Books we will want to read

In keeping with my promise to post items that cheer us up in these stressful times, I have good news for my fellow book lovers. Bernard Cornwell has a new entry in his spectacular Saxon series about the incorrigible yet lovable Uhtred. It is called The Flame Bearer and will be available in the UK, Canada, and Australia on October 6th; in the US, it will not be published till November 29th. Impatient American readers can always buy it from Book Depository, of course. The next two books will not be published till next year, but they are both well worth the wait. Margaret George has a new historical novel coming out next March; called The Confessions of Young Nero, it is set in imperial Rome and caused me to revise many of my preconceived notions about Nero—shades of Richard III! And one of my favorite medieval mystery writers has a new one coming out next February, The Proud Sinner. Barbara Peters, Priscilla’s publisher and editor, made an interesting observation in the Foreword, pointing out that the story evokes faint echoes of The Canterbury Tales crossed with Agatha Christie’s mystery, And Then There Were None, with seven arrogant abbots snowbound at Tyndal Priory, where they find themselves stalked by a killer. Priscilla is very adroit at ratcheting up suspense while sprinkling the plot with red herrings; I am up to Chapter 30 and I still cannot figure out who the villain is!
Since I also promised to post photos of cute animals, I shared a Facebook photo of Holly at her play date last week. Unfortunately, I can't post it here, but if you are Facebook friends with me, you can check it out there. Holly is well worth a click of your mouse!