Review schedule for the rest of 2012

The review schedule for the remainder of 2012 has changed a bit, thus:

August: Vivaldi’s Muse by Sarah Bruce Kelly (also further commentary on the August HNS review of Oleanna by Julie K. Rose)

September: Spirit of Lost Angels by Liza Perrat

October: The Concubine’s Gift by K. Ford K.  and Blomqvist by Michael Hickens

November: Saving Gerda by Lilian Darcy, and Unbidden by Jill Hughey

December: The Other Alexander by Andrew Levkoff

I will work in these other books that I have committed to (due to a lack of willpower and being way too intrigued by the content to turn down!) during this year as well; my time is becoming more manageable now, so I will be able to review more than a single book per month.

-the next two novels in the Sea Witch series by Helen Hollick

Loud, Disorderly, and Boisterous by Adam M. Johnson

Wanting Rita by Elyse Douglas

Andy Leelu by B.L. Gautam

Requiem by Bill Kitson

On the list for next year are more intriguing titles:

Malinalli of the Fifth Sun by Helen Heightsman Gordon

Absolom Rex by K.L. Coones

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I was just looking around the Indie B.R.A.G site to see what was new and I came across these gems that I am adding to my review list for 2013:

Ashford by Melanie Rose: Seventeen year old Anna is a naive American orphan, delighted to find herself on a tour of Europe in the spring of 1939. A feeling of camaraderie with all mankind thrills her as she mingles with throngs of foreigners, but her joy is short-lived. WWII shatters the world.

As fathers and sons, husbands and brothers dive grimly into the trenches, Anna is left stranded in England, disillusioned and afraid. However, this worldwide catastrophe may be the perfect catalyst to mature Anna into the brave young woman she longs to be. Even as the world is shadowed with disaster, Anna finds friends in the kindly Bertram family.

In the midst of all that threatens to tear her world apart, will she find a place to truly belong?

After the Rising by Orna Ross: When Jo Devereux returns to Ireland after an absence of 20 years, the last thing she expects is to end up writing a family history. Growing up in Mucknamore in the 1970s, with her village riven by the divides of a previous time, Jo found family pride brought her nothing but heartbreak and loss. Now, unearthing seventy-year old secrets of love and revenge in a time of war, and a killing that has haunted three generations, she begins to understand why.

In revealing astonishing truths about her mother and grandmother, Jo is brought face-to-face with her own past and her intense relationship with Rory O’Donovan, who still lives in Mucknamore.

Add to that list the Montfort series by Katherine Ashe. How can a person be expected to keep up with all the quality novels out there???

Oleanna, Darkness into Light, and what’s coming next…

I have completed Oleanna and Darkness into Light. I am holding myself back from writing a full review for Oleanna right now, due to the fact that I am reviewing this for the HNS and it is our policy not to post reviews on our personal blogs until after the issue has come out. I plan on adding a link to the HNS review, which is limited to 300 words, as well as elaborating on my comments here, in August. To summarize my thoughts on Oleanna, however, I found it to be a gently told tale with quiet depth, atmospherically stark yet richly detailed (how can that be? I will explain in the review), like the culture and the people of Norway herself. Quite beautiful.

For Sam Baty’s post-WW2 thriller, Darkness into Light, which continues the adventures of Jennifer and Otto (survivors from the first adventure during the war), I would write exactly the same review for this book as I had for the first installment. Thus, the problem with reviewing books in a series. In order to avoid useless repetition, I will simply direct you to the first review, HERE.

Next up: Eucalyptus and Green Parrots (Lori Eaton) 

THEN: Vivaldi’s Muse (Sarah Bruce Kelly), Spirit of Lost Angels (Liza Perrat), The Concubine’s Gift (K. Ford K), Saving Gerda (Lilian Darcy–with its beautiful cover–I really wish this wasn’t only an e-book!), and The Other Alexander (Alexander Levkoff). That should take us into the winter, and I am trying to read faster so that I can also fit in a few other e-book  titles before the new year.