strange and random happenstance

The dream of any book fanatic is that your favorite author will come to town. That for once you won't have to travel to some far flung location just to catch a glimpse of them. The fact that Madison has a rather large fall book festival now has helped to increase the odds of someone I love paying a visit, but it's still hit or miss. For every Natasha Pulley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Charlaine Harris, there are easily thirty authors I don't care to see speak. In fact this past fall I didn't go to a single event at the Wisconsin Book Festival, which might be a first! Thankfully I have Mystery to Me and they get quite a fair few authors coming through their doors and I am always checking their website and their newsletters to see who will be in town. Imagine my shock when I saw that Tasha Alexander would be coming! Not only is Mystery to Me local, but it is literally the closest bookstore to my house. I do not exaggerate, as I told Tasha, it is a five minute walk at most. Don't believe me? I just checked on Google Maps and it's only 0.3 miles from door to door! I couldn't have asked for a closer venue unless Tasha had been in my living room!

The event was going to be on Friday, November 6th, 2015, but the book Tasha was touring for, The Adventuress, was coming out on Tuesday, October 13th. Because I am a staunch supporter of local bookstores my rule of thumb for signings is that you must buy the book to the event you are going to at the store hosting the event. There is no excuse not to. You need to support the author and you need to support the store. If you do both the author gets to keep writing more books and might stop by the store again which you helped to keep open. Win win people! Anyway, that meant there were twenty-five days between publication and signing and I just couldn't wait that long to get my hands on Tasha's new book, though I had already got an ARC from her publishers through NetGalley I really have a thing about owning the physical book. So on October 13th I walked out my front door and took the grueling 0.3 mile walk to Mystery to Me, searched through all their copies of The Adventuress and picked the perfect one. Paid for it, put the receipt inside for the singing in November and headed home.

November 6th finally came around and my friend Marie and I were ready to have an adventure. At this point there were only two Tasha books I didn't have signed, so I placed my copy of The Counterfeit Heiress next to my copy of The Adventuress in my Mystery to Me bag from October and headed out the door to meet Marie at a restaurant three doors down from the bookstore for some hearty Irish fare. They had surprisingly changed their menu, a move not for the better which I am still bemoaning three years later, so I didn't quite enjoy dinner as much as I could. Though I could never fault the company! If I had only chosen the restaurant seven doors down in the opposite direction I would have seen Tasha earlier than the event, but such is life! After dinner Marie and I settled into the bookstore. I am of the opinion that it is best to arrive extremely early because you get the best seats and you're in a bookstore, so you'll have tons of fun looking at books until the event starts. Our seats staked out I oddly ran into an old schoolmate Jon, who I hadn't seen in person in many years, though we do chat online, and it was nice getting to talk books with him, he's a fan of cozies themed after tropical drinks and locations. I sadly was unable to get him to stay for the event which was getting ready to start.  

Because it was a cold, dark night there wasn't much of a turnout for Tasha's event, but I really don't think that mattered once she saw exactly who was in the audience, and I'm not talking about me and Marie, her devoted fans, I'm talking about a fellow author. Margaret George was in the audience. Margaret George is one of the preeminent writers of historical fiction. The only time I remember meeting her was years previously when her book Elizabeth I: A Novel came out and there was a signing at my local Barnes and Noble. Though my family as a whole has known her for years. This wasn't just because my parents were in the same circles as her, going to many of the same events, though this is true, the main reason is that we shared the same crew of construction workers. So if they weren't at our house they were at hers and vice versa resulting in many phone calls back and forth. So while I was there fangirling over Tasha, Tasha was fangirling over Margaret. To have an author you love show up for your event? I can't think of anything cooler. Plus after Tasha's presentation and Q and A she got to talk to Margaret for a bit and divulged to me she even got her email address. I was so happy for Tasha to get to have such a great and memorable experience in my hometown!

As for the talk itself? Wonderful! The fact that there were less people and it was a cold and dark night gave it this wonderful intimate feel, like we were all comrades drawn round a fire to listen to Tasha's tales. She went into greater detail about an unforgettable experience she mentions in the Author's Note at the end of The Adventuress about seeing a very fashionable lady of a certain age with an Hermes bag that contained a very well cared for live chicken. The two appeared to be window shopping along La Croisette and equally engrossed in the task. She asked her husband Andrew to back her up, and he added details to the tail about just how fascinating this was while also how obviously mundane it was for the lady and the chicken. This must be a regular occurrence for them! I love to live in a world where things like this seem like the stuff of stories but are 100% real. As any author will tell you it's the things that seem the most unbelievable that are based in fact. Tasha also talked a bit about the devotion of her fans. At a recent event she talked a bit about the next book, A Terrible Beauty, and the possible return of Emily's first husband, Philip, and a woman in the audience gasped and exclaimed "but that would make the twins illegitimate!" Tasha assured the lady that they were just characters. As for A Terrible Beauty? Come back next Friday!   

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Terrible Beauty, Alexander Autumn, Andrew Grant, ARCs, Book Signing, Chickens, Elizabeth I, Madison, Margaret George, Mystery to Me, Netgalley, Tasha Alexander, The Adventuress, The Counterfeit Heiress

A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A wryly entertaining new crime novel from Lynne Truss, New York Times bestselling author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

It's 1957, and the famed theater critic A. S. Crystal has come to the British seaside resort of Brighton with something other than the local production of A Shilling in the Meter on his mind. Sitting in the Brighton Royal Theater with Constable Twitten, Crystal intends to tell the detective the secret he knows about the still-unsolved Aldersgate Stick-Up case of 1945. And yet, just before Crystal names the criminal mastermind involved, he's shot dead in his seat.

With a new murder case on his hands and a lazy captain at the helm of the police department, the keen and clever Constable Twitten and his colleague Sargent Jim Brunswick set out to solve the decade-old mystery of the Aldersgate Stick-Up. As the partners venture deep into the criminal underworld that lies beneath Brighton's holiday-happy veneer, they begin to discover a criminal conspiracy that dates back decades. But will Brunswick and Twitten be able to foil the mastermind, or will Crystal's death become just another unsolved crime in this seemingly peaceful seaside city?

With her characteristic wit, New York Times bestselling author Lynne Truss introduces readers to a cast of eccentric policeman and scheming criminals in a drolly delightful mystery you won't want to miss."

While stateside Lynne is mainly know for grammar, you'd be missing a great writer if you never checked out her fiction!

The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe finds herself running for office - much to her dismay.

When Mma Potokwane suggests to Mma Ramotswe that she run for a seat on the Gaborone City Council, Mma Ramotswe is at first reluctant. But when she learns that developers plan to build the flashy Big Fun Hotel next to a graveyard, she allows herself to be persuaded. Her opponent is none other than Mma Makutsi’s old nemesis, Violet Sephotho, who is in the pocket of the hotel developers. Although Violet is intent on using every trick in the book to secure her election, Mma Ramotswe refuses to guarantee anything beyond what she can deliver; hence her slogan: “I can’t promise anything—but I shall do my best.”

Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe has acquired a new client: one of her late father’s old friends, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Charlie volunteers to be the lead investigator in the case to prove he’s ready to be more than an apprentice, as well as to impress a new girlfriend. With Charlie’s inquiries landing him in hot water and Election Day fast approaching, Mma Ramotswe will have to call upon her good humor and gen­erosity of spirit to help the community navigate these thorny issues, and to prove that honesty and compassion will always carry the day."

The obligatory push for you to start reading Alexander McCall Smith.

An Unexplained Death by Mikita Brottman
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An Unexplained Death is an obsessive investigation into a mysterious death at the Belvedere - a once-grand hotel - and a poignant, gripping meditation on suicide and voyeurism.

“The poster is new. I notice it right away, taped to a utility pole. Beneath the word ‘Missing,’ printed in a bold, high-impact font, are two sepia-toned photographs of a man dressed in a bow tie and tux.”

Most people would keep walking. Maybe they’d pay a bit closer attention to the local news that evening. Mikita Brottman spent ten years sifting through the details of the missing man’s life and disappearance, and his purported suicide by jumping from the roof of her own apartment building, the Belvedere.

As Brottman delves into the murky circumstances surrounding Rey Rivera’s death - which begins to look more and more like a murder - she contemplates the nature of and motives behind suicide, and uncovers a haunting pattern of guests at the Belvedere, when it was still a historic hotel, taking their own lives on the premises. Finally, she fearlessly takes us to the edge of her own morbid curiosity and asks us to consider our own darker impulses and obsessions."

Your latest true crime obsession.

The Splendor Before the Dark by Margaret George
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ascending to the throne was only the beginning... Now Margaret George, the author of The Confessions of Young Nero, weaves a web of politics and passion, as ancient Rome's most infamous emperor cements his place in history.

With the beautiful and cunning Poppaea at his side, Nero Augustus commands the Roman empire, ushering in an unprecedented era of artistic and cultural splendor. Although he has yet to produce an heir, his power is unquestioned.

But in the tenth year of his reign, a terrifying prophecy comes to pass and a fire engulfs Rome, reducing entire swaths of the city to rubble. Rumors of Nero's complicity in the blaze start to sow unrest among the populace - and the politicians...

For better or worse, Nero knows that his fate is now tied to Rome's - and he vows to rebuild it as a city that will stun the world. But there are those who find his rampant quest for glory dangerous. Throughout the empire, false friends and spies conspire against him, not understanding what drives him to undertake the impossible.

Nero will either survive and be the first in his family to escape the web of betrayals that is the Roman court, or be ensnared and remembered as the last radiance of the greatest dynasty the world had ever known."

Is this the first Margaret George sequel ever? I have a feeling it technically is!

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar
Published by: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father.

Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina - a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century - has grown dangerous. The government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Unrest in Ararat City is growing. And Tirosh’s childhood friend, trying to deliver a warning, has turned up dead in his hotel room.

A state security officer has now identified Tirosh as a suspect in a string of murders. A rogue agent is stalking Tirosh through transdimensional rifts - possible futures that can only be prevented by avoiding the mistakes of the past.

From the bestselling author of Central Station comes an extraordinary new novel recalling China Miéville and Michael Chabon, entertaining and subversive in equal measures."

Sounds like Thursday Next mixed with Historical Fiction, otherwise known as my kind of book!

The Omega Objection by Gail Carriger
Published by: GAIL CARRIGER LLC
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 315 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Every night Isaac wonders if the next shifter in his bar will be the werewolf sent to kill him.

The supernatural creatures of San Francisco love to visit Isaac the bartender. They never ask why they're drawn to him or why he has no scent. Until Tank.

Tank is always subservient to his pack and its needs, so when asked to take a side job as a bouncer, he's there. Then he meets Isaac. The man is an enigma - odorless, ridiculously sexy, and terrified.

Can Tank prove to Isaac that sometimes there are monsters worth running toward?

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger, writing as G. L. Carriger, brings you this charming gay romance featuring a gentle giant with a trampled heart and a man desperate to escape his past. Be warned, the San Andreas Shifter stories contain bad language, dirty deeds, and outright admiration for the Bay Area. Not for the faint of heart or tongue."

I am WAY behind in my Gail reading... time to catch up!

The Wellspring Trilogy: The Crystal Key by Robert Gronewold
Published by: Chapterhouse Publishing
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 350 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sun has not shone in over a thousand years. Sixteen year old Felicity lives in a world where the Dark rules. Humanity stays to the Wellsprings, illuminated swathes of land where the light of eternal fountains keeps the skies bright all day long. But beyond that, the world is wrapped in eternal shadows, filled with monstrous Horrors who pray on the unsuspecting. When Felicity discovers that she is a Turnkey, a guardian selected to protect the Wellsprings, her life unexpectedly changes. Not only is she gifted with a magical Key with amazing abilities, but her fate soon takes her deep into the Dark, where with the help of a mysterious boy named Tobin she must survive astonishing odds. For it is soon that the Horrors begin hunting her, and a race to get home is only the beginning of her worries."

Like an extra magical Dark City.

How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen
Published by: Tachyon Publications
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fantasy icon Jane Yolen (The Devil’s Arithmetic, Briar Rose, Sister Emily’s Lightship) is adored by generations of readers of all ages. Now she triumphantly returns with this inspired gathering of fractured fairy tales and legends. Yolen breaks open the classics to reveal their crystalline secrets: a philosophical bridge that misses its troll, a spinner of straw as a falsely accused moneylender, the villainous wolf adjusting poorly to retirement. Each of these offerings features a new author note and original poem, illuminating tales that are old, new, and brilliantly refined."

Because everyone likes fairy tales reinterpreted right?

The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Published by: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Silke has always been good at spinning the truth and storytelling. So good that, just years after arriving in the kingdom as a penniless orphan, she has found her way to working for the most splendid chocolate makers in the city as a master promoter. Although Silke loves her work at the Chocolate Heart, she's certain it's not going to last, and what Silke wants more than anything is somewhere to call home--somewhere safe. But when your best friend is a dragon-turned-hot-tempered-girl, trouble is always right around the corner.

Then Silke gets the opportunity she's been waiting for: the Crown Princess personally asks her to spy on the Elfenwald royal family during their first visit to the kingdom. In return, Silke will have the home she's always wanted in the secure palace. But Silke has her own dark, secret reasons for not trusting fairies...and her mission isn't as simple as she hoped. Soon, she discovers that her city is in danger--and that maybe it's more her home than she ever realized.

Can Silke find out the truth about the fairies while keeping her own secrets hidden?"

I first read and loved Stephanie's work for Regency Magic and I look forward to each new release!

Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken? by Kelly Jones
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This laugh-out-loud sequel to Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer has EVEN MORE MAGIC CHICKENS!

Twelve-year-old Sophie Brown is finally settling into her new home and her new role as keeper of some highly unusual chickens - chickens with secret superpowers!

But the arrival of two new magical chickens for her flock and some unusual eggs to be incubated and hatched (what will their superpowers be?), plus an impending inspection from the Unusual Poultry Committee (who even knew this existed?) has Sophie feeling pretty stressed out. Her older cousin, Lupe, is coming to stay with her family, which is great - but will Lupe like chickens too? And on top of it all, Sophie's first day at her new school is rapidly approaching!

In this wildly funny and quirky novel told in letters and lists and quizzes, Sophie learns that even an exceptional poultry farmer can use some help."

Another fabulous author I found due to my love of Regency Magic. PS I also love chickens.

Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Time is running out.
Together, they can save the world.
But they each other’s worst nightmare.
Nova’s double life is about to get a lot more complicated:

As Insomnia, she is a full-fledged member of the Renegades, a syndicate of powerful and beloved superheroes. She works with Adrian’s patrol unit to protect the weak and maintain order in Gatlon City.

As Nightmare, she is an Anarchist - a group of of villains who are determined to destroy the Renegades. Nova wants vengeance against the so-called heroes who once failed her when she needed them most.

But as Nova, her feelings for Adrian are deepening, despite the fact that he is the son of her sworn enemies and, unbeknownst to Nova, he has some dangerous secrets of his own.

In this second installment of the Renegades trilogy, Nova, Adrian, and the rest of their crew - Ruby, Oscar, and Danna - are faced with escalating crime in Gatlon City, while covert weapons and conflicting missions have Nova and Adrian questioning not only their beliefs about justice, but also the feelings they have for each other.

The line between good and evil has been blurred, but what's clear to them both is that too much power could mean the end of their city - and the world - as they know it."

I might have been looking so forward to this book that I thought it came out last week as was really confused at the bookstore...

Born to be Posthumous by Mark Dery
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The definitive biography of Edward Gorey, the eccentric master of macabre nonsense.

From The Gashlycrumb Tinies to The Doubtful Guest, Edward Gorey's wickedly funny and deliciously sinister little books have influenced our culture in innumerable ways, from the works of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman to Lemony Snicket. Some even call him the Grandfather of Goth.

But who was this man, who lived with over twenty thousand books and six cats, who roomed with Frank O'Hara at Harvard, and was known--in the late 1940s, no less--to traipse around in full-length fur coats, clanking bracelets, and an Edwardian beard? An eccentric, a gregarious recluse, an enigmatic auteur of whimsically morbid masterpieces, yes--but who was the real Edward Gorey behind the Oscar Wildean pose?

He published over a hundred books and illustrated works by Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Edward Lear, John Updike, Charles Dickens, Hilaire Belloc, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker, Gilbert & Sullivan, and others. At the same time, he was a deeply complicated and conflicted individual, a man whose art reflected his obsessions with the disquieting and the darkly hilarious.

Based on newly uncovered correspondence and interviews with personalities as diverse as John Ashbery, Donald Hall, Lemony Snicket, Neil Gaiman, and Anna Sui, Born to be Posthumous draws back the curtain on the eccentric genius and mysterious life of Edward Gorey."

I know you're like me and need more Edward Gorey in your life. ALWAYS.

Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life by William Roy and Sylvain Dorange
Published by: Humanoids
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hollywood icon by day, unsung science genius by night, Hedy Lamarr, the biography of "the Most Beautiful Woman in the World." From a childhood filled with curiosity and ambition despite the stereotypes imposed on her, to an abusive marriage that she ingeniously escaped from, to finding her way to stardom in the City of Angels in the face of rampant sexism and harassment, Hedy Lamarr would not only become a glamorous star of the Golden Age of Hollywood, alongside icons like Judy Garland and Clark Gable, but also an unparalleled inventor. She would fashion designs to revolutionize the planes built by Howard Hughes, and come up with a secret communication system that helped the Allies against the Nazis, a technology that would become the blueprint for what we know today as Wi-Fi. A visionary that never feared going after her goals and defied convention at every turn, Hedy Lamarr was a true woman of wonder."

Hedy is everywhere this days, even here!

Whose Boat Is This Boat? by Donald J. Trump (by Accident)
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: November 6th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 24 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"100% of The Late Show’s proceeds from this book go to hurricane relief.

Whose Boat Is This Boat? Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane is a picture book made entirely of quotations from President Donald Trump in the wake of Hurricane Florence. It is the first children’s book that demonstrates what not to say after a natural disaster.

On September 19, 2018, Donald Trump paid a visit to New Bern, North Carolina, one of the towns ravaged by Hurricane Florence. It was there he showed deep concern for a boat that washed ashore. “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal,” said President Trump to hurricane victims. “Have a good time!” he told them. The only way his comments would be appropriate is in the context of a children’s book—and now you can experience them that way, thanks to the staff of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Whose Boat Is This Boat? is an excellent teaching tool for readers of all ages who enjoy learning about empathy by process of elimination. Have a good time!"

I'm all for helping people while our present hurts them, but the graphic designer in me just wants to say how awesome a parody of a Mo Willems book this is! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander McCall Smith, Edward Gorey, G.L. Carriger, Hedy Lamarr, Jane Yolen, Kelly Jones, Lavie Tidhar, Lynne Truss, Margaret George, Marissa Meyer, Stephanie Burgis, Stephen Colbert, The Wellspring Trilogy

Bookstore: Mystery to Me

Location: Near West Side of Madison, Wisconsin

Why I Love Them: Who ever thought that the murder mystery reader's paradise, Booked for Murder, would ever find new life as Mystery to Me? During Booked for Murder's years off University Avenue it felt like every time you went in there was a new owner. In fact at one time my mom really wanted to be the owner but thankfully we talked her out of it. Some of the owners were more adept at handling their customers and authors, I would be remiss if I didn't give a special shout-out to Terri Bischoff at this point, thanks to her I got to meet Charlaine Harris! But almost five years ago now the revolving door stopped on Joanne Berg who took the forward thinking approach of renaming the bookstore Mystery to Me (there were royalty payments with the old name that no one in their right mind should have paid) and moving the store onto Monroe Street, giving it a more community vibe. The first time I visited I was skeptical of the store's success, having seen so many owners come and go over the years I wasn't sold on the same stock in a new location and as for those bright green walls... Thankfully I have been proven wrong, and come to really like that shade of green. They are really committed to offering wonderful authors, last year I felt like I was there weekly. But more than that, it's just such a welcoming environment, they have become a part of the neighborhood in a way Booked for Murder never was. Here's to the next five years!

Best Buy: As for my best buy... this is a little different in that the event was not onsite and was run by the Wisconsin Book Festival with Mystery to Me selling books at the event. But it's TOO good a story to pass up... though my story about Tasha Alexander's event with Margaret George in the audience is a great one too and that one was onsite. Back to my initial story. So the big author for the Wisconsin Book Festival last year was Alexander McCall Smith. I was determined to go because years earlier I was sick when he came to speak at Borders so I missed him and since then my mom had christened his 44 Scotland Street series as the best book series ever written, a fact I made sure to mention to him. Therefore while he was there to promote the new book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series I had one book I wanted to buy, the newest 44 Scotland Street book, The Bertie Project. So I went up to the Mystery to Me table and was warmly greeted, they'd been seeing me a lot over the course of the book festival, and picked up one of their two copies of The Bertie Project. Now as it happens, when Alexander McCall Smith took to the podium he asked if anyone in the audience had a copy of The Bertie Project because he wanted to read from it. I leapt from my seat and handed him my newly purchased book. At the end of the talk he asked me to step forward, once again in front of this huge crowd, and he signed my book to me. So while I may have many events to attend at Mystery to Me in the future, as well as many awesome books to buy, I literally can not believe a find from Independent Bookstore Day, THIS will be the memory I cherish most.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith, Charlaine Harris, Margaret George, Mystery to Me, Support Your Brick and Mortar, Tasha Alexander, The Bertie Project, Wisconsin Book Festival

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy’s bond with the pack—and her mate—is broken, she’ll learn what it truly means to be alone...

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise..."

I mean obviously, it's Mercy Thompson, so yeah! But more so, Mercy in Europe, and in Prague, and with a Golem and ghosts!!! Dream. Come. True.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha―one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles...and make a powerful choice.

Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind in this brilliant new fantasy series by Rin Chupeco!"

Name-checking both Leigh Bardugo and Patrick Rothfuss in the description is sure a way to get my attention.

In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The author of Blood and Beauty returns with another captivating novel about Renaissance Italy and one of history’s most notorious families. Before the Corleones, before the Lannisters, there were the Borgias.

Bestselling novelist Sarah Dunant has long been drawn to the high drama of Renaissance Italy: power, passion, beauty, brutality, and the ties of blood. With In the Name of the Family, she offers a thrilling exploration of the House of Borgia’s final years, in the company of a young diplomat named Niccolò Machiavelli."

Ever since The Birth of Venus if Sarah Dunant writes it I read it.

The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The New York Times bestselling and legendary author of Helen of Troy and Elizabeth I now turns her gaze on Emperor Nero, one of the most notorious and misunderstood figures in history.

Built on the backs of those who fell before it, Julius Caesar’s imperial dynasty is only as strong as the next person who seeks to control it. In the Roman Empire no one is safe from the sting of betrayal: man, woman—or child.

As a boy, Nero’s royal heritage becomes a threat to his very life, first when the mad emperor Caligula tries to drown him, then when his great aunt attempts to secure her own son’s inheritance. Faced with shocking acts of treachery, young Nero is dealt a harsh lesson: it is better to be cruel than dead.

While Nero idealizes the artistic and athletic principles of Greece, his very survival rests on his ability to navigate the sea of vipers that is Rome. The most lethal of all is his own mother, a cold-blooded woman whose singular goal is to control the empire. With cunning and poison, the obstacles fall one by one. But as Agrippina’s machinations earn her son a title he is both tempted and terrified to assume, Nero’s determination to escape her thrall will shape him into the man he was fated to become—an Emperor who became legendary.

With impeccable research and captivating prose, The Confessions of Young Nero is the story of a boy’s ruthless ascension to the throne. Detailing his journey from innocent youth to infamous ruler, it is an epic tale of the lengths to which man will go in the ultimate quest for power and survival."

Sure, it's a wait between Margaret George books, but you do get a huge book once the wait is over! Here's to Margaret's latest, a Madisonian like myself and a friend of my family.

The Girl from Rawblood by Catriona Ward
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Winner of BEST HORROR NOVEL (August Derleth Award) at British Fantasy Awards 2016.

For generations the Villarcas have died mysteriously, and young. Now Iris and her father will finally understand why...

At the turn of England's century, as the wind whistles in the lonely halls of Rawblood, young Iris Villarca is the last of her family's line. They are haunted, through the generations, by "her," a curse passed down through ancient blood that marks each Villarca for certain heartbreak, and death.

Iris forsakes her promise to her father, to remain alone, safe from the world. She dares to fall in love, and the consequences of her choice are immediate and terrifying. As the world falls apart around her, she must take a final journey back to Rawblood where it all began and where it must all end...

From the sun dappled hills of Italy to the biting chill of Victorian dissection halls, The Girl from Rawblood is a lyrical and haunting historical novel of darkness, love, and the ghosts of the past."

Firstly, if it wins an August Derleth Award I'm honor bound to promote it. Secondly, come on, this sounds awesome!

Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The sixth book in New York Times-bestselling Seanan McGuire's witty urban fantasy InCryptid series about a family of cryptozoologists who act as a buffer between humans and the magical creatures living in secret around us.

"The only thing more fun than an October Daye book is an InCryptid book." —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Sookie Stackhouse series

Improbable, adjective:

1. Not very likely to happen; not probable.
2. Probably not a very good idea anyway.
3. See also “bad plan.”

As the youngest of the three Price children, Antimony is used to people not expecting much from her. She’s been happy playing roller derby and hanging out with her cousins, leaving the globe-trotting to her older siblings while she stays at home and tries to decide what she wants to do with her life. She always knew that one day, things would have to change. She didn’t think they’d change so fast.

Annie’s expectations keep getting shattered. She didn’t expect Verity to declare war on the Covenant of St. George on live television. She didn’t expect the Covenant to take her sister’s threat seriously. And she definitely didn’t expect to be packed off to London to infiltrate the Covenant from the inside…but as the only Price in her generation without a strong resemblance to the rest of the family, she’s the perfect choice to play spy. They need to know what’s coming. Their lives may depend on it.

But Annie has some secrets of her own, like the fact that she’s started setting things on fire when she touches them, and has no idea how to control it. Now she’s headed halfway around the world, into the den of the enemy, where blowing her cover could get her killed. She’s pretty sure things can’t get much worse.

Antimony Price is about to learn just how wrong it’s possible for one cryptozoologist to be."

New Seanan McGuire book? Yes please.

The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker and A Touch of Stardust, comes a Hollywood coming-of-age novel, in which Ingrid Bergman's affair with Roberto Rossellini forces her biggest fan to reconsider everything she was raised to believe.

In 1950, Ingrid Bergman—already a major star after movies like Casablanca and Joan of Arc—has a baby out of wedlock with her Italian lover, film director Roberto Rossellini. Previously held up as an icon of purity, Bergman's fall shocked her legions of American fans.

Growing up in Hollywood, Jessica Malloy watches as her PR executive father helps make Ingrid a star at Selznick Studio. Over years of fleeting interactions with the actress, Jesse comes to idolize Ingrid, who she considered not only the epitome of elegance and integrity, but also the picture-perfect mother, an area where her own difficult mom falls short.

In a heated era of McCarthyism and extreme censorship, Ingrid's affair sets off an international scandal that robs seventeen-year-old Jesse of her childhood hero. When the stress placed on Jesse's father begins to reveal hidden truths about the Malloy family, Jesse's eyes are opened to the complex realities of life—and love.

Beautifully written and deeply moving, The Hollywood Daughter is an intimate novel of self-discovery that evokes a Hollywood sparkling with glamour and vivid drama."

I'm a sucker for stories about old Hollywood, especially if they have a scandal!

You Are Here: An Owner's Manual for Dangerous Minds by Jenny Lawson
Published by: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson, destined to be a classic―part therapy, part best friend, part humor, part coloring book.

When Jenny Lawson is anxious, one of the things she does is to draw. Elaborate doodles, beautiful illustrations, often with captions that she posts online. At her signings, fans show up with printouts of these drawings for Jenny to autograph. And inevitably they ask her when will she publish a whole book of them. That moment has arrived.

You Are Here is something only Jenny could create. A combination of inspiration, therapy, coloring, humor, and advice, this book is filled with Jenny’s amazingly intricate illustrations, all on perforated pages that can be easily torn out, hung up, and shared. Drawing on the tenets of art therapy―which you can do while hiding in the pillow fort under your bed―You Are Here is ready to be made entirely your own.

Some of the material is dark, some is light; some is silly and profane and irreverent. Gathered together, this is life, happening right now, all around, in its messy glory, as only Jenny Lawson could show us."

I am continually astounded by the talent of the Bloggess! 

Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen
Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Swimsuit season is coming up! Better get beach-body ready! Work on those abs! Lift those butts!

...Um, or how about never mind to all that and just be a lump. Big Mushy Happy Lump!

Sarah Andersen's hugely popular, world-famous Sarah's Scribbles comics are for those of us who boast bookstore-ready bodies and Netflix-ready hair, who are always down for all-night reading-in-bed parties and extremely exclusive after-hour one-person music festivals.

In addition to the most recent Sarah's Scribbles fan favorites and dozens of all-new comics, this volume contains illustrated personal essays on Sarah's real-life experiences with anxiety, career, relationships and other adulthood challenges that will remind readers of Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half and Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened. The same uniquely frank, real, yet humorous and uplifting tone that makes Sarah's Scribbles so relatable blooms beautifully in this new longer form."

Ironic that this is compared to and coming out on the same day as a new Jenny Lawson book... but just to talk about this book: Buy it. Seriously. It is amazing. It is funny. You will laugh, cry, laugh about crying, it is just perfection. I've only seen the ARC, but I also hope it's flocked like the first one. I like tactile books! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: August Derleth, Catriona Ward, Jenny Lawson, Kate Alcott, Margaret George, Mercy Thompson, Patricia Briggs, Rin Chupeco, Sara Scribbles, Sarah Andersen, Sarah Dunant, Seanan McGuire, The Bloggess

Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh by R.L. LaFevers
Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"In this fourth book in the series, Theodosia sets off to Egypt to return the Emerald Tablet—embedded with the knowledge of some of the ancient world’s most guarded secrets. Accompanied by her cat, Isis (smuggled along in a basket), Theo plans to return the artifact, then explore the mysteries surrounding her own birth and oh, yes— help her mother dig up treasures on her archeological expedition.

But nothing ever works out as planned, especially when a precious treasure appears suddenly, and then just as suddenlydisappears. . . When the Serpents of Chaos get involved, Theo finds she’s digging up a lot more than she expected!"
It felt like forever waiting for this book, but it's so good it was worth the wait!

The Unicorn's Tale by R.L. LaFevers
Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 160 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Is there no rest for the travel worn and weary? Not if you’re Nathaniel Fludd, the world’s youngest beastologist-in-training! All Nate really wants is to track down his missing parents, but when a unicorn falls mysteriously ill, Nate’s Aunt Phil makes it clear where a beastologist’s duty lies: to the beasts.

And if taking care of the world’s beasts isn’t difficult enough, Nate and Aunt Phil must also keep them safe from the villainous Obediah Fludd, who intends to do them harm. With all this taking up every last bit of his energy and time, will Nate ever find the parents he is so absolutely convinced are alive?"

Another stellar book from Robin. Two awesome books in one day is more than I could hope for. April is looking like an awesome month!

Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Published by: Putnam
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 330 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"New York Times-bestselling author Lisa Lutz conspires with-or should we say against?-coauthor David Hayward to write an original and hilarious tag-team crime novel.

Meet Paul and Lacey Hansen: orphaned, pot-growing twentysomething siblings eking out a living in rural Northern California. When a headless corpse appears on their property, they can't exactly dial 911, so they move the body and wait for the police to find it. Instead, the corpse reappears, a few days riper . . . and an amateur sleuth is born. Make that two.

When collaborators Lutz and Hayward (former romantic partners) start to disagree about how the story should unfold, the body count rises, victims and suspects alike develop surprising characteristics (meet Brandy Chester, the stripper with the Mensa IQ), and sibling rivalry reaches homicidal intensity. Think Adaptation crossed with Weeds. Will the authors solve the mystery without killing each other first? "

Another fabulous book by Lisa, afterall, it is my giveaway of the month!

Elizabeth I by Margaret George
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 688 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Personal and political conflicts among such larger-than-life historical figures as Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, and Will Shakespeare intertwine in George's meticulously envisioned portrait of Elizabeth I during the last 25 years of her reign. Unlike most contemporary depictions of the Virgin Queen, this one is actually a virgin; she's married to England, whose interests she pursues with shrewdness, courage, and wisdom borne of surviving the deaths of her family. Readers see the queen through her own eyes and those of her cousin, Lettice Knollys, wife of Elizabethan heartthrob Robert Dudley, aka the earl of Leicester. Elizabeth's antithesis, thrice-married and much-bedded Lettice, is driven by passion and self-interest, easily evidenced by the story's beginnings: it's 1588, and Elizabeth meets the threat of the Spanish Armada head-on while Lettice calculates how her son might benefit. Like her heroine, George (The Autobiography of Henry VIII) possesses an eye for beauty and a knack for detail, creating a vibrant story that, for nearly 700 pages, enables readers to experience firsthand Elizabeth's decisions, triumphs, and losses. Rather than turn Elizabeth I into a romantic heroine, George painstakingly reveals a monarch who defined an era."

Most known for her book on Elizabeth's father, this is sure to be another great Tudor read, plus I'm going to the book launch! How cool is that?


City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Who will be tempted by darkness? Who will fall in love, and who will find their relationship torn apart? And who will betray everything they ever believed in?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge.

In the heart-pounding fourth installment of the Mortal Instruments series, the stakes are higher than ever."

Yeah, new Mortal Instruments!


Red Glove by Holly Black
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself? Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose."

Yeah new Holly Black. Asside from the beginning of March, what with new Rothfuss and Briggs, this is a totally awesome line-up.

Bossypants by Tin Fey
Published by: Reagan Arthur
Publication Date: April 5th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy."

Love ya Tina Fey, but this cover creeps me out major. So perhaps this will be an e-book purchase for me?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bossypants, Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels, Elizabeth I, Heads You Lose, Holly Black, Lisa Lutz, Margaret George, R.L. LaFevers, Red Glove, The Unicorn's Tale, Tina Fey