I say this every year, but 2021 is bringing several new books by my favorite authors. This list below is truly exciting to me. I can’t wait to get started!!

Here is what I’ll be reading during the first three months of this NEW YEAR:

You can click on the titles to view and purchase on Amazon (I do appreciate your support as an affiliate but I also encourage you borrowing from your library or your local bookseller.)

Also, if you missed it: here were my five favorite books from 2020.

The Paris Library: A Novel by Janet Skeslien Charles

Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Library + WWII = right up my alley. Thanks to NetGalley I have access to this early and I am finishing it now. I’ll report back next week.

Nick by Michael Farris Smith

Critically acclaimed novelist Michael Farris Smith pulls Nick Carraway out of the shadows and into the spotlight in this “masterful” look into his life before Gatsby (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of EMPIRE FALLS and CHANCES ARE…)

This is a prequel to The Great Gatsby. That cover!!!

My previous post on Gatsby.

When the Stars Go Dark: A Novel by Paula McLain

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife comes an atmospheric novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense: A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal?

I love Paula McLain. Read my post from when I saw her speak.

Libertie: A Novel by Kaitlyn Greenidge

As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman, Libertie struggles with where she might find it—for herself and for generations to come. Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States and rich with historical detail, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s new novel resonates in our times and is perfect for readers of Brit Bennett, Min Jin Lee, and Yaa Gyasi.

This is a new author for me but I love the themes of freedom and its relevance to the present.

Sunflower Sisters: A Novel (Caroline Ferriday) by Martha Hall Kelly

Martha Hall Kelly’s million-copy bestseller Lilac Girls introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday. Now, in Sunflower Sisters, Kelly tells the story of Ferriday’s ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse during the Civil War whose calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Anne-May Wilson, a Southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.

Another book by another solid storyteller. Read my previous post on Lost Roses.

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

It was called “The Titanic of the South.” The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah’s elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten–until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

This is an author I haven’t read before but the topic is new and intriguing to me.

UPDATE: I LOVED THIS BOOK – READ WHY HERE.

The Rose Code: A Novel by Kate Quinn

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

I loved The Alice Network!

Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan

Set in Jazz Age New York City, this stunning work of fiction, for fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank, explores the timeless bond between two brilliant, strong-willed artists. George Gershwin left behind not just a body of work unmatched in popular musical history, but a woman who loved him with all her heart, knowing all the while that he belonged not to her, but to the world.

“Set in Jazz age New York City…” say no more!

The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

From Kristin Hannah, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone, comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras―the Great Depression.

UPDATE: I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Ready my previous post on The Great Alone.

Wild Women and the Blues: A Novel by Denny S. Bryce

Ordinary People meets Chicago the musical as played out in the city’s Black Belt, Wild Women and the Blues is a mainstream historical fiction novel that weaves the stories of a grieving film student in 2015 and an ambitious chorus girl in 1925 in a tale of history, love, and secrets that only family can define.

A good companion to the jazz-age, New York book above!

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

From the New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today.

Though I primarily read for entertainment these days and my favorite genres are included above, I need to occasionally read something that challenges my post-graduate student mind. I actually hated Lincoln in the Bardo (by this author) but this non-fiction book focuses on Russian literature which I can usually appreciate.

Well I better get reading!! I hope you can find something that appeals to you on this list and let me know if you do!!