LJ’s Spring 2017 Editors’ Picks

Library Journal recently revealed their Spring 2017 Editors’ Picks, including these three Macmillan books:

“Like many, I have always had an appreciation for all things Jane Austen, whether it be her original novels, their many retellings, or watching Colin Firth as Darcy famously emerge from a lake in a billowy white shirt. Now I’m awaiting Lucy Worsley’s JANE AUSTEN AT HOME (St. Martin’s, Jul.), which sees the author on an enviable research trip through Austen’s many residences, including childhood and holiday houses, schools, and the abodes of relatives. Worsley connects these spaces back to the fictional dwellings of Austen’s characters, emphasizing the thematic importance of home.” — Kate DiGirolomo, SELF-e Community Coordinator

“Speaking of dangerous realities, British writer Charles Cumming takes us inside a life I can only begin to imagine in A DIVIDED SPY (St. Martin’s, Feb.). Such an existence, built on deception and distrust and involving extended periods of isolation and waiting in soulless hotel rooms, was experienced firsthand by intelligence officer–turned–­author ­Cumming. This third book featuring former M16 spy Thomas Kell sees the intuitive and trustworthy, if a bit insubordinate, patriot giving up the game after two decades and a botched operation that took the life of girlfriend Rachel Wallinger. Yet, given the opportunity to exact revenge on Russian SVR officer Alexander Minasian, whom Thomas holds personally responsible for Rachel’s death, means a change of heart for the spy, who’s soon back in the field, no questions asked. In the world of espionage, however, nothing is what it seems, and in this shadowy game of cat and mouse, following one’s heart too often means losing the things we love. And like Thomas, who in the end promises to call it quits for good, ‘I just want to live.’” — Annalisa Pesek, Assistant Managing Editor

“Finally, there’s B.A. Paris’s THE BREAKDOWN (St. Martin’s, Jun.). Last year, I devoured the author’s best-selling BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, a truly unnerving thriller that, with hints of the folktale Bluebeard, depicts the darkness lurking behind a seemingly perfect marriage. Paris’s latest introduces a woman who, believing she was witness to a crime, obsesses over whether she could have prevented a death. An unreliable protagonist, guaranteed suspense, and a tried-and-true author: What’s not to love?” — Mahnaz Dar, Assistant Managing Editor, School Library Journal