Because while there are what are considered “big” books (Grisham, Cornwell, Shreve) coming out there are also some that may be off your radar but shouldn’t be.  So the first three titles may be some things that you may not be aware of.  The last two titles are “big” books that are coming your way this month.  And really?  What is more delicious than a big fat wonderful book on a cold day?

The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp is a third novel that has a lot of pre-pub buzz about it.  Who is Little K?  Prima Ballerina Mathilde Kschessinka who was the mistress to Czar Nicholas II. This book is fictionalized accounts of her life from young apprentice to mistress of the Czar to her turn as one the best dancers of the Imperial Ballet of Russia.  The author is a former ballet dancer herself so it should be rich in all sorts of wonderful back stage factoids.  

Barbara M. loved the Advance Reader copy of Stacy Schiff’s new biography of Cleopatra.  Although Cleopatra lived only 40 years, she really knew how to pack in the action!  Schiff delves into the reality of the woman not the myths that have been perpetuated over thousands of years.  

The Desketeers are wild over Kate Morton and her stories.  Last year’s Forgotten Garden was one of our favorites.   The Distant Hours, is her latest and those of us who have read it can state that she has lost none of her gifts for writing a story that you don’t want to put down.  When a letter posted in 1941 finally finds its intended receiver in 1992 50 years of secrets, lies and mystery come bubbling up to the surface.  

Dennis Lehane returns to writing crime novels in his latest, Moonlight Mile.   Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, who we last saw in Prayers for the Rain, are back and revisiting the case that bothered them the most -- the kidnapping of 4 year old Amanda and her eventual return to her less than caring mother.  Well Amanda is missing, again.  Will she be found?  Or has the seamy underbelly of Boston claimed another victim?

Stephen King is revisiting one of the art forms that he loves the best and is truly wonderful at:  the novella.  In Full Dark, No Stars, there are four for your reading pleasure; each one darker and creepier than the last.  King is such a great storyteller even if he is telling you things you’d rather not know.

 

Happily, I think that there is a little something for everyone on this list to help with the long dark nights ahead!