Greetings, dear readers!  I hope you all have marvelous plans for the upcoming long weekend!

Over here in damp London, it’s the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Battle of the Somme, one of the largest battles of the First World War, and the deadliest day in British military history.  In one day, the British Army, which included men from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and a number of other colonial sites, lost 60,000 men–20,000 of whom died, and 40,000 of whom sustained inJuries that took them out of the field.  Within British history, it’s a hugely significant day for a number of reasons.  Britain had no standing army, so a significant percentage of these men were volunteers who had signed up early in the war, thinking that the war would be short and decisive.  That first day on the Somme was heart-breaking proof that it would be neither, and it’s a heartbreak from which, culturally speaking, no one has fully recovered.

The picture above was taken at Paddington Station this morning.  I’ve no idea where these men are off to today…or whether they are ghosts, but they were a very poignant reminder that history is a lot closer than we think at times.  More on this later, I can assure you.

For now, though, how about we think about your long weekend across the waters, and all the neat books you can take with you to read!  Here are just a few that crawled up onto our shelves this week, and are very eager to make an appearance at your holiday festivities!

A Gift for Guile: Alissa Johnson is carving quite a name for herself in the world of historical romance, creating vibrant, unexpectedly complex, and wholly original characters who fill the gaslight, fog-bound streets of Victorian London.  The second book in her Thief-Taker Series features Esther, a brilliant and supremely clever con artist, who is on a journey to make amends, and refuses to let anything stand in her way–not even the implacable and obnoxiously handsome private detective Samuel Brass.  But Samuel has decided, against all his better judgement, to ensure Esther’s safety, even if it costs him his own heart in the process.  Johnson’s writing is infectiously inviting, and I love the quirks that she builds into each of her characters (Samuel’s dog one one of my favorite surprises in this book).  Of this book, RT Book Reviews had nothing but praise, saying “Johnson draws readers into an intriguing mystery romance as disparate characters join forces to combat the demons of their pasts. The quick pace, sexual tension, touch of poignancy and the well-drawn backdrop seamlessly merge, allowing her characters and their conflict to take center stage.”

Liberty or Death: The French Revolution: It seems a fitting weekend to talk of revolution, particularly one so intimately tied to the history of the American Revolution.  In this new release, Peter McPhee, emeritus professor of the University of Melbourne, puts the French Revolution in a global context, seeing it not only as an events within France, but as part of an age of revolutions and uprisings, and looks outside of Paris, as well, to see how the revolution changed the lives of peasants, farmers, and others whose lives were irrevocably changed as a result of it.  Having spent his career studying the history of France, Professor McPhee’s love for his subject is evident, as is his ability to tell a very human and moving story.  Library Journal agrees, calling this book “Articulate and perceptive . . . Numerous histories of the French Revolution exist; while many are good, none is so current on the literature and lucidly presented as this. Scholars and history lovers will rejoice.”

The Bones of Grace: Much beloved and highly acclaimed author Tahmima Anam is back with a new book about love, loss, and the choices we make that define us.  Zubaida Haque is preparing for a journey to find the missing link to human evolution when she meets, and falls in love with American Elijah Strong.  Even though they both feel made for each other, fate has other plans, and Zubaida soon finds herself back with her family in Bangladesh, married to a man of whom her parents approve.  But Zubaida is still seeking answers, and as she throws herself into work on a documentary about beached ships, she begins to realize that she alone can rebuild the life she thought lost.  This is a book where the settings are like supporting characters, transporting readers to the troubled, yet somehow beautiful world of Bangladesh, as well as deep into its heroines heart.  The New Yorker loved Anan’s book, saying that her “fluent prose and sharp insights are at their best when the narrative strays . . . into the surreal ways in which faith and love work–and sometimes fail.”

The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047: Despite it’s futuristic setting, this book adamantly states that it is not science fiction.  Instead, Lionel Shriver has given us a story about money, about society, and about human nature that is as realistic as it is surreal.  Set in 2029, as the populations of each switch to a new global currency, the President of the US declares that America will default on its debts, and print its own money to survive.  With the dollar plummeting, the Mandibles see the inheritance they has planned to receive die in the whirlpool of inflation, changing their lives in unimaginable, and yet all too believable ways.  While the outlook sounds bleak, Lionel Shriver unique sense of humor flashes through these pages, offering surprisingly timely remarks even she writes a tale of future disaster.  Booklist hailed this release as “a sharp, smart, snarky satire of every conspiracy theory and hot button political issue ever spun; one that, at first glance, might induce an absurdist chuckle, until one realizes that it is based on an all-too-plausible reality.”

We Were Kings: Readers who enjoyed last year’s Serpents in the Cold, featuring the tragically human and wonderfully empathetic detective duo of Cal and Dante, prepare to return to the streets of Boston, circa 1950, and join our troubled but determined detectives on the hunt for an IRA man who is out for blood, and all the guns that Irish American immigrants will offer.  Thomas O’Malley and Douglas Graham Purdy revel in the scenic details of their world, bringing Boston of a generation ago alive in all its tarnished, seedy, and secretive glory, and confronts Boston’s very troubled legacy with the IRA head on, in a book that had the good folks at WBUR hailing, “In the best noir tradition, these co-authors shine a smoky light on lives often lived in the shadows.”

Until next week, beloved patrons–happy reading!