Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Books Coming This Summer

If you want to see what books are generating buzz for the summer, check out this link to Entertainment Weekly here.   The list includes the two books I am most looking forward to, both conclusions to trilogies: Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the conclusion to the Millennium Trilogy, and Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  Larsson's book is out quite soon, May 25.  We'll have to wait most of the summer for Collins's book, though...it will be released on August 24.  It will be a long wait for me, but sometimes the anticipation of a book I know I am going to love is almost as good as the book itself.  Happy Reading!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

New D.E. Stevenson Collection

Last week I bid on a lot of 12 D.E. Stevenson books and I won.  They arrived today (Oh Happy Day!) and I have been having a lovely time sorting through them and deciding which to read first.

Let me explain why I am so excited.  For a book lover, there is no greater pleasure than finding a new author that you love, especially if that author was particularly prolific.  I heard about D.E. Stevenson from a blog I follow, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and these books are just the kind of books I like.  D.E. Stevenson is quickly becoming one of my comfort authors... with the likes of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, C.S. Lewis, Baroness Orzcy, etc.  Here's the problem:  though Stevenson was popular in her day, the vast majority of her books are currently out of print and in my experience, extremely difficult to find.  The two local libraries I frequent only had five total out of the 40-odd Stevenson books.  Neither of the local used bookstores I tried had any at all.

So, I have several weeks of bliss ahead of me.  Here is a list of the books that were in the lot that I won, so if you see one you want to borrow, let me know.  D.E. Stevenson was known for having characters from one book make appearances in other books, so many are interrelated.  I will group a book together with its sequel or as part of a trilogy as per The World of DES, but even if not listed as part of a group, a book is likely to be related to other books.  Most of them are new to me, but I will note the ones I have already read:

 1. Katherine Wentworth
 2. Katherine's Marriage


 3. Vittoria Cottage
 4. Music in the Hills
 5. Shoulder the Sky (My favorite of the ones I have read.  So happy to have my own copy).

 6. Gerald and Elizabeth (Has a sequel...not part of this lot).

 7. Celia's House (Have read this...rework of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park plot).
 8. Listening Valley (Have read this...sweet, charming story of an insecure girl blossoming into a confident young woman, with the help of an older man who cherishes her).

 9. Young Mrs. Savage
10. Still Glides the Stream (Have read).
11. The House on the Cliff
12. Anna and Her Daughters

If you are a D.E. Stevenson fan and you have an opinion on which book to read first, let me know.  If you have never heard of D.E. Stevenson, and you like sweet, innocent romances which are full of interesting characters and plots, give her a try.  She was related to Robert Louis Stevenson, so good writing runs in the family.

Since I heard of DES, I have been frustrated by the difficulty of finding her books.  I am hoping that some publishing company will decide to reissue her books, like what has happened with Georgette Heyer.