of tea(May):
One of the other notable books in this prize pack that caught my eye was Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility.
This is one of those storylines that travel through time, beginning in 1912 with Edwin, a young man exiled to Canada who makes a bizarre discovery.
That finding is recorded in 1994 and later found in 2020, becoming a part of a concert performed by the brother of the young woman who captured it on film.
This influence extends to the year 2203, where an acclaimed author named Olive uses it as the inspiration for her new book, written at a colony on the moon. Promoting her work on a trip back to Earth, Olive appears to have connected those last links on the mysterious chain but what will that ultimately reveal?
This does sound promising and like many others, I did enjoy Mandel’s Station Eleven(which has recently become a popular HBO series)very much. I plan to save this for the SciFi Summer readathon this June but fortunately, you don’t have to wait that long for Mandel’s latest literary journey to begin(April):
Before that set of upcoming books arrived, I did win a historical fiction set during the final years of the Romanov empire , The Last Grand Duchess.
Author Bryn Turnbull introduces us to Olga, the firstborn daughter of Czar Nicholas, haunted by a prophecy that she would not live to see the age of thirty.
As she does her best to deal with the slow yet steady decline of the royal family’s power, Olga tries to hold onto to hope for the better, with the chance of a possible romance awaiting in the wings.
As someone who doesn’t know much about the final years of the Romanovs beyond the basic history,this should be interesting in more ways than one (February):
Of course, it’s going to be a good long while before we get any sort of regular life back again. However, it does help to have some pop culture delights to look forward to there.
Getting new books in any form is a part of that and I’m very grateful to have these gorgeous storytelling gems Grace my shelves. Granted, I do have a spot of bother in finding space for these fresh reads but that is one problem that I am truly happy to have:
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