From One Book Lover

With a new kitten in the house, little has been done to anticipate the upcoming books. I will rectify that. But first, a picture of the kitten. Now we may continue. Many of the books I am looking forward to reading are sequels, including: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, the sequel to the delightful and suspenseful A Discovery of Witches (due out in the summer). (I apologize for not offering a review of the first novel, but I urge you to read it right away.) The Return of Shandar , the third in Jasper Fforde's Dragonslayer series , is due out in November. (I have been remiss in the second installment published in 2011. Please don't tell Mr. Fforde. The Last Dragonslayer , the first in the series, was amazing.) The as-yet untitled sequel to Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (publication date yet to be announced) Other novels I anticipate that are not sequels include: Gold by Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee , who...

Those in the DC area are invited to a Smithsonian panel March 6: Jane Austen: The Author, Her Legacy, And... Sea Monsters?   According to the Smithsonian : In this evening’s moderated panel discussion, Austen scholar Tara Wallace joins authors Seth Grahame-Smith, New York Times best-selling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ; Ben H. Winters, New York Times best selling author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters ; and Regina Jeffers, author of Vampire Darcy’s Desire and Darcy’s Passions as they talk about Austen the author and why her works have endured and inspired through the years.   The event will be moderated by Bethanne Patrick (@ bookmaven on Twitter and The Book Maven  on the Web). Frankly, it sounds like a lot a fun — and a good way to find out more about upcoming releases I mentioned earlier this month . Hope to see you there!

I'm pretty excited about what lies ahead for us bookies in 2010.  A few of my favorite authors are publishing this year.  Rarely are there that many pre-published books on my wish list, but this year appears to be the start of interesting times. My friend (and fellow book lover) Carole and I started out the year with one of our favorite authors in hand: Jasper Fforde published his latest novel, Shades of Grey , in late December 2009.  I'm taking my time reading this one, and not just because it's complex and intricate.  It's also original and humorous.  I can't wait to visit the author as he reads/signs at Politics and Prose January 16.  (Carole's schedule may necessitate an emergency trip to the UK for a signing, or at least New York.)  Fforde's Web site is a marvelous thing to behold and visit repeatedly, not only because he's as clever on the Web as he is on the page, but because there always is something different to experience. Elizabeth Kost...