New books

I am feeling the urge to read novels again, after a long stretch where only non-fiction kept my interest. I came home with four books today and am looking forward to digging into them. The first is "March" by Geraldine Brooks. I had never heard of this book until Morah blogged about it. Since it concerns the father of the "Little Women" brood, one of my favorite books as a child, I thought I would give it a try. After one chapter, I am hooked by Brooks' prose, although I know this is a book that will make me cry.
For relief, I picked up "Round Robin" by Jennifer Chiaverini. I have only read one of her series, "The Runaway Quilt", and that one quite a few years ago, so I will be eager to find out if the others in the series are as good as I remember the first being. Why did I pick this one instead of the others she has written? I think I liked the quilt on the cover!
Tracy Chevalier's book "Burning Bright" was added to the stack, even though my opinion of her books has been mixed. I loved "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (so much so that I have never seen the movie - I don't want my memories tainted) and also "The Lady and the Unicorn". My views of her other books are mixed. I frankly thought "Falling Angels" was a mess; the plot was sloppy and far-fetched, and relied too much on heavy contrivances. "The Virgin Blue" just didn't make much of an impression on me at all; I can hardly remember reading it. We'll see what the latest one is like.
Finally, I picked up "Portrait of an Unknown Woman" by Vanora Bennett, although I'm not familiar with her. It concerns the household of Sir Thomas More, one of my big heroes, during the throes of the Protestant Reformation. It is woven around the two paintings of the More household that were commissioned of Hans Holbein, and the subtle differences between them that may conceal a mystery. I've already started "March", so I'll read it first, but this one will be the next.

These will get me through the spring, but I have to reserve some sewing time too!