Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Waiting to Read Wednesday: The Thing Around Your Neck/Finder/Someone Knows



The Old(er) 
I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!


The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf, 2009)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie burst onto the literary scene with her remarkable debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, which critics hailed as "one of the best novels to come out of Africa in years" (Baltimore Sun), with "prose as lush as the Nigerian landscape that it powerfully evokes" (The Boston Globe); The Washington Post called her "the twenty-first-century daughter of Chinua Achebe." Her award-winning Half of a Yellow Sun became an instant classic upon its publication three years later, once again putting her tremendous gifts - graceful storytelling, knowing compassion, and fierce insight into her characters' hearts - on display. Now, in her most intimate and seamlessly crafted work to date, Adichie turns her penetrating eye on not only Nigeria but America, in twelve dazzling stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States.

In "A Private Experience," a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she's been pushing away. In "Tomorrow is Too Far," a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother's death. The young mother at the center of "Imitation" finds her comfortable life in Philadelphia threatened when she learns that her husband has moved his mistress into their Lagos home. And the title story depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to an America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected; though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to reexamine them.

Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, these stories map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them.
The Thing Around Your Neck is a resounding confirmation of the prodigious literary powers of one of our most essential writers. [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read this: I have a lot of admiration for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, both as a writer and as a person. I purchased this collections years ago, planning to read it, but there it sits on my shelf still waiting its turn. I tend to gravitate more towards novels than short stories, and that is in part why this remains unread. Still, I would like to reread it one day. 


Have you read this one? If so, what did you think? What book has been lingering on your shelf for a while that you want to read?

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The New
Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.


Finder by Suzanne Palmer 
Release Date: April 2, 2019 by DAW
From Hugo Award-winning debut author Suzanne Palmer comes an action-packed sci-fi caper starring Fergus Ferguson, interstellar repo man and professional finder

Fergus Ferguson has been called a lot of names: thief, con artist, repo man. He prefers the term finder.

His latest job should be simple. Find the spacecraft Venetia's Sword and steal it back from Arum Gilger, ex-nobleman turned power-hungry trade boss. He'll slip in, decode the ship's compromised AI security, and get out of town, Sword in hand.

Fergus locates both Gilger and the ship in the farthest corner of human-inhabited space, a gas-giant-harvesting colony called Cernee. But Fergus' arrival at the colony is anything but simple. A cable car explosion launches Cernee into civil war, and Fergus must ally with Gilger's enemies to navigate a field of space mines and a small army of hostile mercenaries. What was supposed to be a routine job evolves into negotiating a power struggle between factions. Even worse, Fergus has become increasingly--and inconveniently--invested in the lives of the locals.

It doesn't help that a dangerous alien species thought mythical prove unsettlingly real, and their ominous triangle ships keep following Fergus around.

Foolhardy. Eccentric. Reckless. Whatever he's called, Fergus will need all the help he can get to take back the Sword and maybe save Cernee from destruction in the process. [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: I keep saying I will read more science fiction, but it did not happen this past year like I hoped. I keep being drawn to the novels though, and this one is no different. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.


Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline
Release Date: April 9, 2019 by  G.P. Putnam's Sons

From the New York Times-bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding domestic thriller about a group of friends who have been bound for twenty years by a single secret—and will now be undone by it. Someone Knows is an emotional exploration of friendship and family, as well as a psychological exploration of guilt and memory.

Twenty years ago, in an upscale suburb of Philadelphia, four teenagers spent a summer as closest friends: drinking, sharing secrets, testing boundaries. When a new boy looked to join them, they decided to pull a prank on him, convincing him to play Russian roulette as an initiation into their group. They secretly planned to leave the gun unloaded—but what happened next would change each of them forever.

Now three of the four reunite for the first time since that horrible summer. The guilt—and the lingering question about who loaded the gun—drove them apart. But after one of the group apparently commits suicide with a gun, their old secrets come roaring back. One of them is going to figure out if the new suicide is what it seems, and if it connects to the events of that long-ago summer. Someone knows exactly what happened—but who? And how far will they go to keep their secrets buried? [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: Lisa Scottoline writes a good thriller and this one caught my eye. A secret from the past coming back to haunt the friends . . . I can't wait to dive in!


Do these interest you too? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to getting your hands on and reading?


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36 comments:

  1. Oh wow Someone Knows- that's quite the premise! I can see reading that one. and Finder doesn't sound bad. There's been some good sci-fi coming out lately.

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    1. Greg - Isn't it? I can't wait to read Someone Knows. Finder really appeals to me right now. I hope all of these are as good as they sound.

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  2. Finder stands out as a book I need to read!

    Here's my Waiting On Wednesday post. Hope you're having a great week! Happy Hump Day! xx

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  3. I've already got SOMEONE KNOWS on my list. I've enjoyed a bunch of books by Lisa Scottoline. FINDER somehow reminds me of some of the Guardians of the Galaxy storylines. Fun!

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    1. Kay - I like Lisa Scottoline, and she's such a nice person as well! I was thinking of Guardians of the Galaxy too. :-)

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  4. I like Lisa Scottoline's stand alone novels. Will have to take a closer look at Someone Knows.

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    1. Catherine - Someone Knows sounds so good, doesn't it? I hope it is as good as it sounds.

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  5. I have way too many unread books as well. I don't want to get rid of any of them, though, so I just need to figure out how to make more time to read. The Thing Around Your Neck and Someone Knows both appeal to me.

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    1. Kathy - That's me as well. I need to make more time to read.

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  6. Someone Knows and Finder are both ones that look pretty interesting. Great picks!

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  7. Once again you picked three good ones!

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  8. Everything about Finder sounds great! I've been meaning to read more science fiction too and this is one that's definitely going on my list. Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. Ashley - I think so too! I want to add more science fiction to my TBR too. So many good books out there!

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  9. Someone Knows sounds super intense but really interesting! Great picks with Week!

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    1. Michelle - Doesn't it? I hope it is as good as it sounds.

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  10. Oooh! Both books sound interesting, especially Finder! Great picks!

    Here’s my WoW!

    Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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  11. Oh yes please Someone Knows sounds fantastic! Friends and secrets like that make for the best read!

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  12. I haven't had the pleasure of reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie yet, but I really want to. I hope The Thing Around Your Neck ends up being a really enjoyable read.

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    1. Alicia - Half of a Yellow Sun is so good. I need to read her other work.

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  13. Noir by Christopher Moore has been lingering on my TBR shelf. Going to get to it soon, I swear. And both Finder and Someone Knows sound good. Hope you enjoy your picks!

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    1. Laura - I think I may have Noir on my shelf as well. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it. :-)

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  14. Lisa Scottoline is one of those authors I can't believe I haven't read yet! She writes such a wide range of books and they all appeal to me!

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    1. Katherine - Yes, she does! I haven't read most of her books, although I have read a couple and enjoyed them.

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  15. Someone Knows sounds like it'd be a gripping read!

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  16. Someone Knows sounds really good. I enjoy Scottoline's thrillers too so am hoping this will be an excellent read for us both.

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  17. I am on the fence about Someone Knows. I like Scottoline but I have not enjoyed a few of her more recent books. I don't know anything about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie but I tend to grab novels instead of short stories as well.

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    1. Carole - That is too bad. It has been awhile since I last read one of her books, so I haven't tried her most recent books. Hopefully this will be good.

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  18. I've heard Scottoline is good. I've yet to try her but one day hopefully :) Happy reading!

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    1. Anna - I have enjoyed Scottoline's books before and am looking forward to this one.

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