Already read all the new titles from our ones to watch for post last month? Wondering what the buzz is for this month? Here are 5 new novels that you should keep your eye out for in February.
A Good American(M) by Alex George (February 7). At the beginning of the 20th century a young couple leaves Germany to settle in America and begin a family, setting up a story that spans generations. From the library catalogue: “The Meisenheimer family is caught up in the sweep of history as they struggle to find their place in their newly adopted country. The small town of Beatrice, Missouri is populated with unforgettable colourful characters. Poignant, funny, and heartbreaking, A GOOD AMERICAN is a novel about being an outsider – in your country, in your hometown, and sometimes even in your own family. It is a universal story about our search for home.” Pure(M) by Julianna Baggott (February 8) Post-apocalyptic novels are everywhere these days, and there’s a lot of buzz around this one. From Novelist: “In a post-apocalyptic world where those undamaged by the cataclysmic events are kept safely inside the Dome, a young girl on the outside teams up with a boy on the inside to search for his missing mother.” I’ve seen multiple comparisons to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Passage by Justin Cronin for this fast-paced novel that offers a bleak look at an imagined future. The Dressmaker(M) by Kate Alcott (Feburary 21) With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic approaching, I thought there would be a lot of fiction arriving this season with the Titanic as a backdrop. I’ve actually only come across a few new titles, and this romantic first novel by Kate Alcott was one of the first I uncovered. In this story, the sinking is the starting point, it’s what happens later when the survivors have been rescued and questions begin to circulate in light of all who were lost that forms the focus of the book. Trail of the Spellmans(M) by Lisa Lutz (February 28). Oh those Spellmans, what are they up to now? Lutz returns with the 5th case involving the delightfully dysfunctional family of San Francisco private investigators. You can expect mishaps and hi-jinks, family fights and some kind of detective work (though likely carried out in a slapdash and/or unconventional fashion). The Spellman series is a delight, great for fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, and anyone who likes a good chuckle and a bit of adventure. If you’ve not encountered the series already, start with the first The Spellman Files. The Carpenter(M) by Matt Lennox (Feburary 28). A first novel from a young Canadian author. From the library catalogue: “A suspenseful, darkly humorous, emotionally engaging work, THE CARPENTER is a powerful DEBUT novel. Set in a God-fearing small Ontario town in the 1980s, a town rife with secrets, grudges passed through generations and an undercurrent of criminal behaviour. Lee King, the carpenter, is returning after a lengthy stay in maximum-security prison to a community that still recalls his horrendous crime.” The National Post’s The Afterword blog named The Carpenter one of their 12 most anticipated books of the year.
