New Arrivals!

Books have been arriving in some quantities again. This list is short, but I also got a number of Dutch books which I won’t mention here. I was in the library, thinking I should NOT borrow any books, saw some that have been published recently in the Netherlands, and got them anyway. When will I read them? I don’t know! When’s the next read-a-thon, I am in dire need of one!

The books below are mainly for review. A great way to get one’s hands on good books.

Books for review

There Was an Old Woman by Hallie Ephron (ebook)

For review from William Morrow, an imprint from Harper Collins, via Edelweiss. I love a good thriller and this sounded great.

From the publisher: ” “Don’t let him in until I’m gone.” That’s what Mina Yetner’s neighbor whispers to her just before the EMTs take her to the hospital. Mina writes down the message—at nearly ninety, she has to write down most things lest she forget—and calls Sandra’s daughter Ginger, telling her that once again her mother needs help.
Evie Ferrante is dismayed when she gets the call from her sister: this time it’s Evie’s turn to see what their mother’s done to herself. But when Evie arrives home—where she hasn’t been in months—she’s shocked by the state of her mother’s house: it’s in terrible disrepair, much worse than Ginger led her to believe. And as Evie cleans and organizes, she finds things that don’t make sense: expensive liquor in the garage, pricier than their mother’s usual brand, a new flat-screen television on the wall. Where was her mother getting all this money?”

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Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge (ebook)

This book is about a woman who loses her memory and that always intrigues me. From Gallery Books via Netgalley.

From Amazon.com: “A bittersweet masterpiece filled with longing and hope, Jennie Shortridge’s emotional novel explores the raw, tender complexities of relationships and personal identity.

Who is Lucie Walker? Even Lucie herself can’t answer that question after she comes to, confused and up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay. Back home in Seattle, she adjusts to life with amnesia, growing unsettled by the clues she finds to the selfish, carefully guarded person she used to be. Will she ever fall in love with her handsome, kindhearted fiancé, Grady? Can he devote himself to the vulnerable, easygoing Lucie 2.0, who is so unlike her controlling former self? When Lucie learns that Grady has been hiding some very painful secrets that could change the course of their relationship, she musters the courage to search for the shocking, long-repressed childhood memories that will finally set her free.”

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Harlequin‘s Costume by Leonid Yuzefovich

The description of this book reminds me of another one set in Russia around 1880. What was it again? I remember loving the setting and I hope this book will be similar in that respect. A book for review from Glagoslav Publishing in the UK. 

From the publishers: “Imagine St. Petersburg in the end of the 19^th century. Ivan Putilin, chief of detectives in the local police department, takes on a very important case where his failure to close it may cause an international conflict. A notorious diplomatic figure has been murdered, throwing suspicion on several people. Among them is the diplomat’s mistress and her cuckolded husband. All the ongoing takes place in the absurd, dark and gloomy atmosphere of the old Petersburg, making the novel a unique piece of literature for the Western reader. […]

This retro-detective story by Leonid Yuzefovich is part of an award winning trilogy about detective Putilin, recently successfully filmed in Russia. Brilliantly translated by Marian Schwartz, Harlequin’s Costume is now for the first time being published in English.”

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Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes (ebook)

I read Haynes’  previous book, Into the Darkest Corner, which I thought was very good. So when I came across this new title on Edelweiss, I immediately requested a review copy. I’ve just started reading it. For review from Harper.

From the publishers: “The first time Genevieve saw it, she knew it was the one: Revenge of the Tide, “an odd sort of a name for a boat.” Genevieve had finally escaped the stressful demands of her London sales job and achieved her dream–to leave the city behind and start a new life aboard a houseboat in Kent. She left the boat’s name as it was. Revenge had character after all, and living in a marina made her feel a bit safer, a little less lonely; almost as if the boat looked after her, hid her away from view.

But her dreams are shattered the night of her boat-warming party when a body washes up, and to Genevieve’s horror, she recognizes the victim as a close friend from nights dancing on-stage at a private members’ club, the Barclay. She isn’t about to tell the police, though; next to no one knew what Genevieve did every Friday and Saturday night to save money for her escape, and she sees no reason to reveal her past. The death can’t have anything to do with her. Or so she thinks.

Soon the lull of the waves against Revenge feels anything but soothing, as Genevieve begins to receive mysterious calls and can’t reach the one person who links the present danger with her history at the club. And then there is the parcel on her boat she’s meant to be safekeeping for an old flame, which seems to be putting her in jeopardy. As Genevieve begins to fear for her safety, she recalls the moment when it had all started to go horribly wrong: the night she recognized her day-time boss in the crowd of customers at the Barclay. . . .”

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A book I bought

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

I’ve seen this book on several blogs and it was on my wishlist for a while. Then I decided I might as well buy it! So I did. Looking forward to reading this.

From the author’s website: “When Rachel Bertsche first moves to Chicago, she’s thrilled to finally share a zip code, let alone an apartment, with her boyfriend. But shortly after getting married, Bertsche realizes her new life is missing one thing: friends. Sure, she has plenty of BFFs—in New York and San Francisco and Boston and Washington DC. Yet in her adopted hometown, there’s no one to call at the last minute for girl-talk over brunch or a reality TV marathon over a bottle of wine. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertsche develops a plan: she’ll go on fifty-two friend-dates, one per week for a year, in hopes of meeting her new Best Friend Forever.

In her thought-provoking, uproarious memoir, Bertsche blends the story of her girl-dates (who she meets everywhere from improv class to friend-rental websites) with the latest in social research to examine how difficult—and hilariously awkward—it is to make new friends as an adult. She asks why women will happily announce they need a man but are embarrassed to admit they need a BFF. And she uncovers the reality that no matter how great your love life, you’ve gotta have friends.”

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Did you get any exciting new books recently?