Waiting on Wednesday #103

The Simplicity of Cozy: Hygge, Lagom & the Energy of Everyday Pleasures

by Melissa Alvarez

Make cozy your way of life with this guide for connecting to the positive energy of simple, everyday moments. Known around the world as hygge, lagom, and other similar terms, cozy and balanced living helps you improve your health, happiness, and spirituality by understanding and feeling the frequency of people, animals, places, and situations.

The Simplicity of Cozy explores a variety of topics, including mindfulness, simple ritual, self-care, home environment, relationship connections, and being in nature. Using easy techniques and exercises, you can tune into and practice the energy of coziness.

Expected Publication Date: 

 May 8th 2018 by Llewellyn Publications

Why I'm Waiting:

I love books about Hygge so this one really caught my attention especially since the cover screams cozy!

Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World's Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox

In this heady true-crime procedural, the creator of Sherlock Holmes uses his unparalleled detective skills to exonerate a German Jew wrongly imprisoned for murder, and sound a victory for reason over reflexive prejudice.

In 1908, a wealthy woman was brutally murdered in her Glasgow apartment. The police found a convenient but innocent suspect in Oscar Slater--an immigrant Jewish cardsharp--who was tried, convicted and consigned to life at hard labor in a merciless Scottish prison. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, already world famous as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was outraged by this injustice and became obsessed with the case. He scoured trial transcripts, newspaper accounts and eyewitness statements, meticulously noting myriad holes, inconsistencies and outright fabrications. Finally, in 1927, his work won Slater's freedom.

Conan Doyle for the Defense immerses readers in the science of Edwardian crime detection, telling the story of how Conan Doyle managed to overturn a murder conviction in the era before modern forensics--simply by employing the methods of his most famous creation. Along the way, Fox illuminates a watershed moment in the history of criminal justice, when reflexive prejudice began to be replaced by reason and the scientific method.

Expected Publication Date: 

June 26th 2018 by Random House

Why I'm Waiting: 

Because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that's why. Seriously though the man who created Sherlock Holmes helped solve a crime? How can I not want to read that.

Waiting on Wednesday #160

Come from Away by Genevieve Graham

From the bestselling author of Tides of Honour and Promises to Keep comes a poignant novel about a young couple caught on opposite sides of the Second World War.

In the fall of 1939, Grace Baker’s three brothers, sharp and proud in their uniforms, board Canadian ships headed for a faraway war. Grace stays behind, tending to the homefront and the general store that helps keep her small Nova Scotian community running. The war, everyone says, will be over before it starts. But three years later, the fighting rages on and rumours swirl about “wolf packs” of German U-Boats lurking in the deep waters along the shores of East Jeddore, a stone’s throw from Grace’s window. As the harsh realities of war come closer to home, Grace buries herself in her work at the store.

Then, one day, a handsome stranger ventures into the store. He claims to be a trapper come from away, and as Grace gets to know him, she becomes enamoured by his gentle smile and thoughtful ways. But after a several weeks, she discovers that Rudi, her mysterious visitor, is not the lonely outsider he appears to be, but someone else entirely—someone not to be trusted. When a shocking truth about her family forces Grace to question everything she has so strongly believed, she realizes that she and Rudi have more in common than she had thought. And if Grace is to have a chance at love, she must not only choose a side, but take a stand.

Come from Away is a mesmerizing story of love, shifting allegiances, and second chances, set against the tumultuous years of the Second World War. 

Why I'm Waiting: 

I've reviewed Genevieve Graham's books here and there over the past several years and every time there's a new book coming out I know it has to be on my WoW post. I still have to review her last novel Tides of Honor (LOVED IT) and cannot wait until Come From Away is released. Fun fact: I've me Genevieve Graham and she's super nice and hilarious!

Publication Date: 

April 24th 2018 by Simon & Schuster Canada

Playing to the Gods: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse, and the Rivalry that Changed Acting Forever by Peter Rader

The riveting story of the rivalry between the two most renowned actresses of the nineteenth century: legendary Sarah Bernhardt, whose eccentricity on and off the stage made her the original diva, and mystical Eleonora Duse, who broke all the rules to popularize the natural style of acting we celebrate today.

Audiences across Europe and the Americas clamored to see the divine Sarah Bernhardt swoon—and she gave them their money’s worth. The world’s first superstar, she traveled with a chimpanzee named Darwin and a pet alligator that drank champagne, shamelessly supplementing her income by endorsing everything from aperitifs to beef bouillon, and spreading rumors that she slept in a coffin to better understand the macabre heroines she played.

Eleonora Duse shied away from the spotlight. Born to a penniless family of itinerant troubadours, she disappeared into the characters she portrayed—channeling their spirits, she claimed. Her new, empathetic style of acting revolutionized the theater—and earned her the ire of Sarah Bernhardt in what would become the most tumultuous theatrical showdown of the nineteenth century. Bernhardt and Duse seduced each other’s lovers, stole one another’s favorite playwrights, and took to the world’s stages to outperform their rival in her most iconic roles.

A scandalous, enormously entertaining history full of high drama and low blows, Playing to the Gods is the page-turning account of the feud that changed theater forever. 

Why I'm Waiting:

I love reading about the beginnings of Hollywood and I think both these women were ahead of their time. I've read a little bit about them both and have always been fascinated by their feud so I'm looking forward to reading a book that the author has specifically done research on the topic.

Publication Date: 

August 21st 2018 by Simon and Schuster

What are you waiting on? 

Waiting on Wednesday #158

Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want 

by: Ruby Tandoh

Think about that first tickle of hunger in your stomach. A moment ago, you could have been thinking about anything, but now it's thickly buttered marmite toast, a frosty scoop of ice cream straight from the tub, some creamy, cheesy scrambled eggs or a fuzzy, perfectly-ripe peach.

Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures. Food nourishes our bodies, helps us celebrate our successes (from a wedding cake to a post-night out kebab), cheers us up when we're down, introduces us to new cultures and - when we cook and eat together - connects us with the people we love.

In Eat Up, Ruby Tandoh celebrates the fun and pleasure of food, taking a look at everything from gluttons and gourmets in the movies, to the symbolism of food and sex. She will arm you against the fad diets, food crazes and bad science that can make eating guilt-laden and expensive, drawing eating inspiration from influences as diverse as Roald Dahl, Nora Ephron and Gemma from TOWIE. Filled with straight-talking, sympathetic advice on everything from mental health to recipe ideas and shopping tips, this is a book that clears away the fog, to help you fall back in love with food.

Why:

While I didn't particularly like Ruby on her season of The Great British Bakeoff, I do love her love of food, and she is very creative so I feel like I have nothing to lose in giving this a try.

Publication Date: 

February 1st 2018

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1)

by: Melissa Albert

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

Why:

The cover of The Hazel Wood is what got me interested in reading it, but the synopsis make it sound like this one is going to be a bit of a mind binding, angsty read and I can't wait to get my grubby hands on it.

Publication Date: 

January 30th 2018

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday #157

A beloved culinary historian s short takes on six famous women through the lens of food and cooking what they ate and how their attitudes toward food offer surprising new insights into their lives. 
Everyone eats, and food touches on every aspect of our lives social and cultural, personal and political. Yet most biographers pay little attention to people s attitudes toward food, as if the great and notable never bothered to think about what was on the plate in front of them. Once we ask how somebody relates to food, we find a whole world of different and provocative ways to understand her. Food stories can be as intimate and revealing as stories of love, work, or coming-of-age. Each of the six women in this entertaining group portrait was famous in her time, and most are still famous in ours; but until now, nobody has told their lives from the point of view of the kitchen and the table. 
It s a lively and unpredictable array of women; what they have in common with one another (and us) is a powerful relationship with food. They include Dorothy Wordsworth, whose food story transforms our picture of the life she shared with her famous poet brother; Rosa Lewis, the Edwardian-era Cockney caterer who cooked her way up the social ladder; Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady and rigorous protector of the worst cook in White House history; Eva Braun, Hitler s mistress, who challenges our warm associations of food, family, and table; Barbara Pym, whose witty books upend a host of stereotypes about postwar British cuisine; and Helen Gurley Brown, the editor of Cosmopolitan, whose commitment to having it all meant having almost nothing on the plate except a supersized portion of diet gelatin."

Length: 320 pages (Hardcover)

Expected Publication Date: July 25th 2017 by Viking

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Why I'm Waiting:

I love a good food memoir. I love the way food can connect people. How it can help us remember things that we might otherwise forget. 

Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about cats comes the ultimate—and unexpected—guide to taking your cat into the wild. Here are cats walking on a leash. Cats hiking on a leash. Cats tramping through snow. Cats camping. Cats kayaking, canoeing, even surfing—yes, cats who love water.

When animal writer and active hiker Laura Moss couldn’t find an online resource for hitting the trail with her cat, she created one. AdventureCats.org took off like wildfire, with attention from Wired, the Huffington Post, Outside magazine, BuzzFeed, and much more. Now, the book Adventure Cats—a collection of jaw-dropping photographs, inspiring stories of real-life cats, and all the how-to a cat owner needs—will take readers and their cats well beyond the backyard. Learn how to leash-train a cat. What to do if you encounter wildlife on the trail. Plus, winter safety tips, and how to bring a little bit of the outdoors to an indoor cat.

The stories themselves are catnip for animal lovers, from Nanakuli, the one-eyed cat who hangs ten; to Georgie, a four-year-old gray tabby who lives on a sailboat; to Quandary, who not only insists on hiking with her family but also teaches them a valuable lesson: When you follow your cat’s natural tendency to wander, you experience the outdoors at a slower, richer pace. This book will delight every cat person, regardless of whether their pet is inclined to adventure. (Take the quiz at the beginning of the book to find out!)

Length: 224 pages (Paperback)

Expected Publication Date: May 16th 2017 by Workman Publishing Company

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Why I'm Waiting:

I'm the crazy cat lady who used to tandem walk her dog and cat until the cat started to relish her freedom on the leash and she started escaping the house so I have to try this one.

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday #156

Ancient Egypt, 51 B.C. Sisters Arsinoe and Cleopatra face a devastating choice: to allow Rome's army to siphon power from their ailing father, or to take matters--and the dynasty--into their own hands.

It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. But joint rule breeds its own conflicts: can the Nile be shared? Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king-but, at eleven, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land.

Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. As the palace echoes with rumors, scandals and betrayal, Arsinoe's love for her childhood friend Alexander deepens into a forbidden passion that could endanger both their lives. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile.

Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs. Faced with the choice of betraying her family or her country, Arsinoe will determine a kingdom's fate and the course of history.

Length: 432 pages (Hardcover)

Expected Publication Date: April 4th 2017 by Little, Brown and Company

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Why I'm Waiting:

I haven't read the first book in this series yet, but it is coming up on my TBR pile and I have one of those feelings where I know I'm going to enjoy the book so I can't wait to read this one. Cleopatra, Ptolemy. You had me at hello.

A mysterious keepsake, a murdered bride, a legacy of secrets...

One balmy June evening in 1881, Phoebe Stanbury stands before the guests at her engagement party: this is her moment, when she will join the renowned Raycraft family and ascend to polite society.

As she takes her fiancé's hand, a stranger holding a knife steps forward and ends the poor girl's life. Amid the chaos, he turns to her aristocratic groom and mouths: 'I promised I would save you.'

The following morning, just a few miles away, timid young legal clerk William Lamb meets a reclusive client. He finds the old man terrified and in desperate need of aid: William must keep safe a small casket of yellowing papers, and deliver an enigmatic message: The Finder knows.With its labyrinth of unfolding secrets, Claire Evans' riveting debut will be adored by fans of Kate Mosse, Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Jessie Burton.
Length: 448 pages (Hardcover)
Expected Publication Date: April 6th 2017 by Sphere
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Why I'm Waiting:
This one just seems to have such a complex emotionally wrought story between it's cover that I can't help but be curious about it. It sounds like one that will have me put my thinking cap on as well.

What Are You Waiting On?

Waiting on Wednesday #155

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

Summary:

An epic fantasy debut, The Empire’s Ghost weaves together the lives of the haves and the have-nots both desperately fighting to reassemble the remains of a fallen empire.

The empire of Elesthene once spanned a continent, but its rise heralded the death of magic. It tore itself apart from within, leaving behind a patchwork of kingdoms struggling to rebuild. But when a new dictator, the ambitious and enigmatic Imperator Elgar, seizes power in the old capital and seeks to recreate the lost empire anew, the other kingdoms have little hope of stopping him. Prince Kelken of Reglay finds himself at odds with his father at his country’s darkest hour; the marquise of Esthrades is unmatched in politics and strategy, but she sits at a staggering military disadvantage. And Issamira, the most powerful of the free countries, has shut itself off from the conflict, thrown into confusion by the disappearance of its crown prince and the ensuing struggle for succession.

Everything seems aligned in Elgar’s favor, but when he presses a band of insignificant but skilled alley-dwellers into his service for a mission of the greatest secrecy, they find an unexpected opportunity to alter the balance of power in the war. Through their actions and those of the remaining royals, they may uncover not just a way to defeat Elgar, but also a deeper truth about their world’s lost history.

Isabelle Steiger has crafted a powerful and masterful debut with The Empire's Ghost, the first book in a haunting new epic fantasy series. 

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 432 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Fantasy

Expected Publication Date:  May 16th 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books

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Why I'm Waiting:

I love a good fantasy novel especially one with a lot of political intrigue.

Summary:

The year is 2039, and Los Angeles is poised between order and chaos. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, now known as the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities and became a de facto third world country within the borders of the city.

Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there's no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane. So when movie mogul Selah Fiore decides she needs to get her hands on a rare coin lost somewhere in the city, she knows Keane is the man for the job.

But while the erratic Keane and his more sensible partner Blake Fowler struggle to unravel the mystery of the elusive coins, Blake's girlfriend Gwen goes missing and Selah Fiore turns up murdered. Both of these crimes seem to be linked to the coins--and to an untraceable virtual currency called iotas, used by drug dealers and terrorist networks.

Framed for Selah's murder and desperate to find Gwen, Keane and Fowler must outwit DZ warlords, outmaneuver a reclusive billionaire, and stay a step ahead of the police while they gradually uncover the truth about iotas. Soon the clues begin to point to a conspiracy at the highest levels of government--and to a mysterious trickster who has orchestrated it all. As the DZ devolves into chaos and another Collapse seems to loom, Blake Fowler realizes that the brilliant Erasmus Keane may have finally met his match.

Set in the world of The Big Sheep, Robert Kroese delivers another dystopian adventure novel perfect for fans of Philip Dick and Douglas Adams.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 320 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Science Fiction

Expected Publication Date: May 9th 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books

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Why I'm Waiting:

I love a good sci-fi and I've heard of the author's Mercury series before and I want to read it but this one really has me interested in trying him out. I want to read more sci-fi this year so hopefully I can get this one soon after release day.

Waiting on Wednesday # 154

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

Summary: 

Trapped on a planet millions of light years away from Earth, five scientists must survive sub-zero temperatures and horrific alien creatures as they make their way across the dead, frozen landscape to their base in this action-packed graphic novel. 
It is the age of space exploration, and five scientists travel 80 million light years from home to study the planet of Siberia, the location of Earth’s 56th colony. Completely covered with dense snow and steep mountains, Siberia’s poles reach temperatures of -300° F with icy winds of close to 200 mph.
After their shuttle crashes, the surviving scientists must walk across hundreds of miles of frozen wasteland to find the terrain basecamp. Between the biting cold, devastating snow storms, and horrific alien creatures, their chances of survival are close to absolute zero. In Siberia 56, author Christophe Bec imagines a hostile and fascinating world that harkens to the very best of the science fiction and horror genres. Superbly illustrated by Alexis Sentenac, this stunning work offers a chilling tale of survival in the vast recesses of a dying planet.
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com
Length: 156 pages (Paperback)
Genre: Sci-fi
Expected Publication Date: March 14th 2017 by Insight Comics
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Why I'm Waiting: This is a French title that's been translated to english so I'm quite excited to try something new. I'm a sucker for space exploration and if the cover is any indication of the artwork it will be a feast for my eyes.



Summary:

An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui.

This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.
At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home.
In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” The Best We Could Do brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past. 
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com
Length: 336 pages (Hardcover)
Genre: Memoir
Expected Publication Date: March 7th 2017 by Abrams ComicArts
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Why I'm Waiting: I love reading memoirs especially when they're adapted to graphic novel form. This one sounds like an emotional rollercoaster and I can't wait to give it a try.

Waiting on Wednesday #153

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

What do you discover when you cut back?

At thirty-five, Leslie Buck made an impulsive decision to put her personal life on hold to pursue her passion. Leaving behind a full life of friends, love, and professional security, she became the first American woman to learn pruning from one of the most storied landscaping companies in Kyoto. Cutting Back recounts Buck’s bold journey and the revelations she has along the way. During her apprenticeship in Japan, she learns that the best Kyoto gardens look so natural they appear untouched by human hands, even though her crew spends hours meticulously cleaning every pebble in the streams. She is taught how to bring nature’s essence into a garden scene, how to design with native plants, and how to subtly direct a visitor through a landscape. But she learns the most important lessons from her fellow gardeners: how to balance strength with grace, seriousness with humor, and technique with heart. Cutting Back is an insightful debut memoir and story of personal growth that will appeal to gardeners and non-gardeners alike.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 280 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Memoir/Gardening

Expected Publication Date: May 3rd 2017 by Timber Press

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Why I'm Waiting:

I love a good memoir and I love reading about gardens so this one is a must read for me.

A beautifully photographed, gift-worthy guide to growing, harvesting, and utilizing 47unexpected backyard garden plants to make organic pantry staples, fragrances, floral arrangements, beverages, cocktails, beauty products, bridal gifts, and more. 
Every garden--not just vegetable plots--can produce a bountiful harvest! Thispractical, inspirational, and seasonal guide will help make any garden moreproductive and enjoyable with a variety of projects using unexpected and oftencommon garden plants, some of which may already be growing inyour backyard. 
Discover the surprising usefulness of petals and leaves, roots, seeds, and fruit: turn tumeric root into a natural dye and calamintha into lip balm. Make anise hyssopinto a refreshingiced teaand turn apricots into a facial mask. Crabapplebranches can be used to create stunning floral arrangements, oregano flowers toinfuse vinegar, and edible chrysanthemum to liven up a salad. With theremarkable, multi-purpose plants in Harvest, there is always something for gardeners to harvest from one growing season to the next."

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 224 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Gardening/Cooking

Expected Publication Date: February 7th 2017 by Ten Speed Press

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Why I'm Waiting:

Well we're in the middle of winter here in Canada so can you blame me for wanting to escape in books that will carry me through until spring?  I love gardening and cooking and making things so this one sounds perfect.

Waiting On Wednesday #152

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

Summary:

For fans of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams, a highly atmospheric and suspenseful historical novel, set in the 1890s about a Scottish heiress who unexpectedly encounters her childhood friend in North America, five years after he disappeared from her family’s estate the night of a double murder.

Nineteen-year-old Evelyn Ballantyre has rarely strayed from her family’s estate in the Scottish Borderlands, save for the occasional trip to Edinburgh, where her father, a respected magistrate, conducts his business—and affairs of another kind. Evelyn has always done her duty as a daughter, hiding her boredom and resentment behind good manners—so when an innocent friendship with a servant is misinterpreted by her father as an illicit union, Evelyn is appalled.

Yet the consequence is a welcome one: she is to accompany her father on a trip to North America, where they’ll visit New York City, the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and conclude with a fishing expedition on the Nipigon River in Canada. Now is her chance to escape her cloistered life, see the world, and reconnect with her father.

Once they’re on the Nipigon, however, Evelyn is shocked to discover that their guide is James Douglas, the former stable hand and her one-time friend who disappeared from the estate after the shootings of a poacher and a gamekeeper. Many had assumed that James had been responsible, but Evelyn never could believe it. Now, in the wilds of a new world, far from the constraints of polite society, the truth about that day, James, and her father will be revealed…to stunning consequences

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 384 pages (Paperback)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Expected Publication Date: April 18th 2017 by Atria Books 

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Why I'm  Waiting:

I love some good old historical fiction and it's not often that I find historical fiction set in Canada (Where I live) and this one sounds like a bit of an emotional read as well which I don't always go for but, am looking forward to.

Summary:

Equal parts transporting love story and gripping historical conspiracy—think The Girl with a Pearl Earring meets Outlander—debut author Melodie Winawer takes readers deep into medieval Italy, where the past and present blur and a twenty-first century woman will discover a plot to destroy Siena.

Accomplished neurosurgeon Beatrice Trovato knows that her deep empathy for her patients is starting to impede her work. So when her beloved brother passes away, she welcomes the unexpected trip to the Tuscan city of Siena to resolve his estate, even as she wrestles with grief. But as she delves deeper into her brother’s affairs, she discovers intrigue she never imagined—a 700-year-old conspiracy to decimate the city.

After uncovering the journal and paintings of Gabriele Accorsi, the fourteenth-century artist at the heart of the plot, Beatrice finds a startling image of her own face and is suddenly transported to the year 1347. She awakens in a Siena unfamiliar to her, one that will soon be hit by the Plague.

Yet when Beatrice meets Accorsi, something unexpected happens: she falls in love—not only with Gabriele, but also with the beauty and cadence of medieval life. As the Plague and the ruthless hands behind its trajectory threaten not only her survival but also Siena’s very existence, Beatrice must decide in which century she belongs.

The Scribe of Siena is the captivating story of a brilliant woman’s passionate affair with a time and a place that captures her in an impossibly romantic and dangerous trap—testing the strength of fate and the bonds of love. 

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 464 pages (Hardcover)

Genre: Historical Fiction/Time Travel

Expected Publication Date:  May 16th 2017 by Touchstone

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Why I'm Waiting:

I do love historical fiction and the idea of the main character falling through a painting and having to save Siena is compelling though I worry about the Outlander comparison. Still this is one I'm excitedly waiting for.