Library Loot: 2/25

I'm just a few pages away from finishing Secrets of Eden...and six new books from my library reserve list came up this week. As usual, I can't decide which one to read first...!

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

Model Home by Eric Puchner

The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine

Eight White Nights by Andre Aciman

Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Library Loot is hosted by ReadingAdventures.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Husband and Wife

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Husband and Wife

By Leah Stewart

Publication Date: May 4

From HarperCollins:

Sarah Price is thirty-five years old. She doesn't feel as though she's getting older, but there are some noticeable changes: a hangover after two beers, the stray gray hair, and, most of all, she's called “Mom” by two small children. Always responsible, Sarah traded her MFA for a steady job, which allows her husband, Nathan, to write fiction. But Sarah is happy and she believes Nathan is too, until a truth is revealed: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based in fact.

Wise, funny, and sharply drawn, Leah Stewart's Husband and Wife probes our deepest relationships, the promises we make and break, and the consequences they hold for our lives, revealing that it's never too late to step back and start over.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Nobodies Album

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Nobodies Album

By Carolyn Parkhurst

Publication Date: June 15

From Amazon:

Bestselling novelist Octavia Frost has just completed her latest book—a revolutionary novel in which she has rewritten the last chapters of all her previous books, removing clues about her personal life concealed within, especially a horrific tragedy that befell her family years ago. On her way to deliver the manuscript to her editor, Octavia reads a news crawl in Times Square and learns that her rock-star son, Milo, has been arrested for murder. Though she and Milo haven’t spoken in years—an estrangement stemming from that tragic day—she drops everything to go to him. The “last chapters” of Octavia’s novel are layered throughout The Nobodies Album—the scattered puzzle pieces to her and Milo’s dark and troubled past.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Last Time I Saw You

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

The Last Time I Saw You

By Elizabeth Berg

Publication Date: April 6

From Amazon:

From the beloved bestselling author of Home Safe and The Year of Pleasures, comes a wonderful new novel about women and men reconnecting with one another—and themselves—at their fortieth high school reunion.

To each of the men and women, this reunion means something different—a last opportunity to say something long left unsaid, an escape from the bleaker realities of everyday life, a means to save a marriage on the rocks, or an opportunity to bond with a slightly estranged daughter, if only over what her mother should wear. As the onetime classmates meet up over the course of a weekend, they discover things that will irrevocably affect the rest of their lives.

In this beautiful novel, Elizabeth Berg deftly weaves together stories of roads taken and not taken, choices made and opportunities missed, and the possibilities of second chances.

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

Giveaway Reminder: The Murderer's Daughters

Have you entered my giveaway yet for a copy of The Murderer's Daughters??

You have until midnight CST on Sunday, February 7.

Click here to register!

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Every Last One

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Every Last One

By Anna Quindlen

Publication Date: April 27

From Amazon:

"Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterwards is a testament to the power of a woman’s love and determination, and to the invisible line of hope and healing that connects one human being with another. Every Last One is a novel about facing every last one of the the things we fear most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel, to live a life we never dreamed we’d have to live but must be brave enough to try."

What's your "waiting on" pick this week?

Want to participate? Grab the logo, post your own WoW entry on your blog, and leave a link in the comments section!

PLUS: Check out my giveaway of The Murderer's Daughters, a previous WOW pick, in the post below!

Quotables with Randy Susan Meyers

When I'm reading, I love coming across "just-right" passages that have me reaching for my quote book. With this in mind, and as a twist on an author interview, I'm starting a new feature on the blog, Quotables, in which I present authors with a meaningful (to me) quote from their novels and ask them to speak to it in whatever way they wish.

First up is Randy Susan Meyers, author of the newly released The Murderer's Daughters, a heart-wrenching story of two sisters in the aftermath of the murder of their mother by their father. I highly recommend this book. It deals with heavy issues, but it's a compelling read, as each sister, while remaining close to each other, deals with the tragedy in vastly different ways.

One of the quotes from the book that really stuck with me was:

"Maybe when we recognize the trivial for what it is, we can concentrate on what we love most, what we most treasure."

From the author:

The above quote from the last quarter of The Murderer’s Daughters sums up much of my book. Lulu, a doctor, and one of two sisters who’ve witnessed their father kill their mother, hears these words from a dying patient.

Of the themes that surfaced as I wrote this book, perhaps one of the strongest is the manner in which folks execute appalling deeds over meaningless issues. So many of the batterers with whom I worked in a Massachusetts batterer intervention program permanently damaged their families and their relationships over issues such as unwashed dishes and already-spent money. In The Murderer’s Daughters, a man kills his wife, stabs his daughter, and immediately loses his family and his freedom. He was drunk. His goal was to win back the love of his wife. Instead, he fights with her over a small sum of money, an escalating battle in which his rage culminates in murder.

Perhaps if we took a moment during times of anger (and it is possible; we just tell ourselves that it isn’t) and determined what our true goals were, tragedies—permanent and temporary—could be avoided. And there would not be so many children who end up as the collateral damage of family violence.

St. Martin's Press is providing a giveaway copy of The Murderer's Daughters. Leave a comment by midnight CST on Sunday, February 7, and I'll randomly pick a winner.