{"id":31125,"date":"2016-01-25T06:30:57","date_gmt":"2016-01-24T17:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=31125"},"modified":"2016-01-23T12:36:19","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T23:36:19","slug":"an-avid-reader-special-karen-mcmillans-five-most-anticipated-reads-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2016\/01\/25\/an-avid-reader-special-karen-mcmillans-five-most-anticipated-reads-of-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"An Avid Reader Special: Karen McMillan’s Five Most-Anticipated Reads Of 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 11<\/a> I kicked off the second part of my \u201cavid reader\u201d special, in which several of the most avid readers I know are sharing their Most-Anticipated Reads of 2016.<\/p>\n

You met Karen McMillan in December when she shared her 5 Top Reads of the past year<\/a>. Now she’s back with a very interesting looking list for 2016 — a goodness I was determined you weren’t going to miss out on, even in Daughter of Blood<\/em><\/strong> publication week<\/a>. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

[If there isn\u2019t a current cover, I\u2019ll either deploy one from an earlier book in a series, \r\nor use none.]<\/pre>\n
—<\/p>\n
Karen McMillan’s Five Most-Anticipated Reads of 2016 <\/span><\/h3>\n
I am fortunate to be in the know of many books that are coming out in 2016. Here are some that I can\u2019t wait to read:<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Season<\/a>A French Wedding<\/em> by Hannah Tunnicliffe<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\u00a0Ensemble-cast Love Story<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
I loved Hannah Tunnicliffe\u2019s last novel, Season of Salt and Honey<\/em>, for the well-drawn characters, great sense of place, and the emotional connection she created. Her new novel, A French Wedding<\/em>, sounds every bit as good! A French Wedding,<\/em> I\u2019ve been told, is a novel filled with love, lies, fights, friends and feasts which reads like a love triangle between The Big Chill<\/em>, Chocolat<\/em> and Les Petits Mouchoirs<\/em> (Little White Lies<\/em>) and will, undoubtedly, become a favourite ensemble cast love story for readers.
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Much-ado-about-Shakespeare1-827x1024\"<\/a>Much Ado About Shakespeare<\/em> by Donovan Bixley<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Historical fiction
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Donovan Bixley has to be the most talented illustrator in New Zealand, and he is best known for his fabulous children\u2019s books. But for Much Ado About Shakespeare,<\/em> he has created something very different \u2013 fantastic drawings and writings of an imagined life of Shakespeare, perfect for children and adults. I\u2019ve only seen some of the pages, but can already see this book will be incredible. Perfect timing too, as 2016 is the 400th<\/sup> anniversary of Shakespeare\u2019s death.
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Lipstick<\/a>Scarlet and Magenta<\/em> by Lindsey Dawson<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Historical fiction<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been fortunate to read the manuscript for this book, so I\u2019m looking forward to when it is published! Set in the Bay of Plenty during the 1880s, Scarlet and Magenta<\/em> is a powerful and fascinating historical novel that vividly brings the sights and sounds of the time to life. Violet Sutton arrives from London into the tiny town of Tauranga. Beautiful, headstrong, opinionated \u2013 and with a sad past, and in an unhappy, abusive marriage \u2013 she is soon causing rumours and scandal amongst all the dutiful members of \u2018proper\u2019 society. Scarlet and Magenta<\/em> is Lindsey\u2019s ninth book, so readers are in accomplished hands!
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Big<\/a>[Untitled]<\/em> Liane Moriarty<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Contemporary fiction<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t a title for Liane Moriarty’s new book, but I can\u2019t wait to read her latest offering! She is the author of The Husband\u2019s Secret <\/em>and Big Little Lies<\/em> \u2013 both of which have been bestsellers around the world. And you shouldn\u2019t be fooled by this author. You start out reading something that at first glance appears to be light commercial fiction, but once you are hooked in, you quickly discover the author has a knack of writing about some very meaty subjects. Rumour is she will be touring NZ in 2016. I sure hope so!
\n.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Room,cropped\"<\/a>The Wonder<\/em> by Emma Donoghue<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
Historical Fiction<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
This is another book that I have little information about, although this recent feature<\/a> offers some clues. But I love the diversity of Emma Donoghue\u2019s books, so can\u2019t wait to see what she will surprise us with next. Her last novel, Frog Music,<\/em> inspired by a real-life murder case in the 1870s in San Francisco, was entirely different from the author\u2019s international sensation, Room<\/em>. Emma Donoghue is an accomplished writer, who writes books rich in detail and with original and believable characters. I\u2019m sure The Wonder<\/em>, will be, well, wonderful!<\/span><\/p>\n
~ Karen McMillan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
\"KarenMcM\"<\/a>Karen McMillan is the author of Unbreakable Spirit<\/em> and The Paris of the East \u2014 <\/em>but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen\u2019s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here<\/a>. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
To read the first two installments in this Top 5 series, click on:<\/p>\n
\n
Jennifer Lowe\u2019s Five Most-Anticipated Reads of 2016<\/a><\/h4>\n
Paul Weimer’s Five Most-Anticipated Reads of 2016<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On January 11 I kicked off the second part of my \u201cavid reader\u201d special, in which several of the most avid readers I know are sharing their Most-Anticipated Reads of 2016. You met Karen McMillan in December when she shared her 5 Top Reads of the past year. Now she’s back with a very interesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funstuff","category-guest-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31125"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31133,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31125\/revisions\/31133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}