The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading The Change, the upcoming novel (to be published tomorrow!) from Kirsten Miller about middle-aged women coming into their power and coming into their own; Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel's novel about plague and art that also plays with time; and Herrick's End, the first in T.M. Blanchet's young adult fantasy Neath Trilogy--and her debut novel--to be published next week.
What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms?
01 The Change by Kirsten Miller
In Kristen Miller's new (to be published tomorrow!) novel The Change, set in Mattauk, Long Island, three women cope with various challenges surrounding aging, change, and unexpected new beginnings.
Nessa's husband has died, and her twin daughters have left for college. The former nurse is coping with loneliness--but then she begins hearing voices like her grandmother once did. They're making suggestions about what she should do with her life, and Nessa realizes they're coming from the dead.
Harriett's career and marriage have fallen apart, but she's also undergone an incredible metamorphosis she can't ignore.
Jo has battled with her weight and struggled with her body image her whole life. But then she realizes that her hot flashes can be channeled into power.
When Nessa, Jo, and Harriet work together and use their newfound abilities to try to solve the mystery of a missing girl: middle-aged women heroines unite!
I received a prepublication digital edition of this book courtesy of William Morrow and NetGalley.
02 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
I'm listening to Emily St. John Mandel's newest book, Sea of Tranquility.
This one is difficult to summarize so far, but in this science fiction novel, Mandel plays with time and time travel, as well as mysteries surrounding what may be a portal linking individuals through time. Mandel explores an emerging pandemic in a future with a colonized moon, the universal connection of music, and the difficulty and danger in changing the past.
Sea of Tranquility swirls around the stories of a scorned gentleman from England who has an odd experience in the forest with inexplicable futuristic visions and sounds, a science fiction writer from two centuries later, our current day, who writes about an almost identical personal experience, and a detective from the future's Night City, who investigates the mysterious intersections through time of them both and becomes inextricably linked to a timeline connecting all of them.
03 Herrick's End by T.M. Blanchet
In Blanchet's young adult fantasy debut, Herrick's End, Ollie's only friend has disappeared, and he has no idea where she's gone.
Then he receives a mysterious note: "Still looking for your friend? I know where she is."
But the trail he's following leads to darkness and danger--and, alarmingly, at the end there is someone who's been expecting him, and who might destroy him if he doesn't figure out an escape, or at least find a little help.
Funny, sometimes grotesque, and full of surprises, Herrick's End is the first in Blanchet's Neath Trilogy. I love this beautiful cover!
I received a prepublication digital edition of this book (to be published May 10) courtesy of Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley.