Wish List Wednesday: February

A new feature that I'm rolling out today is Wish List Wednesday, when I preview five new books coming out the following month. Each month, I'll be pulling out a few fiction and nonfiction selections that are either generating a lot of buzz in the literary world or are on my personal to-be-read list. Perhaps you'll see something you want to add to your wish list.

Why does February have to be so cold? Once Valentine's Day passes, the month is just plain freezing and not much to do. So here are five books you might want to curl up on the couch with while enjoying a hot beverage.

1) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
(Feb. 3, St. Martin's)
Available via hardcover, ebook and audio
Arguably the book of the month, this tale of sisters in World War II-era France has been making waves since the first reviews trickled in last fall. Topping out at nearly 450 pages, the book has romance, suspense and intrigue as one sister is forced to house a Nazi in her home while the other rushes headlong into the French Resistance. Hannah can expect to add another bestselling book to her list of accolades with this one and I anticipate that this will show up on many best books of the year lists.

2) The Glittering World by Robert Levy
(Feb. 10, Gallery)
Available via hardcover and ebook
When I first read the description of this book, I immediately thought back to Neil Gaiman's 2013 book The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and apparently, I'm not alone. The publisher has it listed as a comparable title to this debut thriller of a New York chef who returns to his Canadian home and realizes that home contains dark truths wrapped in long-forgotten memories. Themes of alienation, family secrets and the supernatural await readers. No word yet on an audiobook version.

3) My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
(Feb. 10, Putnam/Amy Einhorn)
Available via hardcover, ebook and audio
My Audible pick of the month, this book takes place deep in the heart of Louisiana, home to crawfish and LSU Tigers fans craving a national title in college football. In the summer of 1989, however, an unspeakable crime shatters the childhood of a 15-year-old girl. Growing up, memory and its power and the ability to forgive what many consider an unforgivable act play a big role in this book.

4) A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
(Feb. 24, Tor)
Available via hardcover and ebook
From the writer of the acclaimed Vicious, which put a spin on the superhero genre, comes the start of a new series aimed at fantasy. The story involves dual Londons, a courier that can travel between these parallel cities, magic, royalty and a pirate thief. Like The Nightingale, this book has also been generating a ton of excitement among online readers and it looks like it'll be a fun romp with a sequel reportedly planned for publication next year. The book is also my Kindle/hardcover pick of the month.

5) Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story by Mac McClelland
(Feb. 24, Flatiron)
Available via hardcover, ebook and audio
Last year, I received a sampler from Macmillan's newest imprint Flatiron Books. Their 2015 slate heats up this month with A Kim Jong-Il Production and Irritable Hearts. McClelland's memoir suffered PTSD in 2010 during a trip to report on the Haitian earthquake. In the extended preview I had, she wrote thoroughly and openly about her struggle with the disorder and traced its history. It will likely be difficult for some readers to read because of how raw it can be at times, but if the preview was that good, I'm curious to see the finished product.

While it didn't quite make the list, it should be noted that short story writer Laura van den Berg makes the jump to novels with her highly anticipated Find Me (Feb. 17, Farrar, Straus and Giroux), which tells the story of a girl immune to a pandemic disease who tries to find her mother.

Is there a book you're looking forward to this month?

Flatiron Books Launch

One of my first loves in reading is literary nonfiction. Rocket Boys, Band of Brothers, The Boys in the Boat, Friday Night Lights, just to name a few. So it is with a keen interest that I saw Macmillan, one of the big five publishers, launch a new imprint. Dubbed Flatiron Books after the famous Flatiron Building in New York, where Macmillan's headquarters happen to be based, the imprint is set to debut in the winter.

Macmillan explains the imprint as "committed to publishing intelligent fiction and nonfiction with commercial appeal by authors with distinctive voices." Based on that description, it seems like the imprint can be along the lines of Sarah Crichton's label at Farrar, Straus and Giroux or a much more selective Riverhead. Flatiron will be off to a good start with former New York Times and current Yahoo writer David Pogue debuting his book Pogue's Basics in December.

I purchased a Kindle Paperwhite recently and received a preview of the Flatiron sampler for Winter 2015 via NetGalley. Five nonfiction titles were previewed, but here were the three that stuck with me.

1) Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story by Mac McClelland (Feb. 24)

Journalistic nonfiction is right in my wheelhouse and this book is no different. We as a society tend to think of PTSD as the result of being in a war, but McClelland suffers the disorder after a 2010 trip to Haiti to report on the devastation post-earthquake. She delves into the history of the disorder and how it impacts her as well those she meets. At times it reads like a suspense tale, but I was impressed by the level of detail and openness she expresses. It was a gripping, albeit difficult read at times given the subject matter, but of the five samples Flatiron provided this was the best of the bunch and the one that immediately made it onto my to-read list. 

2) A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power by Paul Fischer (Feb. 3)

Part thriller and part world and cinema history, Paul Fischer's debut book chronicles the crazy but true story of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il's kidnapping of a South Korean director and actress in order to make better quality propaganda films. Fischer, a film producer who produced the documentary Radioman, Fischer explains Jong-Il as a petulant ruler who seeks worldwide acclaim for his films. Based on what we know of North Korea during his rule, his ambitions seem darkly comical but the means at which he aspired to achieve those ambitions were anything but. I have been going back-and-forth on adding this to my TBR, but would readily recommend it, especially to folks like a relative of mine who is both in film school and is interested in world history.

3) The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History by Robin Givhan (March 17)

I'm not a fashion maven by any means. I don't like shopping for clothes and I don't get the hubbub over fashion shows. Having said that, I know the names of fashion icons like Oscar de la Renta, who passed away this week, Givenchy and Christian Dior. Part of that is the result of watching the Oscars for years and hearing the inevitable "Who are you wearing?" questions on the red carpet. Givhan's debut book, based on the preview, was well-researched and almost felt like the fashion equivalent of an underdog sports story. The book focuses on a 1973 fundraiser for Versailles when American fashion designers managed to tilt the focus of the fashion world from Europe to the U.S. Occasionally, I like to read things outside of my usual interest areas and based on the preview, I would consider this one. I'd also recommend this to a few friends of mine who are more in tune with the fashion world.