Saturday, August 18, 2018

Eight historical novels sitting on Mt. TBR

Hope you're all having a good weekend. I've been using the time to catch up with the TBR, and along those lines, here are eight books I'm looking forward to reading in the near future, time permitting. I took over additional duties at the library in June, so my summer has been more packed than it used to be.



The Locksmith's Daughter, my latest read, is a meaty novel of suspense and intrigue set in Elizabethan England.  Review to come.

Hamilton and Peggy!, which I received a copy of during the winter, covers the friendship between Alexander Hamilton and the woman who became his sister-in-law, Peggy Schuyler. It's a YA title, but L.M. Elliott's earlier novel of Renaissance Italy was equally enjoyable for adults, so I'm expecting this one will be too.

The Last of Our Kind, a prize-winner in France, is a literary mystery about love and family secrets set during WWII and the 1970s.

Death of a Rainmaker, a mystery set in Dust Bowl Oklahoma, just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. I'd enjoyed Laurie Loewenstein's first novel about social change in small-town Illinois, Unmentionables, when it was published in 2014.

Twentieth-century Korea and its people have been the subject of several new historical novels, including Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Mary Lynn Bracht's White Chrysanthemum. Eugenia Kim's The Kinship of Secrets (which has a blurb from Min Jin Lee) focuses on two sisters divided by the Korean War.

Kate Morton's newest gothic saga The Clockmaker's Daughter (yes, another "daughter" book) is one I've been anticipating for months, since I've loved all of her earlier books.

In The Splendor Before the Dark, Margaret George will conclude her two-book saga of about Emperor Nero.  I have a review due in 10 days so had better get cracking...

Lastly, The Latecomers is about an Irish housemaid and an old New England house with lots of secrets. There's a detailed family tree at the beginning, which is enough to catch my attention.

Will you be putting any of these on your own TBRs?

13 comments:

  1. I already had the two "daughter" books on my TBR and have added The Latecomers - it sounds very good. Right now I'm enjoying "The White Mirror" by Elsa Hart, the second in the Li Du series, quiet, but compelling and I enjoy the bygone Asian setting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds really appealing. I've been meaning to get into Elsa Hart's series.

      Delete
  2. I have he CLockmaker's Daughter and The Latecomers already sitting on my shelf as well, and I'm really looking forward to reading them soon! I completely forgot about the second installment of Margaret George's Nero books--I definitely need to pick that up when it comes out. The Locksmith's Daughter has been on my radar as well, it sounds very interesting. Hope you enjoy these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Nero books are a lot of fun. I'm about 50pp into the second book and enjoying his voice very much. Hope you enjoy the two that you have!

      Delete
  3. I hadn't seen there was a new Kate Morton book - I'm ready for one! The Latecomers also looks like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kate Morton's novel comes out in October. I want to get to it right away, but the only problem is there'll be a few years to wait for another, so I want to savor it!

      The Latecomers is one that showed up unexpectedly in the mail, and it looks like my type of book.

      Hope you enjoy both when you get the chance to read them!

      Delete
  4. I read the first Nero book, looking forward to this second one. I started reading The Locksmiths Daughter but had trouble with it, had to lay it aside. It could've been my frame of mind at the time, I will give it another try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes books just don't work for some reason. I had some issues with her previous novel.

      Delete
    2. The Brewers Tale? Yes! I had trouble with that too. Maybe she's just not my cup of tea as an author.

      Delete
    3. Yes, that was the one. I finished it, but there were parts where I wasn't sure I wanted to.

      Delete
  5. Currently reading The Locksmiths Daughter and love it. Once I accepted the premise of a woman spy in the 16th Century, I was all in. Learning lots of new vocabulary like "varlet."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The new vocabulary made the book a lot of fun for me. Glad you're enjoying it! I started writing a review but set it aside when things got busy. I'll have to get it posted soon.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:04 AM

      Me too!

      Sarah OL

      Delete