New Arrivals!

Some more new arrivals. From the 6 books I got last week, I read 2 already. I guess that’s good. This week I got some more new books. I better read a bit faster!

Books for review

Bee-Loud Glade by Steve Himmer

I got this via Netgalley courtesy of Atticus Books. I’ve started this (just) and it seems nice, if a little odd.

This is what it’s about (Atticus Books): “The Bee-Loud Glade is the story of Finch, a daydreamer whose job as a marketer of plastic plants consists mostly of updating the blogs of the imaginary people he creates. Once new management steps in and kicks him out, Finch slowly lets go of all ties to the outside world. With both his electricity and motivation shut off, he sinks into a state of oblivion, holed up in his apartment for weeks on end. But when his reply to what he thinks is innocuous spam sweeps him into the world of billionaire Mr. Crane, Finch agrees to live and work—for more money than he’s ever imagined—as an ornamental hermit in a cave on Mr. Crane’s estate.

This darkly comic commentary on modern work and wealth thoughtfully probes deep-rooted questions about the nature of man, the workplace, and society (and what happens in their absence). Set in a postmodern pastoral landscape, it brings a playfulness more commonly found in urban fiction to an outdoor setting. With light and engaging prose, Himmer deftly unearths the ironies of life and the futility of escape.” 

Books I bought

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Our book group decided to read this book (did I shout “Yes!” too loudly when someone suggested the book?). I’ve heard a lot about this book and I love stories that take place in Alaska, so I’m happy! We meet next week so I’ll be reading this soon.

From the author’s website: “Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for a couple who have never been able to conceive. Jack and Mabel are drifting apart—he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone, but they catch sight of an elusive, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and leaves blizzards in her wake. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who seems to have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in the Alaska wilderness, life and death are inextricable, and what they eventually learn about Faina changes their lives forever.”

Swapped or received

Brittania Road 22 by Amanda Hodgkinson

From a friend. The website of Penguin publishers says: “”Housekeeper or housewife?” the soldier asks Silvana as she and eight- year-old Aurek board the ship that will take them from Poland to England at the end of World War II. There her husband, Janusz, is already waiting for them at the little house at 22 Britannia Road. But the war has changed them all so utterly that they’ll barely recognize one another when they are reunited. “Survivor,” she answers.

Silvana and Aurek spent the war hiding in the forests of Poland. Wild, almost feral Aurek doesn’t know how to tie his own shoes or sleep in a bed. Janusz is an Englishman now-determined to forget Poland, forget his own ghosts from the way, and begin a new life as a proper English family. But for Silvana, who cannot escape the painful memory of a shattering wartime act, forgetting is not a possibility. ”

Dossier 64 by Jussi Adler-Olsen

From the same friend. She follows my blogs and knew I had already read two books by this writer. I own the third book in the series and this is the fourth. Here is my review of the first book (the only one that’s been translated in English, as far as I know). It’s a very good series!

Run by Ann Patchett

From Boekspots at our local theatre (add a book to the book case or take one home). This one was already on my wishlist so when I saw it on the shelves I took it home straight away. I also introduced my friends to Boekspots and they also found a book that they had been wanting to read.

From HarperCollins, the publisher: “Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.”

Have you read any of these books? 

Which of these would appeal to you?