What to Read - Fall 2024
I started thinking about Fall 2024 books today and there are quite a few that sound appealing:
Mystery/Suspense
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson (September). I am a big fan of Yorkshire-based PI Brodie. In this sixth book, Jackson is pursuing some mysterious art thefts when he gets stranded in a snowstorm with a vicar, a soldier, and a dowager at a hotel hosting Murder Mystery weekends. You know such weekends are an invitation to commit actual murder!The Waiting: A Ballard and Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly (November). After new DNA evidence emerges, LAPD detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, to track down a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold. As I have observed, it is smart of Connelly to develop some protagonists to succeed Harry.The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave (September). After their father’s accidental death, estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal. I enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me and The First Husband so am looking forward to Dave’s new book.The Trap by Ava Glass (September). En route to the G7 summit in Edinburgh, British spy Emma Makepeace receives a tip that Russian forces are planning an assassination there, leaving her to figure out who the target might be. I really enjoyed Alias Emma, first in the series. My review.I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell (August). When Alex takes the helm of the Dear Constance column, she’s drawn into her predecessor's murder investigation and nervously wonders if her new boss was involved. Obviously, I need to read this one!We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (September). As we await The Thursday Murder Club movie, Osman introduces a new series featuring Amy Wheeler, who works in private security, and her retired father-in-law, Stephen, who team up to pursue a killer. My review.Historical Fiction
The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers (October). This is a fictional take on the celebrated chef’s zest, humor and generous spirit during her WWII work in Asia for Bill Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services. It will either be charming or awful, don’t you think? The Colony Club by Shelley Noble. After she’s turned away from the Waldorf Hotel for being an unaccompanied woman, young society matron Daisy Harriman hires Gilded Age celebrated architect Stanford White (1853-1906) to design a clubhouse for women.Biography
Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher (November). I cannot recall ever having been interested in celebrity biographies but I am curious about Cher, so I put this on hold at the library. Quite a few people are ahead of me already!Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue by Sonia Purnell (September). At age 20 Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law became a “secret weapon” during World War II, strategically wining, dining, and seducing diplomats and generals to help win over American sentiment (and secrets) to the British cause against Hitler. She also had a long and influential career after the war. Adding a link to the New York Times review.YA and Children’s
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (October). A collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors, this middle grade historical adventure follows two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers, as they try to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother’s disappearance. I am not the only person obsessed with Bletchley Park! I am sure I would have loved this book at 10.If Anything Happens to Me by Luanne Rice (September). Eight months after the murder of her sister, Oli joins forces with another girl in a desperate and dangerous quest to unravel the case in their seemingly idyllic hometown. I have read many of Rice’s 37 novels but did not realize she has written several YA novels!
What are you looking forward to reading this fall? Maybe I can finish my 20 Books of Summer before I indulge in these new books? I got sidetracked yesterday with Ballerina by Nada Ćurčija Prodanović (1961) which I have owned since 2001 but suddenly felt compelled to read. It is quite enjoyable - a sort of Communist version of Lorna Hill or Ballet Shoes.
9 comments:
A Communist version of Lorna Hill or “Ballet Shoes”—sign me up! I’ll have to see if it’s available anywhere. Thanks for the heads-up on the new Glass book. I didn’t like the second one as much as “Alias Emma,” but hopefully she has returned to form.
I'm also really excited about the new Jackson Brodie and the Ava Glass books, but the book I'm most excited about this Fall is Lissa Evan's Small Bomb at Dimperley. Everything she writes is so entertaining and I can't wait for this to be released!
I'll save them for you, Emily! They aren't as lively as Hill or Streatfeild but I am enjoying anyway. And I agree the second Ava Glass book was disappointing. Have you read the Jackson Brodie books? The first one was extremely weird but once I got into them I was mesmerized.
Claire, I don't think there is a North American publisher for that book yet but I am hoping my sister will bring it back from London for me. I gave her my adapter and L20 so she sort of owes me.
Wow good to know about the new Sonia Purnell coming out! I have read about Pamela Harriman a bit before in a couple other books but this one should be definitive. I need to get it. Also I hope the Kate Atkinson novel will be entertaining. A good list of new releases.
I always appreciate your lists and recs because you find some interesting books. That one about Winston Churchill's daughter has been on my radar, either that or another book about her I saw, not sure. Like you, I'm looking forward to We Solve Murders and the movie of The Thursday Murder Club, the cast sounds pretty much perfect. I have a list of autumn plans, they include a John Connolly 'Charlie Parker' book, Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans (WW2), Katie Lumsden's The Trouble With Mrs. Montgomery-Hurst, a reread of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, Devil's Breath by Jill Johnson and basically, whatever else takes my fancy!
That's a really great list of books to look forward to. Three of them are on my "most wanted" list already (the ones by Connelly, Atkinson, and Osman), but now you've got me interested in a couple of others I hadn't heard about. So many books just slip through the crack because...well, because there are too many good ones to choose from. Lately I've been browsing lists from the past couple of decades and can't believe all I missed. But it's a never ending battle that has to be really frustrating authors.
So many great books. I am woefully behind on the Atkinson Brodie series, but I am a fan also. I am doing a lot of mystery reading this month, so I will try to get caught up so that I can read this latest.
I really enjoy Michael Connelly's books, and I agree, moving on to the new generation makes sense.
I hope and am sure We Solve Murders will be as satisfying as the Thursday Murder Club series--just about to start #4.
I personally think the Julia Child thing will be a bust Not sure why I have a problem with this, but I do. I remember she was not impressed when Julie Powell cooked her way through The Art of French Cooking. I think Julia knew a ploy when she saw one!
I 100% want to read Kingmaker. Now, that is a fascinating topic!
Thanks for the roundup. Lots to choose from!
Several books on your list are ones I will probably read eventually, but most of them will have to wait awhile. Death at the Sign of the Rook, but I haven't read the previous book yet. Maybe The Trap, but I haven't read Alias Emma yet. Richard Osman is always a must read, and I might break down and buy it when it comes out.
My current plans for September are My Antonia by Willa Cather, The Mayors of New York by S.J. Rozan, Tudors by Peter Ackroyd, Then We Take Berlin by John Lawton, and Blue Sky by Kate Atkinson. But that could change.
The Tudors sounds good, Tracy, and you should keep an eye out for Alias Emma, as you would enjoy it!. I bought the new Kate Atkinson today when I was meant to be tidying up for my forthcoming book group. I did buy the wine and most of the groceries, at least.
Jane, you are probably right about the Julia Child book, and she either would have hated it or roared with laughter. People who used to run into her shopping in Cambridge told great stories about her willingness to give advice and listen to kitchen mishaps.
Cath, I think I just put a book by Katie Lumsden on reserve at the library; will have to check. I have out that other one you recommended. I got behind while out of town last week and got distracted by The Last Word by Elly Griffiths instead.
Sam, do you remember how upset authors were during the early part of the pandemic because their books weren't getting attention even if people could get them at all? Today I stopped at a bookstore I have visited often, about 35 minutes away, and it was gone. I was puzzled because I had checked online that it had the book I wanted before I left. It had moved to a new location a mile away that is much smaller and in a less popular shopping area. Sometimes I wonder how anyone stays in business and I am ashamed of complaining about the prices!
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