Monday links and deals

I'm on my lunch break, rounding up some historical fiction news and deals for a Monday afternoon post.

Last week I set up a profile with Google Reader, subscribing to all of the blogs I read regularly so that I can keep up with them more easily. I'd avoided dealing with feed readers for a while (I know some people read this site through Bloglines, though found it didn't work for me). I have to say that Google Reader has been an incredible help with blog and time management. Plus, I was astonished -- in a very good way -- to see that this blog has 286 subscribers through Google.

While looking through my subs there, I noticed that Mystery*File (my dad's blog) was featuring a review of one of Eilís Dillon's contemporary mysteries, of which there were three. The review links out to a long bio of Ms. Dillon, who wrote in many genres, but she was best known for her historical novels about Ireland. A year ago, I reviewed Wild Geese for this site as part of the "obscure books" series.

On that note, are there any out-of-print novels you'd like to see reviewed at Reading the Past, or neglected authors profiled here? If so, I'd be curious to hear.

The Seattle Times recently asked their readership to send in details on their favorite historical novels, and response was so great that they split the results up into two sections: American and international titles. How many have you read?

A selection of recent young adult historical novels from School Library Journal.

For a nice change, there were a number of historical novel deals featured in the latest Lunch Weekly roundup from Publishers Marketplace. The (NA) designation means North American rights were sold.

NYT bestselling author of Through a Glass Darkly, Now Face to Face, and Dark Angels author Karleen Koen's BEFORE VERSAILLES, a luscious, sweeping story of the young life of Louis XIV before he became known as The Sun King, to Heather Lazare at Crown, by Jean Naggar at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (US). [I've read and loved all three, and bet this new one will be hugely popular... it's nice to see more historical fiction set in France, too.]

Amor Towles' RULES OF CIVILITY, the story of a tenacious and beautiful young wit of ignominious beginnings who, in the twilight of the Great Depression, embarks on a journey through the upper echelons of New York City in search of a future far brighter than she's been told she has the right to expect, to Molly Stern at Viking, at auction, in a significant deal, for publication in 2011, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (NA).

Michael David Lukas's THE ORACLE OF STAMBOUL, about an eight-year old girl, who becomes an adviser to the Sultan in 1885 as the Ottoman Empire is crumbling, to Terry Karten at Harper, in a good deal, for publication in February, 2011, by Nicole Aragi at Aragi Inc.

Musician and songwriter Josh Ritter's first novel BRIGHT'S PASSAGE, set in rural West Virginia in the aftermath of WWI, about a veteran who has lost his wife and is caring for their newborn, and finds himself steered in unlikely ways by an angel who has followed him home from the trenches of France, to Noah Eaker at Dial Press, for publication in summer 2011, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency (NA).

Samantha Sotto-Yambao's EVER AFTER HAPPILY, a delightful debut in which a young widow discovers that her dead husband may in fact be very much alive - which would be wonderful if the bearer of this news wasn't her thirty-two-year old husband's thirty-two-year old grandson, her search for answers takes readers on an adventure from revolutionary Paris to medieval Prussia to ancient Venice, to a place where she discovers whether love is truly everlasting, to Kate Kennedy at Shaye Areheart Books, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (World). [The lengthy description here is intriguing; it sounds like a time-slip novel of sorts, but I could be wrong]

The Witch Doctor's Wife author Tamar Myers's THE HEAD HUNTER'S DAUGHTER, to Tessa Woodward at Avon A, in a very nice deal, by Nancy Yost of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency (NA). [Mothers, daughters, wives... the trend in book titles continues. I reviewed the first book for Historical Novels Review's February issue and plan to read this new one as well.]