01 The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens by Chris DeRose
The young men of McMinn County, Tennessee, are coming home after fighting in World War II. But the disturbing scenes they find upon their return surpass the outrageous tales they've been told by family and friends. The deep corruption of the Machine running things in the county extends through the police force, the judicial system, and local elections and voting. Nothing happens unless the Machine okays it, profits by it, and assigns the people in charge of it.
But the brave GIs didn't survive years of brutal battles and ensure their much-anticipated homecoming in order to see their loved ones pushed around by swaggering, greedy, corrupt men who think they're untouchable. If there's a way to end the reign of the wide-reaching Machine, these are just the clever, fearless, determined citizens to do it.
The book's subtitle is And How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful, Armed Rebellion since the Revolution. The story is so compelling, I'm riveted so far.
I received a prepublication copy of this recently published book from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
02 The Empress: A Novel by Laura Martinez-Belli
It's 1863, and Princess Charlotte, called Empress Carlotta by the people, is behind the scenes in Mexico running things for Napoleon III alongside her philandering, frivolous husband Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria. Carlota and Maximilian are meant to squash the Mexican regime on Napoleon's behalf.
But Carlota has begun an ill-advised, passionate affair--thereby opening herself up to betrayal, intertwining her own tenuous fate with that of the kingdom, and potentially laying the groundwork for the destruction of her many ambitious plans.
Martinez-Belli is a bestselling author in Mexico; this is her English-language debut. I received a prepublication copy of this book (published yesterday, December 1) by Amazon Crossing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
03 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
In early eighteenth-century France, Addie LaRue is desperate. She makes a Faustian bargain in order to live forever--but the dark side of her dealmaking means she will be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Centuries later, Addie meets a young man in a hidden-away bookstore--and he's the first person in almost three hundred years to remember her.
Schwab publishes adult books under this name (and young adult books under the name "Victoria Schwab"). She has also written the Villains series (two titles in that one so far) and the Shades of Magic series as V.E. Schwab.
What are you reading now?
I've got historical fiction/fantasy, royal historical fiction, and a compelling nonfiction story that reads like fiction going right now. They each feel perfect for cozying up with as the weather finally begins to feel cooler around here.