It’s been a long, seemingly endless winter here in NYC. Snow in April is not my idea of fun.  What is my idea of fun is looking ahead and seeing all the amazing books of ours that are being published this year.

I just returned from DC, where I had the pleasure of attending Steve Kistulentz‘s reading of his powerful debut novel, Panorama, at Politics and Prose (as well as the thrill of seeing the Michelle and Barack Obama portraits at the National Portrait Gallery).  I loved Steve’s novel from the moment I started to read it—and I read it from cover to cover in one fabulous weekend. Two years later, voila! Panorama continues to receive high praise, including these words from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robert Olen Butler: “A remarkable literary work…this is a stunning debut by an important new writer.”

Wade Rouse’s newest novel, The Recipe Box, written under the pen name Viola Shipman, is a hit right out of the gate. It landed on the MIBA bestseller list in week one, and has quickly become a favorite. Wade chose his pen name as a tribute to his grandmother, and writes beautiful, heartfelt stories like The Charm Bracelet (2016) and The Hope Chest (2017); The Recipe Box is his third novel centered on treasured family heirlooms. There was not a dry eye in the house when Wade delivered the keynote address at the Texas Library Association annual conference last week. These words of praise from #1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box) say it all: “Filled with cherished memories and treasured recipes, The Recipe Box is a touching tribute to the women and food that unite us and connect our past to the present.”

Pray for spring weather…