Friday, December 30, 2011

What I'll be Reading in 2012- And What You Should Read, Too!

The first half of 2012 is going to be filled with amazing new books. Here are some of my picks for what to look out for.

The first new book I'm going to start in 2012 is Simonetta Angello Hornby's The Nun, out now from Europa Editions. From the publisher:
August 15, 1839. Messina, Italy. In the home of Marshall don Peppino Padellani di Opiri, preparations for the feast of the Ascension are underway. This may be the last happy day in the life of Agata, the Marshall's daughter. She and the wealthy Giacomo Lepre have fallen in love. Agata however must forsake her beloved Giacomo for the good of her family. Unfortunately the extended families of these illicit lovers cannot come to an agreement in their efforts to put the tawdry matter of their offspring's affair to rest and when Marshall don Peppino dies, Agata's mother decides to ferry her daughter far from Messina, to Naples, where she hopes to garner a stipend from the King. The only boat leaving Messina that day is captained by the young Englishman, James Garson.
Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son is a dense, long and engrossing thriller set in North Korea. It's Random House's big winter book and it's one with which to curl up next to the fireplace. I've been reading it slowly for a while now and I think it's a great book for some serious winter hibernation! Out in January.

Also in January:
  • The Little Russian, by Susan Sherman (Counterpoint),
  • The Last Nude, by Ellis Avery (Riverhead),
  • What They Do in the Dark, by Amanda Coe (W.W. Norton).
The Flight of Gemma Hardy is out February, and it's Margot Livesey's retelling of Jane Eyre set in Scotland of the 1960s. I read this already and I liked it- I think Eyre fans will want to read it and I think it will make a splash among womens' fiction readers. HarperCollins.

Also out in February from Grove Press is Me and You, by Niccolo Ammaniti. From the publisher:
From internationally best-selling author Niccolò Ammaniti, comes a funny, tragic, gut-punch of a novel, charting how an unlikely alliance between two outsiders blows open one family’s secrets.
Lorenzo Cumi is a fourteen-year-old misfit. To quell the anxiety of his concerned, socially conscious parents, he tells them he’s been invited on an exclusive ski vacation with the popular kids. On the morning of the trip, Lorenzo demands that his mother drop him off before they arrive at the train station, insisting that his status will be compromised if he shows up accompanied by his mother. Reluctantly, she agrees, and as soon as she is safely out of the vicinity, he turns around and makes his way back to his neighborhood, to put his real plan in motion: for one blessed week, Lorenzo will retreat to a forgotten cellar in his family’s apartment building, where he will live in perfect isolation, keeping the adult world at bay. But when his estranged half-sister, Olivia, shows up in the cellar unexpectedly, his idyll is shattered, and the two become locked in a battle of wills—forced to confront the very demons they are each struggling to escape.
Also in February:
  • Three Weeks in December, by Audrey Schulman (Europa Editions), and
  • All That I Am, by Anna Funder (HarperCollins).
Literary fiction readers take note- April brings a new one from William Boyd, Waiting for Sunrise, coming from HarperCollins. 

But May is going to be month when I blow my hardcover allowance! Coming up in May we have
  • The Twelve, by Justin Cronin, his long-awaited sequel to The Passage,
  • The Chemistry of Tears, the latest by Booker Prize winner Peter Carey,  and
  • Bringing Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel's sequel to her Booker Prize winner Wolf Hall.
What are you looking forward to in 2012? Do you have some galleys in your pile right now? What have you already dipped into? I'm always looking for more ideas!

16 comments:

ImageNations said...

this is a very detail 2012 reading propositions. I wish I could be sure of my readings. Interesting sounding books especially the one from Niccolo.

Steve said...

I'm excited for the new Peter Carey, too, and also for Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith and Children In Reindeer Woods by Kristín Ómarsdóttir. In my academic hat, I'm very excited about Sue Thomas' upcoming Nature and Cyberspace: stories, memes and metaphors — I've been looking forward to it for as long as she's been blogging the research leading to it.

Also, it's one I've already read, but Graywolf are bringing Kevin Barry's novel City of Bohane to the US this spring, and it is phenomenal.

bookspersonally said...

These sound great, The Orphan Master's Son sounds lovely, and have been meaning to try a Hilary Mantel - guess an upcoming new release is good incentive to get going! One especially high on my list is Patrick Somerville's new novel This Bright River.

Col (Col Reads) said...

If only I were that organized about my reading! I have scheduled a raft of classics for the winter, which suits my budget, as well as a novel about expats in Saudi Arabia, The Ruins of Us, that I'm really looking forward to reading. And, of course, there will be some Europa titles, including the new one from Amara Lakhous. Thanks for your insights in 2011!

Zibilee said...

Oh, a lot of these are going on my list right now, especially the Cronin and the Mantel. I can see that there are some amazing things coming out in the new year! I did end up going shopping yesterday, and picked up quite a few of the books that you mentioned in your best of list, including a few that you read last year. I think you have impeccable taste in books, and that's one reason why I always love to visit here!

Happy New Year, Marie!!

Sandy Nawrot said...

Ah yes, my love/hate relationship with Cronin! No way in hell I'll be able to pass up the second book, after that marathon audio adventure with the first one. I'm invested one way or another...

Ted said...

An enticing list. A history of the Russian Revolution, one on the evolution of islands and their species, Mary McCarthy's The Group, and the new Umberto Eco are all on my TBR pile.

Happy reading in 2012 to you!

Anonymous said...

exciting year coming! you can see my plans at the end of my 2011 recap. I'll be traveling to 52 countries thru books: http://wordsandpeace.com/2011/12/30/year-of-reading-2011/

Esme said...

I cannot believe that you already have books chosen for next year-that is organization.

Alyce said...

I'm curious about the Orphan Master's Son book. It had caught my attention before, but I haven't made up my mind whether or not to read it anytime soon, in part because of the length and also the subject matter. (It seems kind of depressing - like I'd need to be in the right mood to tackle it).

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

Yep, totally put The Nun on my TBR list! That sounds fascinating.

Care said...

What's with the name 'Gemma'? I keep seeing it everywhere. Maybe I will meet someone named Gemma soon? Enjoy your anticipated 2012 reads! :)

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

I really enjoyed THE FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY, and look forward to when it's out and I can tell my friends, "read it, read it!"

The others on your list look great, too. I love winter reading (seems I have more time in the winter?)

Vasilly said...

I think I'm going to have to pre-order Me and You. It sounds amazing! I'm doing the TBR Double Dare so the first quarter of my year is dedicated to my tbr stack. After reading this post, 2012 looks much brighter book-wise!

bookmagic said...

Reading Gemma Hardy right now, I like it even though there's no crazed woman in the attic

Booksnyc said...

I read Eva Moves the Furniture a few years ago so would like to read her new one - glad to hear you liked it!