Dreams, awakenings, secrets, discoveries

     Four new books today, though one is already a big hit with me. From the left:

 - A lovely hardback copy of Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches which I read in proof a couple of months ago. You may remember that I was greatly taken with the book (post here) and it featured among my books of the year, so if you've been anticipating its release your wait is almost over as it will be out very soon (I'm looking forward to the second in the series to see what happens next).

- Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter, has a new novel just out. The Lake of Dreams begins when, in a locked window seat in a rambling lakeside house, Lucy Jarratt discovers a cache of letters and objects which reveal a complex family history. From a suffragette to an artist with links to the art nouveau movement, these newly found people from the past will have an impact on Lucy's direction in the future.

- Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler is "a time-bending tale of manners, morals and the search for the perfect man"! Jane Mansfield, the daughter of a Regency gentleman, wakes one morning in present day Los Angeles and finds herself in the body of someone called Courtney Stone. Jane must quickly accustom herself to the strange modern world, but what she and Courtney do have in common is a love for the novels of Jane Austen. There are romantic entanglements and more in this "diverting romp".

- Exactly a year ago I wrote about Hector & the Search for Happiness by François Lelord which I found to be the perfect pick-me-up when one was needed. The second volume of Hector's journeys is now available, and in Hector & the Secrets of Love, our hero goes off in search of Professor Cormorant, a brilliant scientist who has disappeared with a pharmaceutical company's love potion formula! A "witty fable filled with thoughtful insights into how we find and keep love", this sounds like fun.