Booking Through Thursday: What Book Were You Excited to Read?

I'm participating today in Booking Through Thursday. Here are the questions:

What’s the last book you were really EXCITED to read?
And, were you excited about it in advance? Or did the excitement bloom while you were reading it?
Are there any books you’re excited about right NOW?

OK, I know this sounds very convenient, but I was actually really excited to read the book I'm reading now--Liz Curtis Higgs' Mine is the Night.

I had read the first book in the series, which is a re-telling of the biblical Naomi and Ruth story, but set in 18th-century Scotland. (This is a device Higgs used masterfully in her Lowlands of Scotland series, which was a re-imagining of the Jacob/Rachel/Leah story.)

Since I know what happens in the Naomi and Ruth story, I have a pretty good idea of how things are going to turn out, but I was excited to get my hands on this book and see how Higgs envisions it.

I ended up winning four books in a blog give-away, and when a couple of the books weren't available in the US, I was told I could have any book on Amazon.com--so "Mine is the Night" is now mine!

Better than I even expected


I have to say, my excitement has blossomed as I read the book. Truthfully, I'm having a hard time putting it down. I'm supposed to be getting ready for a long road trip right now, and I find myself continually returning to this book!

There's something about the way Liz Curtis Higgs writes. The way she turns a phrase, her descriptions, her characters, everything, is just lovely, evocative and compelling. I've truly loved everything she's written, and I have read every piece of fiction that she's written thus far.

What am I excited about reading next?

A few on my to-read list that I can't wait to get my hands on:

Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy
When Sparrows Fall, by Meg Moseley
Nightmare, by Robin Parrish
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows