Today's a doozy of a Tuesday.  It's Election Day here in the U.S. and, let me tell you, tensions are running very, very high!  I've never experienced a crazier, more divisive election—I can't wait for it to be over.  People are panicking (Costco was completely out of toilet paper by the time I got there at 11:30 yesterday), desperately worried over what will happen if Trump loses.  I'm praying that peace and level-headedness will prevail.  If it doesn't, my pantry and freezer are stocked in case we need to hunker down for awhile.  I admit I'm concerned about the fate of my beloved nation, especially if my chosen candidate does not triumph, but I have faith that God is the one who's truly in charge.  May He bless my beloved nation today and always.

Top Ten Tuesday is always a fun distraction and today it's especially needed!  The topic du jour—My Top Ten Non-Bookish Hobbies—is one I did back in January of 2018 and then again in April of this year.  I don't have enough hobbies to revisit the subject, so I'm going to do something else with my list today.  

1.  Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee (coming May 4)—Titanic books always interest me, so I'm all in for this novel by Lee, who's one of my favorite writers of YA historical fiction.  The story revolves around a British-Chinese teen who smuggles herself on Titanic.  Her plan is to find her missing brother, then convince the higher-ups at the Ringling Brothers Circus to take them both on as trapeze artists.  Of course, nothing goes quite as planned.  Sounds good, yes?

2.  The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper (coming March 9)—I discovered this Australian author earlier this year and have been anxious to read more by her ever since.  Starting in 1906, her newest concerns a young orphan who is taken in by philanthropist siblings.  When her female guardian reacts strangely to a gallery exhibit, the girl realizes how little she really knows about the woman.  She sets out to discover the enigmatic woman's back story.  

3.  After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore (coming March 1)—In 1865, New Hampshire, a woman is summoned to collect her sister's body from the mental asylum where she has just died from a four-story fall off the institution's roof.  The asylum directors claim their patient committed suicide, but her sister suspects something far more sinister:  murder.

4.  The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher (coming February 2)—When Lucy Wilson comes to rural Kentucky in 1911 to work for the education superintendent, she is shocked to discover that most adults in the area's hill country cannot read or write.  She vows to change that.  Inspired by true events, this one sounds excellent.

5.  In Times of Rain and War by Camron Wright (coming April 6)—Okay, so I couldn't resist including one World War II novel.  I've enjoyed other books by Wright, so I'm excited about this novel, which is about a soldier who discovers a young German Jewish woman hiding in plain sight in England.  A connection grows between them, but can they trust each other with their dark, dangerous secrets?

6.  A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (coming February 2)—Alright, two World War II novels!  This middle-grade offering stars three orphaned siblings who are desperate to stay together, despite the fact that suitable guardians are in short supply and none are looking for more mouths to feed.  They're evacuated to the country, where they finally find hope in a kind village librarian.  Can she keep them safe when the Nazis are already suspicious of her allegiances?

7.  The Fabergé Secret by Charles Belfoure (coming January 5)—Set in Russia, 1906, this novel concerns the persecution of Jews and the couple who determines to do something about it, despite the risks.

8.  Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh (coming May 4)—I can't find a lot of information about this middle-grade novel, but I know it's set during the Korean War.  The cover is very similar to Brother's Keeper, so I'm guessing it tells a parallel story.  Before picking up Brother's Keeper, I'd never read a book about the Korean experience during the war—I definitely want to learn more.

9.  Mazie by Melanie Crowder (coming February 23)—This YA novel set during the 1950s is about a Nebraska teen who's unexpectedly given the opportunity to pursue her dream of performing on Broadway.  Intimidated by the noisy city and the frustration of actually making it in the Big Apple, she has to decide whether to persist with her dream or leave it all behind and return to the life she left behind.

10.  Tidewater Bride by Laura Frantz (coming January 5)—Unlike most residents of Virginia colony, Selah Hopewell has no interest in marriage.  It's ironic, then, that she's put in charge of a group of tobacco brides who are being shipped in to marry Virginia's many tobacco barons.  The last thing Selah is expecting is her own romance ...

There you have it, ten soon-to-be-released historical novels that I'm looking forward to.  Do you enjoy hist fic?  Which up-and-comers are you excited about?  Who's your favorite writer of historical fiction?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

A strange, horrifying phenomenon is sweeping across the nation.  Authorities have dubbed it False Memory Syndrome (FMS).  No one quite understands the devastating affliction, which swamps the sufferer with memories they don't recognize or understand, leading to disorientation, confusion, terror, and madness.  It's contagious—and deadly.

New York City policeman Barry Sutton has seen too much FMS violence and death.  He's determined to stop it.  But how?

Neuroscientist Helena Smith has been hired by Marcus Slade, an inventor worth billions, to create a technology capable of preserving people's most precious memories.  Haunted by her mother's rapidly progressing Alzheimer's, Helena works tirelessly in a secret lab off the coast of California to make the technology a reality before it's too late to save her mom.   

As FMS becomes more widespread and dangerous, Barry becomes increasingly desperate.  When he meets Helena, he realizes it's up to the two of them to save humanity.  As the world around them crumbles and unmakes itself, the two are swept up in a frantic race against time that's becoming more impossible to win with every passing second ...

I'm not a big sci-fi reader, but I am a huge Blake Crouch fan.  Dark Matter—which was one of my favorite reads of 2017—absolutely blew my mind, so I was all in for Crouch's newest, Recursion.  While I didn't end up loving it quite as much as Dark Matter, I still found Recursion to be a stunning, mind-spinner of a read.  The novel is tense, exciting, suspenseful, and thought-provoking.  Barry and Helen are both brave, sympathetic characters, whom I cared about easily.  I whipped through Recursion fast and furious, needing to know what happens next and if our heroes would ultimately be successful.  Needless to say, I really enjoyed this one.  If you dig complex, intriguing sci-fi puzzles wrapped in a pulse-pounding, adrenaline rush of a story, then this is the book for you.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch)

Marie Langham has always been jealous of her best friend's perfect life.  Nina Beaufort has it all—a doting husband, two beautiful children, and a lovely home.  When Nina dies of cancer, Marie is devastated to lose her only real friend.  The only thing she can do for her now is keep her promise to make sure Nina's children are looked after.  Marie's only too happy to step into the role she's been secretly coveting for years.  Before long, she's moved into Nina's home, ostensibly to assist Nina's husband.  Her secret mission is to seduce him and convince him to marry her, thereby cementing her place in the household.  

The more time Marie spends in Nina's home, the more she comes to realize that Nina's life was far from perfect.  In fact, the dead woman was keeping some shocking secrets.  When the past comes calling, Marie finds herself caught in the middle.  Is the life she always envied really the one she wants?  

Domestic dramas mixed with mystery, suspense, and some psychological thrills are a dime a dozen these days.  Some are twisty, adrenaline-fueled page turners, others are ... not.  Unfortunately, The Last Wife by Karen Hamilton falls into the latter category.  First of all, it's more domestic drama than anything else, which perhaps explains why it's so straightforward and predictable.  Second, it's populated with a cast of selfish, manipulative, unlikable characters, the worst of whom is our "heroine."  Third, the plot is just weird.  The characters' choices are often illogical and the story gets more absurd as it goes.  So, why did I bother finishing this odd, depressing novel?  Honestly, I don't know!  Apparently, I was invested enough that I wanted to find out how the tale wrapped up.  I can't say this book was at all enjoyable, though.  For me, it was a strange, eye roll-worthy, dissatisfying read that I probably should have DNF'd right from the start.  Lesson learned.

(Readalikes:  Um, no specific titles are coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of The Perfect Wife from the generous folks at Graydon House (a division of HarperCollins) via those at NetGalley.  Thank you!

Tasia "Sia" Gianopoulos has spent so much time in the water over the last 17 years of her life that it seems she was born with gills.  These days, she's diving not just for fun but because, with her dad in prison, she and her mom desperately need the money.  Their charter scuba diving business allows them to do what they love and pay the bills.  

Leading diving expeditions to shipwrecks in the Florida Keys is second nature to Sia, but she has an odd, unsettling feeling about visiting the U.S.S. Andrew.  Something about the trip just feels off.  When one of the divers die, the whole group desperately tries to get back to land.  An attack by a horrifying sea monster leaves divers dead, the Gianopoulos' boats in ruins, and four kids stranded on a remote island.  With a thick jungle at their backs and a sea of deadly water in front, there is no escape route.  As the days wear on with no rescue in sight, Sia, her younger brother, and two kids who are virtually strangers to them must learn how to survive on an island where nothing is as it seems.  Can they learn its strange ways?  Can they defeat the sea monster that guards the terrifying secret that may be their only way home?  

When a book is described as LOST meets Stranger Things, it leads the reader to expect a certain level of greatness.  Did Fractured Tide, a debut YA sci fi/horror novel by Leslie Lutz, deliver?  I'm not sure it's possible to totally meet the expectations of such an illustrious billing, but the book offers a story that is tense, tightly-plotted, and exciting.  Told through letters Sia writes to her father, the tale has an intimate feel that just adds to the plot's intensity.  With the urgency of LOST and the eeriness of Stranger Things, it uses classic sci fi/horror elements to keep the reader on the edge of their seat while they burn through the pages to see what happens next.  Entertaining and satisfying, Fractured Tide is simply a good read.  Despite some violence and gore, it's also a mostly clean read that I can hand to my 15-year-old LOST lover without reservation.  I love that.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall)