TBR & TBD | New and Noteworthy September 2016
Wow- it's hard to believe that it's almost fall! There are a couple of books that I am interested in for this month, but I noticed that there were far fewer interesting (to me) releases in September. I did manage to find a few- one with a compelling premise, one that is a bit of a departure for me, and one from a YA author's adult debut.
TBR 1 | Mischling | Affinity Konar | Release Date: September 6th, 2016
This is the one that I am the most excited about. This book has an interesting premise that is set in a very difficult period in time. Mischling- or a term used during the Holocaust to describe a person who is of both Aryan and Jewish descent- is a book about twin sisters Stasha and Pearl who are a part of an experimental group known as Mengele's Zoo.. Here, the girls are subject to torture and experimentation specific to their twin status. There seems to be a ton of juxtaposition at play- one twin is light and focuses on the good and the future, one twin on the sad and the past. Together they are whole, but what happens when they're forced apart? This book has some amazing reviews from impressive sources (Anthony Doerr of All The Light We Cannot See, for one) and I'm so excited to pick it up. I am hoping it will be both enlightening and powerful, with prose that's not too flowery or overdone.
TBR 2 | Commonwealth | Anne Patchett | Release Date: September 13th, 2016
This is the one that is a bit of a departure for me, but I heard about the author from the Modern Mrs Darcy podcast and she sounds very talented. She’s also a prolific author, as Commonwealth is her 14th novel. She’s written both fiction and nonfiction, and the premise is what grabbed me here. What intrigued me the most with this was the fact that the story spans five decades. I really like a full story and I hate when there are unresolved endings, and I feel like when a story spans 50 years I have a good chance of getting resolution :) Apparently, the story starts as all good epic stories do, with adultery. I'm interested to see how this one goes!
TBD | Leave Me | Gail Forman | Release Date: September 6th, 2016
Finally, a book that's TBD. I think that Gail Forman is best known for her YA books (with gorgeous covers) If I Stay/ Where She Went. Both of those books were heart wrenching and captivating- two qualities that I really enjoy in novels. Leave Me is Forman's first foray into the adult fiction and I hope it's a good one. The protagonist, Maribeth, seems like the quintessential mother/ wife. She is so doting that she doesn't even realize that she's had a heart attack! And it sounds like one day she decides to take an extended break... from everything. I am getting a bit bored with privileged women who strive to "have it all" but get so caught up in their quest for perfection that they let everything go to hell (see also: the new Emily Giffin novel, First Comes Love), but I'm hopeful that Forman's skilled writing will transcend the cliche.
