Yes, there’s more.  This is the final post, wrapping up all the April titles I’m excited about. I’ve included the publisher’s summary, as well as a few words about why I’m interested in the particular title.

The Darkest Corner by Kara Thomas (April 19): 

For fans of Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places and Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars, The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.

There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.

Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.

Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.

But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.

Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

I love me a dark and twisty psychological thriller!  That this is compared to Gillian Flynn, I’m sold! 

The Dark Lady’s Mask by Mary Sharratt (April 19):

London, 1593. Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. She frequently cross-dresses to escape her loveless marriage and to gain freedoms only men enjoy, but a chance encounter with a ragged, little-known poet named Shakespeare changes everything.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (April 19):

Lizzy Bennett is smart, beautiful, witty, successful—a high-powered magazine editor in New York—but when her father falls ill, she and her sister Jane return to Ohio and the home they thought they’d left behind forever. There, the thirty-somethings find their family in chaos: sisters Kitty and Lydia are wild over the Cincinnati Bengals, the city’s football team; Mary is becoming a rabbi (even though the Bennetts aren’t Jewish); and their creepy cousin Willie Collins, a Silicon Valley wunderkind, is paying the five sisters a little too much attention. And then there are Cincinnati’s newest and most eligible bachelors, handsome doctor and reality TV star Chip Bingley…and his utterly infuriating friend, neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy.

I don’t know what has me more excited about this: the fact that it’s a retelling of Pride and Prejudice or that Curtis Sittenfeld wrote it! 

Father’s Day by Simon Van Booy (April 26):

World War Z meets The Martian. This inventive first novel will please devoted fans of sci fi as well as literary readers hoping a smart thriller will sneak up on them.

17 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. Today: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what that hand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity. A swift and spellbinding tale told almost exclusively through transcriptions of interviews conducted by a mysterious and unnamed character, this is a unique debut that describes a hunt for truth, power, and giant body parts.

This one sounds like it could be very very good….or very very bad. I’m willing to take the risk. 

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi (April 26):

Murder at the 42nd Street Library by Con Lehane (April 26): 

The first book in an amazing new series that features crime a la library at some of America’s most famous institutions of higher reading.Murder at the 42nd Street Library opens with a murder in a second floor office of the iconic, beaux-arts flagship of the New York Public Library. Ray Ambler, the curator of the library’s crime fiction collection, joins forces with NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove in hopes of bringing a murderer to justice.

In his search for the reasons behind the murder, Ambler uncovers hidden–and profoundly disturbing–relationships between visitors to the library. These include a celebrated mystery writer who has donated his papers to the library’s crime fiction collection, that writer’s missing daughter, a New York society woman with a hidden past, and one of Ambler’s colleagues at the world-famous library. Those shocking revelations lead inexorably to the tragic and violent events that follow.

Mysteries set in libraries?! Yes, please!!

A few days ago, I shared the first part of my most-anticipated books of April post. Just when you didn’t think your wallet could handle any more, there’s more!  Once again, I’ve shared the publisher’s summary and a short note as to why the book has captivated my interested.

A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain(April 11):

When brilliant FBI agent Kendra Donovan stumbles back in time and finds herself in a 19th century English castle under threat from a vicious serial killer, she scrambles to solve the case before it takes her life—200 years before she was even born.

Beautiful and brilliant, Kendra Donovan is a rising star at the FBI. Yet her path to professional success hits a speed bump during a disastrous raid where half her team is murdered, a mole in the FBI is uncovered and she herself is severely wounded. As soon as she recovers, she goes rogue and travels to England to assassinate the man responsible for the deaths of her teammates.

While fleeing from an unexpected assassin herself, Kendra escapes into a stairwell that promises sanctuary but when she stumbles out again, she is in the same place – Aldrich Castle – but in a different time: 1815, to be exact.

Mistaken for a lady’s maid hired to help with weekend guests, Kendra is forced to quickly adapt to the time period until she can figure out how she got there; and, more importantly, how to get back home. However, after the body of a young girl is found on the extensive grounds of the county estate, she starts to feel there’s some purpose to her bizarre circumstances. Stripped of her twenty-first century tools, Kendra must use her wits alone in order to unmask a cunning madman.

Do I really need to state why this one has captivated my interest? So unique a premise, I can’t wait to dive in!

Titans by Leila Meacham (April 12): 

A sweeping new drama from the beloved, bestselling author of Roses.

Texas in the early 1900s, its inhabitants still traveling by horseback and barely familiar with the telephone, was on the cusp of an oil boom that, unbeknownst to its residents, would spark a period of dramatic changes and economic growth. In the midst of this transformative time in Southern history, two unforgettable characters emerge and find their fates irrevocably intertwined: Samantha Gordon, the privileged heiress to the sprawling Las Tres Lomas cattle ranch near Fort Worth, and Nathan Holloway, a sweet-natured and charming farm boy from far north Texas. As changes sweep the rustic countryside, Samantha and Nathan’s connection drives this narrative compulsively forward as they love, lose, and betray. In this grand yet intimate novel, Meacham once again delivers a heartfelt, big-canvas story full of surprising twists and deep emotional resonance.

I just love the cover of this one!  The time period, setting, and summary add to my interest.  This is the type of book you want to curl up with on a cool, Spring day.

Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline (April 12): 

 Lisa Scottoline delivers another searing, powerful blockbuster novel that explores hot-button issues within the framework of an intricately plotted thriller. When a woman and her husband, desperate for a baby, find themselves unable to conceive, they decide to take further steps. Since it is the husband who is infertile, the heroine decides to use a donor. And all seems to be well. Three months pass and she is happily pregnant. But a shocking revelation occurs when she discovers that a man arrested for a series of brutal murders is her donor – the biological father of the child she is carrying. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, the heroine must face her worst fears, and confront a terrifying truth. Nine Months is sure to be Lisa Scottoline’s most discussed, bestselling novel yet.

I’m not sure of the premise is so unique or too far-fetched. It’s a toss-up for me.  Yet, as a fan of Scottoline’s work I’m going to give it a try, no matter my preconceived notions!

Robert Bloch’s Psycho: Sanitarium by Chet Williamson (April 12)

The original Psycho novel by Robert Bloch was published in 1959 and became an instant hit, leading to the smash movie only a year later, which brought Norman Bates’s terrifying story into the public consciousness, where it still remains (proven by the success of the tv series, Bates Motel). It took Bloch 23 years to write another Psycho novel, revealing that Norman had been in a mental institution the entire time. In that sequel, Norman quickly escapes the sanitarium and goes on a killing spree in Hollywood.

But what happened in that asylum during those two decades? Until now, no one has known.

It’s 1960. Norman Bates is in the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and it’s up to Dr. Felix Reed to bring him out of his catatonic state.

But Norman and Dr. Reed have obstacles in twisted fellow patients and staff members who think of the institution as a prison rather than a place of healing. And the greatest obstacle is the building itself, once a private sanitarium, rumored to be haunted. A wild card appears in the persona of Robert Newman, Norman’s twin brother, taken away at birth after the attending doctor pronounced him brain damaged. As Robert and Norman grow to know each other, Norman senses a darkness in Robert, even deeper than that which has lurked in Norman himself.

Soon, murders begin to occur and a shocking chain of events plunge us even deeper into the deranged madness inside the walls of Psycho: Sanitarium.

This is another one I’m torn about.  A huge fan of the original Psycho, I’d love to get another writer’s take on what happens next. On the other hand, is it best to mess with greatness?

There you have it! Stay tuned, there is more!

We’re on Spring Break this week. My boys are spending the week with their grandparents while my husband and I are enjoying some quiet time at a gorgeous country home.  It’s the perfect setting to sit back, relax, and plan my reading for the next month.

It should be no surprise, but I have quite a few titles on my anticipated books list, quite an eclectic range of titles to say the least. I’ve included a short summary by the publisher and a few words about why I’m interested in that title.

Three-Martini Lunch by Suzanne Rindell (April 5):

In 1958, Greenwich Village buzzes with beatniks, jazz clubs, and new ideas—the ideal spot for three ambitious young people to meet. Cliff Nelson, the son of a successful book editor, is convinced he’s the next Kerouac, if only his father would notice. Eden Katz dreams of being an editor but is shocked when she encounters roadblocks to that ambition. And Miles Tillman, a talented black writer from Harlem, seeks to learn the truth about his father’s past, finding love in the process. Though different from one another, all three share a common goal: to succeed in the competitive and uncompromising world of book publishing. As they reach for what they want, they come to understand what they must sacrifice, conceal, and betray to achieve their goals, learning they must live with the consequences of their choices. In Three-Martini Lunch, Suzanne Rindell has written both a page-turning morality tale and a captivating look at a stylish, demanding era—and a world steeped in tradition that’s poised for great upheaval.

Rindell wrote The Other Typist, a title I still cannot forget.  When I read she was releasing another novel, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy!

Dodgers by Bill Beverly (April 5): 

Dodgers is the story of a young man named East who works for an LA drug gang, sent by his uncle along with some other teenage boys—including East’s hotheaded younger brother—to kill a witness connected to a major case, who is hiding out in Wisconsin. The journey takes East out of a city he’s never left and into an America that is entirely alien to him, and over the course of his journey the book brings in elements from a diverse array of genres, ranging from crime fiction to road narrative to coming-of-age novel. Written in stark and unforgettable prose and featuring an array of surprising and memorable characters rendered with empathy and wit, Dodgers heralds the arrival of a major new voice in American fiction.

This title has received quite a bit of praise from quite a few trusted sources, so of course I immediately put it on my most-anticipated reading list. 

Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire (April 5): 

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.

No matter the cost.

I discovered Seanan’s books she writes under another name (Mira Grant) and became a quick fan.  The thought of her writing a book about a children’s home has my interest piqued! 

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (April 5):

On a September day in Manhattan in 1939, twenty-something Caroline Ferriday is consumed by her efforts to secure the perfect boutonniere for an important French diplomat and resisting the romantic advances of a married actor. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish Catholic teenager, is nervously anticipating the changes that are sure to come since Germany has declared war on Poland. As tensions rise abroad – and in her personal life – Caroline’s interest in aiding the war effort in France grows and she eventually comes to hear about the dire situation at the Ravensbruck all-female concentration camp. At the same time, Kasia’s carefree youth is quickly slipping away, only to be replaced by a fervor for the Polish resistance movement. Through Ravensbruck – and the horrific atrocities taking place there told in part by an infamous German surgeon, Herta Oberheuser – the two women’s lives will converge in unprecedented ways and a novel of redemption and hope emerges that is breathtaking in scope and depth.

From New York to Paris, and Furstenberg to Lublin, Martha Hall Kelly captures the powerful pull of human compassion, strong enough to stretch across continents and capable of triumphing over the grim evils of war. This is a striking story of an unsung heroine and her resolute will to right what is wrong.

I’ve become quite interested in reading historical fiction again lately, particularly the sort that covers this time period. When I read praise from some of my favorite historical fiction authors, I knew I had to add this one to my list. 

Fellside by M.R. Carey (April 5): 

The unmissable and highly anticipated new literary thriller from the author of the international phenomenon The Girl with all the Gifts.

Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It’s not the kind of place you’d want to end up. But it’s where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life.

It’s a place where even the walls whisper.

And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.

Will she listen?

I absolutely adored The Girl With all the Gifts, so I can’t wait to read this one! 

Sunday’s on the Phone with Monday by Christine Reilly (April 5): 

The Middlesteins meets The Virgin Suicides in this arresting family love story about the eccentric yet tightknit Simone family, coping with tragedy during 90s New York, struggling to reconnect with each other and heal.

Claudio and Mathilde Simone, once romantic bohemians hopelessly enamored with each other, find themselves nestled in domesticity in New York, running a struggling vinyl record store and parenting three daughters as best they can: Natasha, an overachieving prodigy; sensitive Lucy, with her debilitating heart condition; and Carly, adopted from China and quietly fixated on her true origins.

With prose that is as keen and illuminating as it is whimsical and luminous, debut novelist Christine Reilly tells the unusual love story of this family. Poignant and humane, Sunday’s on the Phone to Monday is a deft exploration of the tender ties that bind families together, even as they threaten to tear them apart.

I’ve always enjoyed family dramas, particularly ones in which family comes together for support and healing.  This novel seems to fit the bill!  The character, unique in their own way, truly intrigue me. 

Madam President by Nicolle Wallace (April 5): 

Take “a breezy romp through the corridors of power town” (USA TODAY) with co-host of The View and former White House Communications director Nicolle Wallace in her electrifying insider novel of three powerful women on a day that will change the country forever.

Charlotte Kramer, the 45th President of the United States, has done the unprecedented in allowing a network news team to document a day in her life—and that of her most senior staff. But while twenty news cameras are embedded with the president, the unthinkable happens: five major attacks are leveled on US soil. Her secretary of defense, Melanie, and her press secretary, Dale, must instantly jump into action in supporting the president and reassuring the country that the safety they treasure is in capable hands.

But secrets have always thrived in President Kramer’s White House. With all eyes on them and America’s stability on the line, all three women are hiding personal and professional secrets that could rock the West Wing to its very foundations…and change the lives of the people they love most.

With an insider’s sharp eye and her trademark winning prose, Nicolle Wallace delivers a timely novel of domestic and political intrigue that is impossible to put down.

This title intrigued me for a number of reasons. First, a female President of the United States! Secondly, the overall premise of internal White House secrets (we all know they exist) has me quite interested. 

The Railwayman’s Wife by Ashley Hay (April 5):

In 1948, in the strange, silent aftermath of war, in a town overlooking the vast, blue ocean, Anikka Lachlan has all she ever wanted—until a random act transforms her into another postwar widow, destined to raise her daughter on her own. Awash in grief, she looks for answers in the pages of her favorite books and tries to learn the most difficult lesson of all: how to go on living.

A local poet, Roy McKinnon, experiences a different type of loss. How could his most powerful work come out of the brutal chaos of war, and why is he now struggling to regain his words and his purpose in peacetime? His childhood friend Dr. Frank Draper also seeks to reclaim his pre-war life but is haunted by his failure to help those who needed him most—the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps.

Then one day, on the mantle of her sitting room, Ani finds a poem. She knows neither where it came from, nor who its author is. But she has her suspicions. An unexpected and poignant love triangle emerges, between Ani, the poem, and the poet—whoever he may be.

Written in clear, shining prose, The Railwayman’s Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings—and how difficult it can be to tell them apart. It is an exploration of life, loss, and what comes after, of connection and separation, longing and acceptance, and an unadulterated celebration of love that will break your heart open.

Tell me you can’t read that synopsis and not want to pick it up immediately!? The setting, the time period, the premise. It all has my attention. 

A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum (April 5): 

Amanda Baron died in a boating accident on the Ohio River in 1953. Or, did she? While it was generally accepted that she had died when a coal barge rammed the pleasure boat she was sharing with her lover, her body was never found.

Travis Baron was an infant when his mother disappeared. After the accident and the subsequent publicity, Travis’s father scoured the house of all evidence that Amanda Baron had ever lived, and her name was never to be uttered around him. Now in high school, Travis yearns to know more about his mother. With the help of his best friend, Mitch Malone, Travis begins a search for the truth about the mother he never knew. The two boys find an unlikely ally: an alcoholic former detective who served time for falsifying evidence. Although his reputation is in tatters, the information the detective provides about the death of Amanda Baron is indisputable—and dangerous.

Nearly two decades after her death, Travis and Mitch piece together a puzzle lost to the dark waters of the Ohio River. They know how Amanda Baron died, and why. Now what do they do with the information?

This is the first in a new series. You know I had to throw a thriller into the mix. I can’t wait to give this one a try.

So, there we have the first part of my most anticipated books of April! More to come in the next days! 

Wow, eight years! I nearly forgot to celebrate my own blogiversary again. Perhaps it’s like birthdays; the older you get, the less you celebrate. I was going to let this one go by without celebrating, but then I was like “Hot damn, eight years is a lot of work! I’m going to celebrate!”

In past years, I’ve shared wisdom and advice about what I’ve learned in the past several years of blogging. This year, however, I’m going to celebrate because I am the happiest I’ve ever been in blogging. It’s not because the access I get to review copies, or the great people I’ve met (ya’ll are still pretty damn awesome).  Instead, it’s because I finally found myself. Found me. Found my blogging place.

How did I do it? Did I wake up one morning with all the answers? Heck no. Blogging is hard work, much less surviving eight years of it. I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’ve grown from them.  To be perfectly honest, I’ve stopped giving a damn. Not about blogging in general, but about making other people happy. I always tell new bloggers to blog for yourself and, I have to say, I’ve finally found that happy place.

I don’t need to have my hands on the biggest, most up-and-coming book. I don’t have to go to the best bookish parties (although we bookish people do know how to party!). Instead, I’ve found myself in this place of calm and serenity, a wonderful balance between my personal life and my reading life.

So what changed this year? I incorporated my reading/bookish side with my creative/crafty side and set up an Etsy store.  When my brain just needs an escape, to focus on something other than life or, *gasp*, a book, I craft. Surprisingly, it’s been pretty successful, just celebrating my 200th order in just 5 months. Who embraced this side of me the most? My bookish community.  They became my first customers and my ardent supporters.  It reminded me of the bookish community that existed when I started blogging, so welcoming and supportive.

Additionally, I gave up on attempting to post something every day. Goodness know I read fast, but I can’t read THAT fast.  And, believe it or not, sometimes I just don’t feel like reading, or don’t feel like writing about the book I just read. And still, it’s ok. I didn’t lose any followers (perhaps it made me feel more…normal…) and my blog didn’t disappear. Given how hard I worked to post daily in the early years, this is a welcome relief.

I must give a special thanks to Sarah Knight (author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do).  Before writing this book, however, she was an editor I worked with regularly. She shared her favorite titles with me, so I was thrilled to read one she’d penned herself. Though I already had the framework of this philosophy, she helped me take another step forward, to embrace it and practice it. I can’t thank her enough (read her book!).

So, thank you all (and I’m going to give myself a pat on the back here, too) for the last eight years. It hasn’t been easy, some days have been a struggle, but it’s been worth it.  Here’s to another eight years!