Greetings, Happy Labor Day. If you can believe it, it’s September already. Where did the summer go? I don’t know about your area, but there’s a nip of fall in the air here now. It’s cool, though luckily the smoke from all the wildfires seems to be mostly gone so we are pleased about that. As for my trip to Montreal, I had a great time at the Canadian tennis senior nationals and met my expectations by playing six singles matches there and one close three-set doubles match, so I was pleased to compete. The city too was fun to explore and we bicycled along the Lachine Canal out to the St. Lawrence River, which was lovely, see the photo below. By the end of the week, my husband seemed ready to move there across the country, uh-oh. Only I think it would help if I could parlez-vous some French.
Now we’re back and I’m wondering about all the wonderful releases that are coming out this month. Usually September is the best month of the year for new novels (and birthdays, like mine, ha). And sure enough, there’s new ones by such well-known authors as Pat Barker, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Khaled Hosseini, Paulo Coelho, and Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) among others. I was ready to pounce on Rowling’s latest mystery “Lethal White” with private investigator Cormoran Strike before I noticed it was listed around 656 pages. Woof. So Cormoran and his sidekick Robin Ellacott will have to wait. Meanwhile here are my picks this month.
First off who is author Abby Geni? She seems to write eco-thrillers as all three of her novels have to do with the natural world and the line between wilderness and civilization. I have yet to read her, but her books — such as “The Lightkeepers” from 2016 — have received considerable praise and this latest novel is no exception.
“The Wildlands” appears to be about a 9-year-old girl who accompanies her older, eco-terrorist brother on a cross-country mission of escalating violence, while their sister back home works with police trying to find them before it’s too late. It apparently ends with a showdown at a zoo in Southern California, gulp. The novel is said to be a fast-paced page-turner and the book cover seems to be alluring too. So what are you waiting for?
Next up is Esi Edugyan’s new novel “Washington Black,” which Kirkus Review says is a “runaway-slave narrative, which leaps, sails, and soars from Caribbean cane fields to the fringes of the frozen Arctic and across a whole ocean.” Wow, count me in for a number of reasons.
First off, the author’s last novel 2011’s “Half-Blood Blues,” which I somehow missed, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won Canada Giller’s Prize. Not to mention, wonderful Judy over at the blog Keep the Wisdom gave it a highly praised review. “Washington Black” too is getting spotlighted all over the place (with Amazon calling it its pick of the month). Plus the author Esi grew up here in Alberta. Her parents were immigrants from Ghana, and I plan to see her talk about the novel when she comes to the book festival here in October. Woohoo.
Then there’s British author Kate Atkinson’s new one “Transcription” about an 18-year-old girl who’s recruited by Britain’s MI5 to spy during WWII. Decades later she’s contacted by agents who insist she get back in the game as a double agent … and she realizes there’s no exit. Uh-oh.
I love the sound of this story of espionage, betrayal, and loyalty. I have read Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mysteries, but I didn’t get to her last two novels, which were quite different from those, so I’m quite eager to check this one out. As Kirkus Review says of “Transcription”: “There is intrigue. There are surprises. … The deepest pleasure here, though, is the author’s language. As ever, Atkinson is sharp, precise, and funny.” What more do you want?
Next up is Elliot Ackerman’s slim new novel “Waiting for Eden,” which is about a soldier at a San Antonio burn center, wounded terribly three years ago in Iraq, and it deals with the post-war relationship he has with his wife. It’s narrated by the soldier’s dead best friend who was killed in the same incident that left him injured, and gets into the heads of all three characters including flashbacks of their pasts.
Oh my, this one sounds quite shattering. I actually tried to avoid picking a war novel this month, but there’s so much strong praise on Goodreads about “Waiting for Eden” that I couldn’t pass it by. Some are saying it’s one of the best books of the year. Is it? I’ll have to read to find out.
Lastly there’s Samuel Park’s posthumously published novel “The Caregiver,” which “examines the relationship between a mother and daughter after years of mutual misunderstanding” so says Publishers Weekly. The mother becomes involved with revolutionaries in Brazil, forcing the daughter eventually to flee to California where she becomes a caregiver to a woman dying of stomach cancer. There she grapples with her past and uncovers truths about her mother while coming to understand what it means to truly take care of someone.
It seems like a gem of a read and is very sad that the author himself died last year of stomach cancer at age 41 after finishing the novel. Ugh, what a heartbreaker so young and apparently quite talented, but his fiction lives on.
As for movies in September, there’s several on my radar … such as, Robert Redford’s last film as an actor, which looks to be a bit of a charmer. He’s apparently retiring from acting after this one called “The Old Man and the Gun,” which is about a convict who escapes from San Quentin and at age 70 is involved in a series of heists that confounds authorities. Hmm it’s said to be a crime comedy-drama.
Being his last film, I’m trying to think of which Redford film as an actor was my favorite over the decades. What’s yours? Perhaps for me it was “Jeremiah Johnson” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” But I was a sucker too for him in “Out of Africa,” “The Natural” and “The Way We Were”— not to mention “All the President’s Men.” So happy retirement to Mr. Redford and so long Hubbell.
I also want to see “All About Nina,” which is supposed to be funny, about a stand-up comedian whose career is taking off, while her personal life is pretty much a disaster. That all changes when she moves to L.A. and meets a guy who challenges her preconceived notions.
Hmm. It sounds like fun and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who I haven’t really seen much before, along with the hip-hop artist Common. It looks like it might be just the right thing for a light September escape — and I’m hoping it has some laughs.
In addition to that: Keira Knightley stars as the author “Colette” in a biographical film drama; Julianne Moore plays a renown opera singer trapped in a hostage situation in “Bel Canto,” based on the 2001 Ann Patchett novel; and Emma Thompson plays a judge deciding a life-and-death case in “The Children Act,” based on the 2014 novel by Ian McEwan. Wow that’s a lot of literary must-sees coming to the Big Screen. Get thee to a theater, pronto!
McEwan gets all of his books made into movies. It’ll be hard to beat “Atonement” and I still haven’t seen “On Chesil Beach,” but I hope to see “The Children Act,” especially with Emma Thompson in it, along with Stanley Tucci as her husband. She plays a judge who’s deciding a case involving a teenage boy who is refusing a blood transfusion on religious principle. Meanwhile her marriage crumbles. Hmm. Sounds like a compelling drama to me — what’s not to like?
Lastly in music releases, there’s new albums by such legends as Paul McCartney and Paul Simon — wow — as well as Lenny Kravitz, and Ann Wilson among others. But since I’m a bit of a folkie these days, I’ll choose Amy Ray’s new album “Holler,” which is her ninth studio solo album. Apparently it was recorded live over a 10-day period in January in Asheville, N.C. I think Amy Ray is still part of the Indigo Girls, but she records her own music as well. This one sounds filled with Southern traditional country rock / mountain music. Check it out if you’re interested.
That’s all for now. What releases this month are you most looking forward to?
We have several in common this month including The Wildlands and Transcription. I haven’t r read Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mysteries, but her Life After Life is one of my very favorite books. I also have The Caregiver coming up. I think Waiting for Eden also sounds pretty interesting, though dark.
It’s nice that moves also start to pick up in the fall! have a great month.
Thanks Susie. Glad to know we have several reads in common this month. I’ll be zipping over to your site soon to find out what you think of them. Hope you have a great month too.
I’m glad the tennis was a success. I really want to get my hands on The Wildlands.
Thanks Kathy. Yeah I agree The Wildlands looks very enticing. And that cover!
Congratulations on your tennis accomplishments. I will look for Kate Atkinson’s new book. I love Life After Life so I wonder if I am up this one, too.
Thanks Anne. So many readers loved Life After Life. I’m eager to get to this one. She’s knocking these novels out pretty fast these days!
I didn’t know Kate A. had a new book coming out; thanks for sharing. I added the Khaled Hosseini book to my library reserves list, it did seem like it was targeted for a younger audience though. Have a great September.
Thanks Diane. I look forward to hearing if you think the Hosseini book is good. I did think his first two novels were incredible. And Kate A. seems to be writing books at a fast clip these days. I need to keep up. Enjoy your September!
Glad you had a good trip! It’s hard to believe fall is upon us… though we’re back to heat and humidity again! I’ve returned to Trollope this month, so won’t get to any new releases right away. Know I can count on you to let me know which ones are worth adding to my list 🙂
Thanks JoAnn, it was fun to be back East again — even with the humidity. Luckily the heat only got bad a couple days while there. I need to check in with your site this week — to see what’s up. It seems players at the US Open are having real trouble with the heat now in NYC. Hope your girls there are staying cool.
Summer did go fast. It will be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit here in New York this week so we have a little more to go.
The new books that you mention all sound interesting. It seems that a good percentage of books that I am reading lately are 800 plus pages so Lethal White does not sound too bad. Transcription sounds very good. I hand not read John Le Carré but it sounds like his style.
Yikes Brian that’s terrible about the heat in NY. Players at the US Open are really struggling with it. Meanwhile temps here have been cool so hopefully you’ll get that soon. You read a lot of long books — don’t know how you do it — but I enjoy hearing about them. Enjoy your September!
Thanks for the shout out! I did love that book and I will be reading the new one.
All the movies you mention sound good and are going on my list.
Happy Autumn!
Happy fall to you Judy. I looked up your review and saw that you gave Esi’s first novel 5 stars on Goodreads. I hope to eventually get to it. I’ll be interested to hear her speak about the new novel in October here. Sounds interesting.
I loved The Children Act, and seeing it as a movie sounds delightful.
I also enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie books, and not so much love for the last two.
I’ll have to check out this newest one.
Enjoy your reading, and thanks for sharing. Also…thanks for visiting my blog.
Thanks Laurel. I hope to read The Children Act before seeing the movie. Glad to know you liked it. It seems the new Atkinson novel will be good. Looking forward to it. thx for stopping by.
I’m very excited about Transcription–I really like Kate Atchison’s books, and WWII novels are my current interest.
The Children’s Act sounds excellent.
Nice to hear your trip to Montreal went well–I’ve been there once on business and really want to go back and explore, especially since I love Louise Penny’s mysteries!
Happy Fall reading!
Hi Jane. Interesting to hear you’ve been to Montreal. Sort of a neat city. We definitely enjoyed it. I too am excited about Transcription …. spying and WWII should make for an interesting read. Happy fall reading to you as well.
It seems you had a great trip back East and you enjoyed the tennis tournament. We are back to 90 F in New England for most of this week.
I haven’t kept up with new releases in September as I’ll be reading Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. However, Transcription sounds very good, as do The Wildlands, Washington Black, and Waiting for Eden. The movie offerings are good too. I’ll keep them in mind. I have not seen On Chesil Beach yet either, hopefully soon. 🙂
Yikes Carmen — can’t believe it’ll be 90F again this week for the East. Ouch. Interesting that you’ll be reading Warlight — look forward to hearing what you think of it. I had read his last one The Cat’s Table. I will have to see if the movie of On Chesil Beach is on rental soon. There’s too many good books this fall! Enjoy your September.
Thanks, Susan! I hope I will. 🙂 Two bloggers I follow said Warlight was very good; one of them and I have liked the same books we have coincided with in the past. I hope I agree. I believe On Chesil Beach is already out for rental.
Sounds good Carmen about Warlight. I will look for On Chesil Beach. I still hope to see it.
Lots to look forward to!
I almost never pre-order books but I’ve pre-ordered both the Atkinson and the Cormoran Strike novels. I just can’t wait on library copies!
Hi Laila, thanks for stopping by! Yeah I don’t blame you for ordering both books. It’s nice having your own copy. I liked Cormoran in the last book. I’ll be curious about the latest one – so I’ll look for your review. Cheers.
Lots to process here, but most importantly: Congratulations! I can’t imagine playing tennis competitively at any age. You must be fearsome!
Between you and Susie I’m adding The Wildlands to my TBR. I hadn’t heard a thing about it but it sounds really good.
I loved The Children’s Act- very thought provoking and I adore Emma Thompson so this is on my must-see list.
Thanks Catherine. I’ve been playing tennis in my life way too long (since a teenager) … but I’m still standing. Ha. Yeah I need to put The Wildlands on hold at the library. You might get to it before me so I’ll be curious to hear. I would like to read The Children Act before seeing the movie (if possible) — I’m a pretty big McEwan fan so I think I will like it. I think I’ve read 4 of his novels but there are some I haven’t gotten to yet.