I have two exciting books to read; they both came today. My to-read stack keeps growing; I need to stop or slow down, but some of these books are just irresistible. I love it when a new hardcover book comes in the mail. It’s always a special event for me.

The first is The Morningside, the much-awaited second book by Tea Obreht, author of the much-acclaimed The Tiger’s Wife. This review, published in the  New York Times, got me to buy it.

The review can describe the book more thoroughly than I can since I have yet to read it.

I love everything I’m hearing about it. The Tiger’s Wife was a terrific book; Tea Obreht is the real deal. She has a unique voice. Originally from the former Yugoslavia, she now lives in Wyoming. It is also a book about hope.

The Morningside is ostensibly a Dystopian novel set in the future ruins of America. But it is not a frightening, depressing, or violent story. It is magical, a story of migration and the search for love and belonging,  a story that imagines the human capacity for survival and love in a very uncertain world.

This will be one of the year’s significant books,  so I might move it up my reading list.

Sadly, the second book that arrived today is the last in P.D. James Adam Dalgliesh’s mystery series: The Private Client.

This is my favorite mystery series and my favorite detective. James’ mysteries are unlike any other because P.D. James writes them like no other mystery writer. Hers are the most intelligent mysteries that I have ever read, and Dalgliesh is the most intelligent detective; the plots are complex, even intricate, as we follow this brilliant detective and his crew.

I don’t need to say much about P.D. James or Dalgliesh; I’m sorry, this is the last book. I’m grateful to have read all of the others.