Even though February is the shortest month, the foul weather and long dark nights can make it feel like a situation that will go on forever.  Hopefully some fabulous new offerings that are making their way towards us will help that situation.

On February 2nd we have the new Chris Bohjalian to look forward to! In Secrets of Eden was Baptist preacher Reverend Stephen Drew involved in the murder suicide of his two new congregants?  What was his involvement with the wife of the pair?  We cannot wait to find out the answers to these questions because we know Bohjalian will put a spin on it that we never could have imagined.

One book that several of us have read is a first novel from Sarah Blake entitled The Postmistress and we cannot wait to share it with you.  The story begins with the question what would happen if a letter never reaches its intended recipient? Blake then proceeds to spin three stories of three very different women for whom 1940 will be a pivotal year.  This wonderful tale takes us from a seemingly simple existence on Cape Cod to a London damaged by the Blitz to a terror filled Europe.  We really, really loved this story and we cannot wait to hear what you think.  Look for this one around the 9th.

It's Swedish, it’s a mystery, it's Hennig Mankell.  Could Abby get any more excited? The Man From Beijing tells the stories  of Jan Andren’s time in America as a foreman helping to build the transcontinental railroad and that of San, who was kidnapped in China in 1863 and shipped to America for the same purpose. How are these two men linked to a village massacre in the present day? On February 16th we all get to find out.

We love William Boyd and Ordinary Thunderstormswhich is due out on the 1st sounds like another wonderful story from a man who has never let  us down in that department.  What happens when you are forced to go “underground” and lose your identity?  And, oh yeah!  You have an assassin on your trail.  Add a pharmaceutical company, some missing documents, and a couple of dead bodies and you have something we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Under the non-fiction umbrella we are fascinated by The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  Rebecca Skloot tells the story of African American Henrietta Lacks whose cells were harvested months before her death of cervical cancer.  What have these cells meant in the world of medicine and research?  They have helped find the polio vaccine, shed light on the secrets of cancer, and have  aided advances in the world of reproductive medicince.  Although these cells are a valuable commodity in the research field of medicine, her family has not only not seen any profit from this but  they too have been guinea pigs of a sort.  Early reviews are saying this is an eminently readable piece of scientific history. Look for this one at the beginning of the month.

Let’s hope that what feels like the longest month flies by like the shortest month it is!