On the To Read List….

Once upon a time, I used to go bookstore browsing all the time. It was my favorite way to unwind, to see what was out there, make mental notes about which books were out and which I wanted to read next. Sadly, both the bookstores on my usual orbit closed this past summer (bye, bye, Borders– I miss you), so bookstore browsing has become more a luxury and less a matter of course.

I was fortunate enough to find myself with half an hour to spare and a B&N on my route the other day. Naturally, I racked up a whole list of books I wanted:

— Juliet Grey’s Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow, the second in her Marie Antoinette trilogy. I loved Becoming Marie Antoinette, so I have high hopes for this one.

— Sara Poole’s The Borgia Mistress, sequel to Poison, which came out last year. I love tales of the Renaissance papacy, and Poison was a particularly good one. (For others who like that sort of thing, two oldies and goodies are Iris Johansen’s The Wind Dancer and Monica Linden’s Chiara.)

— Julia Quinn’s A Night Like This, which just came out on Tuesday. It’s by Julia Quinn and the heroine is a governess. Need I say more?

— Loretta Chase’s Silk Is For Seduction. I know, I know. This one has been on my to read list forever now… partially because it was all sold out the last few times I’d checked in the store. But they had a great big stack of it this time!

Which books have you been coveting?

13 Comments

  1. Jeffrey on May 31, 2012 at 8:36 am

    Mercy’s Embrace, an Austen spin-off trilogy by Laura Hile. It has gotten rave reviews from all corners. Book #1: So Rough A Course; #2 So Lively A Chase; #3 The Lady Must Decide. The entire series features the ‘other’ Elizabeth: Miss Elliott of Persuasion, her failings, romances, and redemption.

  2. CĂ©line on May 31, 2012 at 9:07 am

    There is this book that I’m dying to read but I’m told it won’t come out until quite some time. Maybe you’ve heard about it, it’s called The Ashford Affair… 🙂

  3. Liz on May 31, 2012 at 9:48 am

    Ditto on The Ashford Affair Celine! I’ve been eyeing Overseas by Beatriz Williams and The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesay. Also Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, but it’s just so darn heavy (and expensive…)

  4. Julie H on May 31, 2012 at 9:53 am

    I love to go to bookstores whenever I’m feeling out of sorts. They are such happy places!

    I’ve been coveting Kate Morton’s books, particularly The Distant Hours. I’ve never read her, but it seems like every time I’m in a bookstore, I see one of her beautiful covers, then I read the backs again, and they all sound so interesting!

  5. Caroline on May 31, 2012 at 10:46 am

    I have a 55+ TBR pile going on GoodReads and I’m finally making a dent in it. Up next is “The Dressmaker” by Kate Alcott. Also I’m waiting on my library for “His Last Duchess” by Gabrielle Kim and I’m hoping to track down a copy of “The Gilded Lily” by Deborah Swift since I’m working on an English Civil War novel.

  6. MelissaW on May 31, 2012 at 11:29 am

    I read Quinn’s A NIGHT LIKE THIS on Tuesday – a nice followup to JUST LIKE HEAVEN.

    There’s a “table read” of Harriet’s play one afternoon and it’s hysterical (the introduction of Sarah’s little sisters is priceless).

  7. Katie on May 31, 2012 at 12:06 pm

    I am very excited to read Kate Noble’s newest book, If I Fall. I liked the main character of this book in the previous book, Follow My Lead, and was a bit bummed for her because of the way things turned out. Looking forward to seeing her own happy ending play out!

  8. Gina on May 31, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    There’s a book called New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 (a history of New York through diary entries of several people) that I’ve been wanting for a long time. Actually, reading this post reminded me that in part of my dream last night, I was in B&N looking for it. That’s probably a sign I should go book shopping soon, right?

  9. Allison (Allure of Books) on May 31, 2012 at 6:49 pm

    Silk is for Seduction is SOSOSO good! I hope you love it 🙂

  10. Amy N. on May 31, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    Books I haven’t yet purchased but have been coveting:

    Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre; Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Cen​tury Lives by Natalie Zemon Davis; The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Centu​ry Miller by Carlo Ginzburg; Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor by Rosina Harrison; Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life by Natalie Dykstra;
    The Archer’s Tale (The Grail Quest, Book 1)by Bernard Cornwell.

    Some are too recent to show up in a used bookstore but you never know…

  11. Kari on May 31, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    I am so glad you put up Splendor! I loved Becoming, but didn’t realize the next book was out, lord was I behind!

    I have heard *not read* that if you are missing Downton Abbey that The American Heiress is great.

  12. Jessica C on June 1, 2012 at 12:20 am

    I have tonnes on my wishlist, but the most urgent are –

    The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (and the next two in the series – The Dead-Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places)

    Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth

    Graceling, Fire and Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

    And, most of all, I’m dying to get my hands on a copy of Bring Up the Bodies – the sequel to the fabulous Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

  13. Tracie on June 2, 2012 at 7:45 am

    A friend just recommended a YA series with some gothic, supernatural elements, as well as lots of romance, to me that starts with Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Apparently, these books are very popular and BC is currently being made into a movie down in New Orleans with Emmy Rossum, Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, and Viola Davis. Emmy’s been tweeting pix of herself in crinolines and hoop skirts (I guess the characters in the books are really into Civil War reenactments.) I’m hoping that BC lives up to the hype and I’m looking forward to starting it in the very near future.

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