Jan 3, 2016

Sunday Salon: Books to Start Out the New Year

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer and It's Monday: What Are You Reading by Reading Date. 

I haven't gotten much read over the holidays, but am into at least three different books that I pick up at random, in between chores. 

Had to drive in to Chicago at 3 a.m. the other day to get our guests to their connection at O'Hare Airport. The sleet storm that followed canceled all or most flights, so we stayed over and cocooned indoors looking out at the Windy, Sleety City that had suddenly gotten cold, as winter is supposed to be. Our visitors finally made it out of Chi Town on New Year's Eve.

No new books in the mail....I did get to the library and found two books with an Asian theme to start out the new year.

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes, published July 7, 2015 by Sourcebooks Landmark.

Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt's island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara's life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. 

Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core — and force her to make an impossible choice.

Inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, and the power of our own stories. (goodreads)


Sisters of Heart and Snow by Margaret Dilloway, published April 7, 2015 by Putnam.
The award-winning author of How to Be an American Housewife ( see my 2011 reviewreturns with a story of estranged sisters, forced together by family tragedy.
Rachel hasn’t returned  home since being kicked out by her strict father after an act of teenage rebellion. Drew, her younger sister, followed her passion for music but takes side jobs to make ends meet. When their deferential Japanese mother, Hikari, is diagnosed with dementia and gives Rachel power of attorney, Rachel’s domineering father, Killian becomes enraged.

In a moment of lucidity, Hikari asks Rachel for a book in her sewing room, and Rachel enlists her sister’s help in the search. The book—which tells the tale of real-life female samurai Tomoe Gozen, an epic saga of love, loss, and conflict during twelfth-century Japan—reveals truths about Drew and Rachel’s relationship that connects them in ways that turn their differences into assets. (goodreads)

I missed Dilloway's second book, The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns, a novel about the art of rose breeding, published in 2012, but am adding this to my list of books to read in 2016.

These are the new books I'm starting out with this new year. How about you?

14 comments:

  1. Over Christmas I also did not get a lot of reading done. Now that I have some time off around Christmas I am starting to make some progress. Hopefully 2016 will be good reading year for us all.

    Happy New Year to you and your family.

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  2. Happy New YeRs wishes. I think it's true for most of us - less reading was happening in D center. Right now I feel back in the swing of things. Enjoy your week. (Those 2 books sound good)

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  3. I like the look of both those books. Such pretty covers. Hope they are enjoyable. No, maybe not as much reading as hoped for. I was pretty much under the weather for most of the holiday time, but could not seem to focus much on reading. Lots of TV watching done. Happy New Year to you and I think we'll have a great 2016 on the reading front!

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  4. Happy New Year! I had to work at Christmas but had a lot of free days this week. So I spend my time reading and prepping blog posts for the new year.
    I love the sound of these two new books. I hope they are as good as they look ;)

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  5. Happy New Year! The Girl Who Wrote in Silk sounds wonderful! I've had Sisters of Heart and Snow on my TBR list but you remind me I should actually read it! I've had the last week of in-between Christmas and New Years, so I was able to settle down and get some reading done! My first book of the year choice was The Japanese Lover, which I am enjoying and am almost finished with. Not what I thought it was going to be either!

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  6. Both books are beautiful and The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is on my TBR. It sounds wonderful. Have a great week!

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  7. I have Sisters of Heart and Snow on my TBR already, I just discovered. It sounds amazing. Have a great week :)

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  8. It's difficult to find the time to read over the holidays, especially when we have guests! I hope you will have more time to read your new books now. They sound very good. Happy 2016, Harvee!

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  9. I didn't get nearly as much reading done over the holidays as I'd expected, but it's all good. :-) I'm intrigued by The Girl Who Wrote in Silk and may have to look for that one myself.

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  10. Oh, Sisters of Heart and Snow is going on my list! I love that kind of story. Enjoy your week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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  11. Sisters of Heart and Snow sounds fascinating. I haven't read How to Be an American Housewife (yet), but I've heard good things about it.

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  12. Both those library books sound great so must explore a little more. Happy New Year - always great to choose those first reads.

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  13. I did not get much reading done either over the holidays. Now that they are over I hope to get back to my reading. You can see mine here: http://theresaraymer.blogspot.com/

    New Follower

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  14. I LOVED The Girl Who Wrote in Silk. I think you will enjoy it...I hope you do. :)

    Sisters of Heart and Snow look good too.

    ENJOY, and Happy Reading this week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My It's Monday, What Are You Reading

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