Waiting on Wednesday

(First paragraph from wishfuledings.com blog)

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here, at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you're continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.

I really am curious: what sort of books does this meme require you to post? Does it require you to post books that are coming out in 2020? Can you post books from previous years that you want to read but haven't had a chance yet (and is there a meme for that?) Can you post books you already own that will be published in the future? 

Aside from my musings, here are two books that I am excited about: one is from an indie press titled The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne. I was sent this book for a review, and have read the author's previous book which explored memory and the impact it has on characters using a backdrop of WW2 in Great Britain. This one seems to be a bit more close to author's heart in that it deals with art and legacy of colonialism. (It also had a distinction to be a Man Asian Literary Prize Nominee (2012))

The last book is called Run Me To Earth by Paul Yoon, which, oddly enough, also deals with impact war has on others (at least from the blurb,) I did read some of it, and the writing was strongly reminiscent of Marguerite Duras. I am also excited because this will be my first book travel through Laos! 

The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne

Published Date: January 14th, 2020

(From Goodreads:) A story of obsession, love and art set in Tuscany, Sri Lanka and London. Ras, a Sri Lankan who fled his country as a child following the violent death of his mother and his father's disappearance, has committed a crime. Dogged by his past and unable to come to terms with the killing of his mother, he struggles to make a new life for himself in the UK. Alex has loved Dee since he was 19 but failed to realise that it was a love he wouldn't find again. After Dee's marriage, he too struggles to build a meaningful life for himself. But when Ras' and Alex's lives connect, each man takes a new path culminating for Ras in the theft of a della Franceso painting, while Alex comes ever closer to Dee through tragedy in her life. Beautifully written, with a strong narrative, The Road to Urbino is the story of two very different men and their love for the women in their lives, set against the backdrop of the heartbreaking horrors of the long-running conflict in Sri Lanka.

Run Me To Earth by Paul Yoon

Published Date: January 28th, 2020

(From Goodreads) From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by Hernan Diaz as “one of those rare novels that stays with us to become a standard with which we measure other books.”

Alisak, Prany, and Noi—three orphans united by devastating loss—must do what is necessary to survive the perilous landscape of 1960s Laos. When they take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs. Soon the teens are serving as motorcycle couriers, delicately navigating their bikes across the fields filled with unexploded bombs, beneath the indiscriminate barrage from the sky.

In a world where the landscape and the roads have turned into an ocean of bombs, we follow their grueling days of rescuing civilians and searching for medical supplies, until Vang secures their evacuation on the last helicopters leaving the country. It’s a move with irrevocable consequences—and sets them on disparate and treacherous paths across the world.

Spanning decades and magically weaving together storylines laced with beauty and cruelty, Paul Yoon crafts a gorgeous story that is a breathtaking historical feat and a fierce study of the powers of hope, perseverance, and grace.

Both of the choices are #OWN Voices type books and both sound as if they are dealing with war and impact war has on others. 

What do you think guys? Anyone planning on reading either one of those?