What's Next on My TBR?

Oh my gosh. I’ve made it through nine of the 12 books I outlined for the first half of the year (and many more which appeared along the way). I WILL catch up on the three I missed! It's also time to tackle my target list for the second half of 2019—some I’ve been waiting for since the day I saw their book deals announced in Publisher’s Marketplace!

Relative Fortunes by Marlowe Benn—July 1. This one’s dog-eared on my night stand at this very moment. It’s 1920s NYC, and there’s a mysterious death, early feminists, and an inheritance to be had. I love the spunky main character, Julia Kydd.

A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean—July 1. This is a multi-generational saga about a granddaughter who seeks to uncover the truth about her family’s past, triggered by her discovery of an old photograph of her grandmother in the arms of a Nazi officer.

Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler—July 23. I loved Kibler’s debut (Calling Me Home, 2014) so much, that her sophomore novel is much anticipated. Also a dual timeline story, her new book features a university librarian who uncovers the hidden histories of women in an early-1900s home for rehabilitating “ruined” girls.

            Meet Me in Monaco: A Novel of Grace Kelly’s Royal Wedding—July 23. My husband and I did an excursion into Monaco years ago, during our 30^th anniversary trip to France. We drove a convertible around the city, following along the route of the Monaco Grand Prix—one of the world’s most prestigious automobile road races. Between that and the gorgeous cover of this novel by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, their book is a must-read for me.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson—July 30. I’ve had the honor of being a writing student of Joshilyn’s, and I will attend her book-signing party in metro-Atlanta next week. The story is about a game among friends and “what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.” The suspense is killing me to learn what happens in this book!

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis—July 30. Spanning the 1940s-1960s, this novel surrounds one of New York’s iconic hotels, two women with their eyes on Broadway, and the era’s political fallout from McCarthyism. Davis does NYC like nobody else!

We Are All Good People Here by Susan Rebecca White—August 6. My goodness, what an amazing cover. I’d read this book—with its optical illusion of two faces—no matter what it’s about. But to know it spans 30 years beginning in 1962 and is a “multi-generational novel that explores the complex relationship between two very different women and the secrets they bequeath to their daughters,” it suggests I won’t be able to put it down.

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio—August 13. I love this book’s official logline: Two women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious stack of love letters, and shocking secrets sweeping from World War II to the present—for readers of Sarah’s Key and The Nightingale. Wow. Enough said.

The Sisters of Summit Avenue by my friend and beautiful writer, Lynn Cullen—September 10. This is one of the novels I’ve been salivating all year to read! It’s about two sisters, a betrayal, and their mother’s dark secrets, all set in the Midwest during the Great Depression. It even includes a backdrop of old test kitchens for Betty Crocker recipes, which sounds fascinating to me—in fact, I still have my original Betty Crocker cookbook I got at my bridal shower more than 40 years ago.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes—October 8. Already pegged to be a major motion picture, this novel is inspired by real women called the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. Set in the Depression era, it traces the women who face danger to bring books to the people who’ve never had any.

I'm sure there's more to come!

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Coming in 2019

Here are some books I can’t wait to read in the first half of 2019. Problem is, I’m sure I’ll think of more, the minute I post this blog. Click the links to learn more. What’s on your reading list so far this year?

The Wartime Sisters: A Novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman. It's on my bedside table now! I'm excited to dive into this story of two sisters in a WWII armory, each with a deep secret. I absolutely loved Loigman's debut, The Two-Family House.

The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer - February 5. Told in interweaving timelines, this much anticipated novel is a portrait of Lee Miller--who transformed from a model to a renowned photographer in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin - February 5. If you loved the NYT bestselling The House Girl like I did, then add this to your reading list. It's a sweeping and intimate epic about one American family--a novel that Meg Wolitzer calls "richly observed and ambitious."

American Pop by Snowden Wright - February 5. It's about a Southern dynasty with ambition, passion, and tragedy, moving from Mississippi to Paris to New York and back. I can see myself getting lost in this family saga that follows the rise of a soft drink empire.

Baby of the Family: A Novel by Maura Roosevelt - March 5. In this debut, the money is old, the problems are new--and one American family has secrets. 

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - March 5. The iconic rise and infamous breakup of a 1970s rock band will be laid bare in this book. If it's as juicy as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, it will be a page-turner.

The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner - March 19. Meissner promises yet another emotional read with this story of identity, and two girls confined to a German internment camp in America during WWII.

Outside Looking In by T.C. Boyle - April 9. Boyle blew me away with his gritty historical fiction about Frank Lloyd Wright and Dr. Alfred Kinsey, so his spin on psychedelic drug guru Timothy Leary should be a real trip. 

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton - April 9. I think I fell in love with Cleeton's last book, Next Year in Havana even before Reese Witherspoon's book club did. Now, we'll be treated to a continuation of that story, with gutsy sister Beatriz and the Cuban Revolution. 

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly - April 19. A follow-up to her beautiful and wildly popular Lilac Girls, comes this story of three women set a generation earlier--in WWI. It's also based on true events. 

The Abolitionist's Daughter by Diane C. McPhail - April 30. I had the pleasure of meeting this author at a 10-day writer's workshop at Yale University. When she described her novel-in-progress over lunch one day, I knew immediately that I'd have to read this book. It's set in Mississippi and depicts a struggle of the Civil War that's much lessor known.

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake - May 7. I loved Blake's The Postmistress. Her new book is about a decision that ripples through a family for generations. Right up my alley.

The Last Time I Saw You by Liv Constantine - May 7. This book is about the aftermath of a brutal murder in high society. It's rumored to have shocking twists--and I believe it, because I read Constantine's last bestseller, The Last Mrs. Parrish. 

The Confessions of Frannie Langton: A Novel by Sara Collins - May 21. A debut novel being compared to The Underground Railroad and The Paying Guests, it's a historical thriller about a former slave who murders her employer and his wife.

The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith - June 4. I once named Smith's The Last Painting of Sara De Vos the best of the first 100 past-and-present novels I'd tweeted about. The author shifts between periods again here, though this time it's about the fate of a silent film director and his muse.

The Summer Country by Lauren Willig - June 4. This book is billed as a multi-generational Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados. I can't wait!

I've already got a reading list started for the second half of this year. . . .

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