Suggestions for February 2009 Book of the Month

[diamondlil]

No theme for this month. One nomination per person please, and be sure to leave me the full title and author so that I can find the right details for the poll.

This thread will close on 20 December.

[Vanessa]

Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

The dark and sinister wonder of The Canterbury Tales meets the haunting terror of The Turn of the Screw

Midsummer's Day, 1348. On this day of ill omen, plague makes its entrance. Within weeks, swathes of England witll be darkened by death's shadow as towns and villages burn to the ringing of church bells. While panic and suspicion flood the land, a small band of travellers comes together to outrun the breakdown in law and order. But when one of their number is found hanging from a tree, the chilling discovery confirms that something more sinister than plague is in their midst. And as the runes warn of treachery, it appears no one is quite what they seem, least of all the child rune reader, who mercilessly compels each of her companions to tell their stories. And face the consequences. Take a leap of imagination and embark on an unforgettable journey through the ravaged countryside ... with only a scarred trader in holy relics, a conjuror, two musicians, and a deformed storyteller for company.

[amyb]

I second Company of Liars - just started it and lovin' it so far.

[SonjaMarie]

I'm still bucking for "A Question of Guilt" by Julianne Lee!

SM

[Amanda]

I was going to nominate Company of Liars too!

[Divia]

Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell

[Susan]

I'm still bucking for "A Question of Guilt" by Julianne Lee!

Reading it now and it has grown on me as I get further into it.

[Andromeda_Organa]

Forever amber

[Ash]

I think this is old news but I just saw a newly released Norah Loft book about Katherine of Aragon, The King's Pleasure. She has been a favorite of mine for years; I think her writing runs circles around the likes of many who call themselves historical fiction writers. I'd love to have an excuse to buy that book....

[annis]

For something a bit different, "The Good Thief" by Hannah Tinti, a gothic adventure.

<This striking debut novel is an homage to old-fashioned boys-own adventure stories, and unfolds like a Robert Louis Stevenson tale retold amid the hardscrabble squalor of Colonial New England. The sheer strangeness of the story is beguiling: a one-handed boy, tainted by his upbringing in a Catholic orphanage and with little to offer but a head full of lice, is adopted by a con artist, and enters an underworld of ruthless mousetrap-manufacturing barons, feisty chimney-dwelling dwarves, and, perhaps most terrifying of all, black-market dentists. In keeping with the gothic tradition, Tinti writes with an arch, almost camp sensibility. While on a nocturnal grave-digging excursion to procure bodies for a crazy scientist, for instance, the pair encounter an assassin, who tells the twelve-year-old hero that he was made for killing. Will the boy ever discover the truth of his past? Its good fun watching him find out.>
"New Yorker" editorial review

I enjoyed "Company of Liars" as well- there's a good twist in that tale.

[Kasthu]

Company of Liars is a great choice!

Since my TBR list is getting uncontrollable (snigger), I'm nominating something from it: The Needle in the Blood, by Srah Bower (set around the Battle of Hastings).

[chuck]

The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss.........

[annis]

Hey Chuck - I thought you might have another go for Robert Low's "Whale Road", after all, sheer persistence eventually worked for Misfit :)

[Misfit]

Hey Chuck - I thought you might have another go for Robert Low's "Whale Road", after all, sheer persistence eventually worked for Misfit :)

ROFL. How did you know that my first post on the Jan. book of the month was going to be that everyone picked it just so I'd stop nominating it :D:):p

[SonjaMarie]

I'm hoping persistence works for my choice "A Question of Guilt", I'm just going to keep suggesting it until it gets picked, so just be forewarned!

SM

[chuck]

Hey Chuck - I thought you might have another go for Robert Low's "Whale Road", after all, sheer persistence eventually worked for Misfit :)

Hello Annis....I think I was the only one that voted for Low's "Whale Road.....His latest will be released in March 2009....."the White Raven"....maybe I give that a go on April or May Book of the Month lists.....Reverte's The Kings Gold is on hold....I picked up Liss's The Whiskey Rebels and really enjoying the intriguing tale......Christmas Cheers to one and all......

[annis]

All the best to you as well, Chuck- I always enjoy your posts.

[diamondlil]

I will try to put up the poll for this tonight - after doing battle at the shops, tidying the spare room and wrapping all the presents!