Waiting on Wednesday: What I Didn’t Get to on Maternity Leave…

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine.

In my pre-child world I had this blissfully naive notion that maternity leave would be a time of glorious freedom for my daughter and I. Three months later I look back at this ignorant shadow of my former self and laugh with empathy. I had so many books I thought I would get to! So many novels to be read and explored, and I thought I’d have all the time in the world to give to them. Instead it took me two months to read the last 50 pages of The Strain, and another month to feel like I had enough time on my hands to commit to a new book (but not too big of a book, so unfortunately Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers has to wait while I finish The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair). On top of this I have had no time to catch up with the bookish world. What wonderful new books have been released in my absence? What can I drool over? Below is a list of all the books I wish I could have read while on leave, and some of the books I’ve seen since that were released during my time of baby-blinders.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Kudos to my pops for being way ahead of the HBO-bandwagon. He’s read the entire series and loves it. I’ll get around to picking up the first book… one of these years…

A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire. Kudos to me this time for being way ahead of the Broadway-musical-bandwagon. I read Wicked many, many years ago and adore it. Likewise with its sequel, Son of a Witch. Alas, A Lion Among Men (Book #3) has been sitting on my shelf for far too long, and now I discover the fourth and final book in The Wicked Series, Out of Oz, is slated for release this November.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The kudos go to other book bloggers for this one. When this book first came out it was all over the book-blogosphere. I never actually knew what it was about, as mass-reviews sometimes tend to turn me off, but the incessant barrage of movie previews have finally won out. Add to the list.

So what else friends? What have I missed in the last three months? Leave a comment with your recommendations and reviews.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Dove Keepers

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine. If you read my blog at all you’ll know I can’t wait for this one…

The Dove Keepers by Alice Hoffman (Simon & Schuster, October 2011)

Alice Hoffman’s richest, most ambitious novel ever, a tour de force of imagination and research, set in ancient Israel.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Map of Time

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine. 624 pages of time-travel fantasy leading into maternity leave in June? Heck yeah I want this book.

The Map of Time by Felix Palma (Atria, June 2011)

A page turner in which a skeptical H.G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time-travel and save lives.

Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: The Lost Gate

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. I have not read any of Orson Scott Card’s books… but I think I would enjoy them! And how can I resist this cover???

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card (Tor Books, January 2011)

Danny North knew from early childhood that his family was different, and that he was different from them.  While his cousins were learning how to create the things that commoners called fairies, ghosts, golems, trolls, werewolves, and other such miracles that were the heritage of the North family, Danny worried that he would never show a talent, never form an outself.

He grew up in the rambling old house, filled with dozens of cousins, and aunts and uncles, all ruled by his father.  Their home was isolated in the mountains of western Virginia, far from town, far from schools, far from other people.

There are many secrets in the House, and many rules that Danny must follow.   There is a secret library  with only a few dozen books, and none of them in English — but Danny and his cousins are expected to become fluent in the language of the books.  While Danny’s cousins are free to create magic whenever they like, they must never do it where outsiders might see.

Unfortunately, there are some secrets kept from Danny  as well.  And that will lead to disaster for the North family.

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: The Witch’s Daughter

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

What are you currently reading? 
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (synopsis).

What did you recently finish reading? 
The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (review).

What do you think you’ll read next? 
I think I’ll read one of the Carol Goodman’s or Alice Hoffman’s I got back in October. It’s been too long since I’ve read my favorite ladies.

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. Y’all know I love me some magical realism and this one looks delightful.

 The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston (Thomas Dunne Books, January 2011)

In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate: the Warlock Gideon Masters. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers and making her immortal. She couldn’t have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he will be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life. Her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl named Tegan starts hanging around. Against her instincts, Elizabeth teaches Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories—and demons—long thought forgotten.

Part historical romance, part modern fantasy, The Witch’s Daughter is a fresh, compelling take on the magical, yet dangerous world of witches. Readers will long remember the fiercely independent heroine who survives plagues, wars, and the heartbreak of immortality to stay true to herself, and protect the protégé she comes to love.

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: Across the Universe

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

What are you currently reading? 
The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (synopsis).

What did you recently finish reading? 
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (reviews up soon).

What do you think you’ll read next? 
The Emperor’s Tomb by Steve Berry (synopsis).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. Just found this pick this morning in Shelf Awareness. Looks delicious!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Penguin Group, January 2011)

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: The Red House Mystery

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  
Nothing’s changed since last week!

What are you currently reading? 
The Distant Hours (synopsis).

What did you recently finish reading? 
The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (review).

What do you think you’ll read next? 
The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (synopsis).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. My pick for this week is being rereleased as part of Dover Publications Mystery Classics. A.A. Milne wrote more than just Winnie the Pooh!

The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne (Dover Publications)

A mysterious shooting on a country estate, the disappearance of the primary suspect, secret passageways, underwater evidence, and more. A finely crafted whodunit by one of England’s most popular writers.

Though Milne is immediately associated with Winnie-the-Pooh and pals, he nonetheless wrote a number of adult titles, including this 1922 novel in which guests at a country estate become amateur sleuths when a shooting occurs and all evidence points toward their host. This edition contains a new introduction by scholar Douglas Greene.

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: Winter Sea

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  

What are you currently reading? 
The Distant Hours (synopsis).

What did you recently finish reading? 
The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (review).

What do you think you’ll read next? 
The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (synopsis).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. Here’s my pick for this week:

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: The Transformation of Things

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  

What are you currently reading? 
The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (synopsis).

What did you recently finish reading? By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham (review).

What do you think you’ll read next? 
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (synopsis).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. Here’s my pick for this week:

The Transformation of Things by Jillian Cantor

Jennifer Levenworth has a great big pounding headache. It could be because her husband, a judge, is indicted on bribery charges, leaving her unsure about everything in her marriage. Or it could be caused by the media, who are relentlessly covering the story. Or because the friends Jennifer thought she knew and trusted have turned their backs on her in her greatest hour of need.

And then the dreams begin. . . .

And while Jennifer sleeps, she swears she can see—and hear—her friends’ and family’s most private moments. Soon Jennifer realizes she is actually learning the truth about their lives, which is also leading her to question everything she thought she knew about herself. But when the dreams start to reveal a startling reality, can Jennifer find the strength to ultimately transform her life?

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: The Red Garden

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  

What are you currently reading? 
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham (synopsis) and manuscripts for Rozlyn Press.

What did you recently finish reading? Nothing since the fairy tales in the new anthology My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer (Ed). Read a Quicky of the fairy tale by Kelly Link.

What do you think you’ll read next? 
The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (synopsis).

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. I looked through over 300 “coming soon” titles and couldn’t find a single one I wanted other than Alice Hoffman (whose books I will always want, really). I’m getting picky in my old age.

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman (January 2011)

The Red Garden is a transforming glimpse into small-town America, presenting us with three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters’ lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions. From the time the town of Blackwell is founded by a brave, young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or of bears, to the day a young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded civil war solider who is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year that summer never arrives. At the center of everyone’s life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look. Hoffman once again enchants us as lives are linked, changed, and redeemed. Delightful and compelling, The Red Garden is as unforgettable as it is moving.