Mina's Bookish Resolutions for 2015

  

As we approach the end of 2014, about half of the population will spend some time reflecting on what needs  to change in their lives and how to follow through on those changes. Family and self-improvement seem to be the most popular new year's resolutions (spending more time with loved ones being the #1 goal, immediately followed by exercising more, losing weight, and quit smoking). According to a Forbes article though, only 8%  of people achieve their new year's resolutions: why does just a tiny fraction of people succeed at goal-setting and what is their secret? Well, there is a scientific explanation for nearly everything, including success and failure.

Behavioral psychologists claim that your chances to stick to your vows will dramatically increase if you keep your bucket list short and simple. In a nutshell, be realistic, prioritize, be specific, and chart your goals. Screening your improvements, using vision boards, personal diaries, or simply sharing your achievements with friends and family, will definitely boost your confidence and fuel your determination.

Spending time with loved ones is a lifetime resolution for me. Family is and will remain my #1 priority in 2015 and beyond. So, what else is left for a 43-year old girl with a booklover heart, a body shape she is completely satisfied with, and two kids that keep her more active than a personal trainer ever could? Books, of course. A sensibly short, easily attainable to-read list.

Here's my bookish resolution for 2015. Best wishes of a Happy New Year, from my bookshelf to yours.

In this richly told story where Sliding Doors meets P.S. I Love You, Kristin Harmel weaves a heart-wrenching tale that asks: what does it take to move forward in life without forgetting the past? THE LIFE INTENDED is coming up in a few days (December 30) from Gallery Books.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves... FIRST FROST (Waverley Family #2) by Sarah Addison Allen will be released by St. Martin's Press on January 6, 2015.

In this darkly imaginative debut novel full of myth, magic, romance, and mystery, a Princeton freshman is drawn into a love triangle with two enigmatic brothers, and discovers terrifying secrets about her family and herself—a bewitching blend of Twilight, The Secret History, Jane Eyre, and A Discovery of Witches. WILDALONE by Krassi Zourkova is to be released on January 6, 2015 (William Morrow).

In LILLIAN ON LIFE, Alison Jean Lester has created a brutally honest portrait of a woman living through the post-war decades of change in Munich, Paris, London and New York. Her story resonates with the glamour and energy of those cities. Charming, sometimes heartbreaking, never a stereotype, Lillian is completely herself; her view of the world is unique. You won't soon forget her. Due on January 13, 2015 (Putnam Adult)

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins will be release on January 13, 2015 (Riverhead).

 

CSI meets the Age of Reason with a well-drawn, intriguing cast of characters (Karen Harper) in Tessa Harris superbly plotted historical mystery series, featuring eighteenth-century anatomist and pioneering sleuth Dr. Thomas Silkstone. Due on January 27, 2015 from Kensington.

In snappy, glittering prose that is both utterly hilarious and achingly poignant, Katherine Heiny chronicles the ways in which we are unfaithful to each other, both willfully and unwittingly. Maya, who appears in the title story and again in various states of love, forms the spine of this linked collection, and shows us through her moments of pleasure, loss, deceit, and kindness just how fickle the human heart can be.  SINGLE, FREE, MELLOW, a collection of short stories, will be released by Knopf on February 3, 2015. 

'A sumptuous, page-turning account of William Shakespeare's muse in 1590s England...'.  Inventive and absorbing, The Tutor is a masterful work of historical fiction, casting Shakespeare in a light we’ve never seen. THE TUTOR by Andrea Chapin will be released in hardcover, e-book, and audio format on February 5, 2015 (Riverhead Books).

From the beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Anne Tyler--now in the fiftieth year of her remarkable career--a brilliantly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel that reveals, as only she can, the very nature of a family's life. A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, coming up February 10, 2015 from Knopf.

Based on actual attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria, INSPECTOR OF THE DEAD by David Morrell brilliantly merges historical fact with fiction, bringing a bloody chapter of Victorian England to vivid, pulse-pounding life.  (Mulholland Books, March 24, 2015) 

 Kim Michele Richardson's lush, beautifully written debut, is set against a Southern backdrop passing uneasily from bigotry and brutality to hope. With its compelling mystery and complex yet relatable heroine, LIAR'S BENCH is a story of first love, raw courage, and truths that won't be denied. Coming up from Kensington on April 28, 2015.

The stunning companion to Kate Atkinson's #1 bestseller Life After Life. In her new novel, A GOD IN RUINS, Atkinson tells the story of Ursula Todd's beloved younger brother Teddy--would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband, and father--as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. (Little, Brown & Company, May 26, 2015)

Summer of 1966. A beautiful and powerful couple, a picture-perfect marriage, a Kennedy-like fairytale with plenty of intrigue and romance. From the New York  Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, Beatriz Williams. TINY LITTLE THING is two seasons away (Putnam Books, June 23, 2015).

 

Love always,

Mina