random update

Was perusing Barnes & Noble's website just now, came across The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton; I really enjoyed that, and The House at Riverton, both of which I read before I started this blog (I assume, because I just searched for Morton and didn't come up with anything).  Anyhow.  An author to keep an eye on.  Forgotten Garden weaves in the Secret Garden, so how can you go wrong??  Okay, well, you could, you could go really wrong, and I would be incandescent with rage because I love that book, but this was more about Burnett, not Mary, et al., so it worked.  It was subtle, and felt respectful, not gratuitous or like the author was trying to profit from Burnett's work/following in any way.   Riverton, which I believe was her first novel, and had another title outside the U.S., was not quite as strong, but still very good.  Morton does a nice job with the tensions between social classes and age groups, and her prose is quite nice, too, so the books are more substantial than they might seem.  These would be totally fine for a plane, train, or automobile ride, but still smart and thought-provoking. 
Oh, and, this blog totally is worth it, because by checking on the dates of publication, I just saw that she has another book coming out in November - which I will totally keep an eye out for, now that I don't need to worry about writing the date and title down on a scrap of paper I will never see again...

Addition: not as good, but great beach/travel reading and worth keeping an eye out for more: Christi Phillips.  She wrote The Rossetti Letter and then The Devlin Diary, a series featuring a young female historian - diff. time/place than Willig, and darker, but same general "let's have an attractive historian researching the past and trace mysteries in two time periods" thing.  What can I say - improbable semi-romances that develop in archives appeal to me :)  In any case, don't think/know that Phillips has anything in the chute at the moment, but I'll add her name here so at some point when I search "books I want to read" it will come up and prompt me to check occasionally.

Yay!

For once I practiced some restraint - I got one of my regular emails from Barnes & Noble the other day, and in it was a 40% off coupon for Fever Dream, the latest in the Agent Pedergast "series" by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston.  At first I was sooo excited - since a neighbor gave Dad one (Cabinet of Curiosities) after his surgery, we have passed them all around the family and enjoyed the ridiculous exploits.  They've actually been steadily declining in quality, but I am still excited whenever I see a new one has come out, especially if I have a flight or something ahead of me (they're perfect travel reading).  So to get a brick-sized, brand-new hardcover for $17?  Great!  But I HELD OFF.  Because it's still $17 that could be spent on something that would last more than a couple hours, and will be available at a library soon enough, or in mass market paperback.  So, for once I actually did the fiscally responsible thing, whoo-hoo!  We'll see if I break down and buy it before my trip to New York next month (yay!  so excited!  taking two vacation days, going to see R, S, and - hopefully - C.S.!), but I don't think so.  Given that I seem to be able to read about two regular-to-large size novels per bus ride, the last thing I want to do is drag along multiple, heavy hardcovers.  I'm thinking paperbacks, maybe something one or more of the girls might like, at least for the ride out, so I can leave them behind & not drag back dead weight, so to speak.  Ha.  I'm planning out my trip reading for 3-4 weeks from now rather than doing the actual work I have to do tonight - so much for being responsible!