January New and Notable
REMEMBERING THE BONES, By: Frances Itani
Invited to Buckingham Palace to attend the eightieth birthday celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, Canadian Georgina Danforth Witley is on her way to the airport to board a plane for London when her car goes off the road and plunges into a ravine, leaving Georgina stranded and injured as she reflects on her life, family memories, wit, lost loves, and secrets to survive.
New Hardcover Fiction
PLUM LUCKY, By: Janet Evanovich
Just after Valentine’s Day, Diesel returns to once again turn New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s world upside down, in a novel marked by the presence of such familiar characters as Lula, Grandma Mazur, Connie, Ranger, Joe, Tank, Valerie, and Albert Kloughn. 1,250,000 first printing.
THE SECRET BETWEEN US, By: Barbara Delinsky
Picking up her sixteen-year-old daughter Grace after a party, Deborah Monroe accepts responsibility for hitting a man with the car on the way home, even though Grace had been driving, a deception that takes on a life of its own, threatening their family and the bond between mother and daughter. 225,000 first printing.
DUMA KEY, By: Stephen King
Renting a house on an eerily undeveloped stretch of the Florida coast after suffering a crippling accident and ending his marriage, construction millionaire Edgar Freemantle obsessively creates works of art that lead him to discover unsettling elements from his landlady’s enigmatic family history. 1,500,000 first printing.
THE SENATOR’S WIFE, By: Sue Miller
Two unconventional women, neighbors in adjacent New England townhouses–Meri Fowler, pregnant, newly married, and discovering the gap between reality and expectation, and Delia Naughton, wife of a notoriously unfaithful liberal senator–confront the costs and challenges of love. 150,000 first printing
KYRA, By: Carol Gilligan
The turbulent love affair between Kyra, an architect involved in a project to design a new city, and Andreas, a director staging an innovative production, has a profound impact on both their lives as a shocking betrayal and Kyra’s fierce determination to uncover what is true and real leads her to Greta, a therapist who helps her come to a larger undertanding of love. A first novel. 50,000 first printing.
MARMAID IN THE BASEMENT, By: Michael Lee West
Struggling with the loss of her mother, a bad case of writer’s block, and a her boyfriend’s highly publicized affair with a famous actress, Renata DeChavannes travels to her Gulf Coast family home, where she faces ghosts from her past and struggles to become the empowered woman her formidable grandmother believes her to be.
LIGHT OF THE MOON, By: Luanne Rice
Feeling adrift in the wake of her mother’s death and a failed love affair, anthropologist Susannah Connolly leaves Connecticut to travel to the French Camargue to see its fabled white horses and to investigate a saint linked to her family’s history, but her life is changed forever by an encounter in the marshes with a lonely man and his wounded daughter. 200,000 first printing.
BLASPHEMY, By: Douglas Preston
Built by Nobel laureate William North Hazelius, the Torus, the world’s largest supercollider, has been constructed with the intent of unlocking the secrets of creation, the Big Bang, but when twelve scientists are sent to turn it on, they stumble upon a secret that must be hidden at all costs, unless ex-monk and CIA operative Wyman Ford can unlock the truth. 300,000 first printing.
BLUE HEAVEN, By: C.J. Box
Fleeing the killers whom they witnessed committing murder, twelve-year-old Annie and her younger brother William escape into the woods of northern Idaho, not knowing whom they can trust and pursued by the murderers and a group of dirty cops seeking to prevent the youngsters from revealing what they know. By the award-winning author of the Joe Pickett mysteries. 100,000 first printing.
HARD TRAIL TO FOLLOW, By: Elmer Kelton
In the seventh volume in the popular Texas Ranger series, former Texas Ranger Andy “Badger Boy” Pickard leaves his fiancée’s north central Texas farm to pursue Luther Cordell, the outlaw ringleader he believes responsible for the death of his friend, Sheriff Tom Blessing. 30,000 first printing.
THREE SHIRT DEAL, By: Stephen J. Cannell
Asked by beautiful Internal Affairs detective Secada “Scout” Llevar to help investigate the claims of small-time crook Truit Hickman, convicted of killing his mother, that he has been framed by the police, Shane Scully takes on a violent Hispanic gang, a millionaire powerbroker, and a frontrunner in L.A’s mayoral race, risking his family, his job, and his life to uncover the truth. 100,000 first printing.
SIZZLE AND BURN, By: Jayne Ann Krentz
A latest work by the author of White Lies finds lonely and reluctant psychic Raine Tallentyre targeted for recruitment into the secret Arcane Society by attractive fellow psychic Zack Jones, an effort that is complicated by Raine’s painful memories of how the organization shattered her family through an act of betrayal years earlier. 200,000 first printing.
SIN NO MORE, By: Kimberla Lawson Roby
Resolving to turn over a new leaf after cheating on his wife once again, the Reverend Curtis Black is blackmailed by both his former mistress and a substitute pastor, a situation that further tests his marriage and reveals additional painful secrets.
BLEEDING KANSAS, By: Sara Peretsky
The pious late-twentieth-century descendants of anti-slavery emigrants worry about maintaining religious superiority over a rival family while launching an active harassment campaign against a Wiccan newcomer, an effort that is challenged by a young man’s military service and the birth of a promising cow. 150,000 first printing.
HISTORICAL FICTION
THE AGE OF SHIRA, By: Manil Suri
Marrying in order to escape an overbearing father, Meera is further victimized by her physically demanding husband and lustful brother-in-law, a circumstance from which she finds fleeting escape through her relationships with her sister-in-law and young son. By the author of The Death of Vishnu. 70,000 first printing.
RHETT BUTLER’S PEOPLE, By: Donald McCaig
Paralleling the events of Gone with the Wind, an authorized novel chronicles the life and times of dashing hero Rhett Butler and the people who shaped his world–his unyielding father Langston Butler, sister Rosemary, best friend and onetime slave Tunis Bonneau, former love Belle Watling, and the headstrong, passionate Scarlett O’Hara. 2,000,000 first printing.
SWORD SONG, By: Bernard Cornwell
A fourth installment in a saga of early England that includes Lords of the North finds Alfred of Wessex surviving the Danish invasion, only to find the Saxons targeted by Vikings, a conflict during which he harnesses the abilities of the formidable warrior Uhtred.
NEW HARDCOVER – NONFICTION
MEMO TO THE PRESIDENT ELECT, By: Madeleine Albright
A former Secretary of State presents a wide-ranging set of recommendations for the next U.S. president, posing such suggestions as selecting a top-rate foreign policy team, avoiding the mistakes of previous presidents, and employing strategic tools to garner international support for American objectives. 200,000 first printing.
IN DEFENSE OF FOOD, By: Michael Pollan
The best-selling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma cites the reasons why people have become so confused about their dietary choices, counseling readers on the importance of enjoyable moderate eating of mostly traditional plant foods. 200,000 first printing.
REAL CHANGE, By: Newt Gingrich
From the Inside Flap:
Are you fed up with bickering politicians, self-satisfied bureaucrats, and a government that never seems to address the real problems facing our country? Can we create a government that is small, efficient, and responsive–from the state house to the White House? Is that kind of real change even possible? Newt Gingrich, architect of the Contract with America, says it’s time for citizens to demand results from our elected officials. In this revealing and exciting new book, he shows how America can achieve transformational change–from a government of bureaucratic failure to a government that can meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. As a first step, Gingrich busts the pernicious myth that America is divided between conservative red states and liberal blue states. As Gingrich points out, the American people are united on almost every important issue facing our country–including immigration, taxes, defending America, and freedom of religion. The real division is between red-white-and-blue America and a fringe on the left. Red-white-and-blue America believes overwhelmingly–by majorities of 70 percent or more–that we need a change in course. But our politicians aren’t listening. Gingrich reveals why the Democratic Party can’t deliver real change and why the Republican Party won’t. He provides answers and a step-by-step, issue-by-issue toolkit for building a better America–the safe, innovative, and dynamic America we all want. What will take us from the world that fails to the world that works? Real change–the kind of change that happens when politicians drop their own agendas and respond to the will of the people. Newt Gingrich shows us how we can make real change a reality.
THE ALL NEW ATKINS ADVANTAGE, By: Stuart L. Trager
A comprehensive, twelve-week plan on how to lose weight and achieve optimal fitness shares specific strategies in the areas of personal motivation, nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle makeover while creating a customizable eating plan, recipes, personal progress tracking tools, and more. 100,000 first printing.
THE BUSH TRAGEDY, By: Jacob Weisberg
An objective political portrait of George W. Bush, his presidency, and its impact on the world offers a revealing study of Bush’s conflicted relationships with his father and with major figures in his administration, the roots of his political philosophy, his early life, and the evolution of his world view over the course of his political career and the events of 9/11. 150,000 first printing.
HOW NOT TO LOOK OLD, By: Charla Krupp
A quick-reference compendium of beauty tips and self-care practices draws on the insider secrets of makeup and hair artists, cosmetic dentists, and other fashion professionals to counsel readers on maintaining a youthful and polished appearance
MY MISTRESS’S SPARROW IS DEAD, By: Jeffrey Eugenides
A collection of love story excerpts from classic literary works, culled by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Middlesex, includes selections by such writers as Alice Munro, William Faulkner, and Milan Kundera, in a volume published to benefit the McSweeney literacy project 826 Chicago. 35,000 first printing.
GOD SAVE THE FAN, By: Will Leitch
A founding editor of the popular blog Deadspin presents an irreverent assessment of the negative influence of money-driven owners, corporate media, and egocentric figures on professional sports, in a whimsical manifesto that addresses such topics as fantasy leagues, the steroid debate, and fan empowerment. 40,000 first printin
SOLDIER’S HEART, By: Elizabeth D. Samet
A West Point English professor offers an intimate portrait of teaching literature to young men and women preparing for war and assesses the various ways in warfare has transformed her relationship with literature, describing the changes that have occurred since September 11, what it means to be a civilian teaching at a military academy, and what books and movies mean to her students.
INSIDE THE JIHAD, By: Omar Nasiri
A gripping account of life inside Al Qaeda traces the rise of the terrorist organization from an insider’s perspective, documenting his role as a double agent working for the UK and French intelligence to infiltrate the group’s training camps, detailing his own illegal activities with Al Qaeda, and profiling the top terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden. Reprint.
WHY MARS & VENUS COLLIDE, By: John Gray
The best-selling author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus outlines positive strategies for maintaining healthy relationships in spite of stressful professional lives and polarizing gender differences, in an accessible guide that explains how biological factors play a key role in conflict. 100,000 first printing.
STRONG AT THE BROKEN PLACES, By: Richard Cohen M.D.
An inspirational testament to living with chronic illness is presented through the experiences of five individuals who have battled such conditions as ALS, Crohn’s disease, and bipolar disorder, in a tribute that offers insight into how their diseases affected their lives and personal relationships. By the author of Blindsided.
NEW BIOGRAPHY
THE MIDDLE PLACE, By: Kelly Corrigan
Traces a San Francisco newspaper columnist’s life experiences as evaluated during her late thirties, describing her relationships with her husband, children, and Irish-American father before and during her battle with breast cancer and describing her establishment of the CircusOfCancer.org Web site. 100,000 first printin
GANG LEADER FOR A DAY, By: Sudhir Venkatesh
Recounts the full story of a young sociologist whose infiltration of a Chicago drug gang was originally introduced in the work Freakonomics, in a firsthand account that describes the author’s grad student idealism, his friendship with gang leader JT, and his seven-year witness to the organization’s complex crack-selling trade
DID LINCOLN OWN SLAVES? By: Geraold J. Prokopowicz
A Lincoln scholar shares biographical details about the life and times of America’s sixteenth president in an engaging and informative study that answers both frequently asked and unusual questions about Abraham Lincoln, in a chronologically arranged volume that illuminates Lincoln’s life, work, and legacy. 35,000 first printing.
NEW PAPERBACK
BODY SURFING, By: Anita Shreve
Struggling to start over again after being divorced and widowed while still in her twenties, Sydney tutors the daughter of a wealthy couple during a New Hampshire summer but finds herself caught up in a bitter family squabble involving her charge’s two grown brothers. By the author of The Pilot’s Wife. Reprint. 500,000 first printing.
BLAZE, By: Richard Bachman
Originally written thirty-five years ago but never published, an evocative crime novel chronicles the life and times of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr.–the crimes committed against him and the crimes he himself commits, including a kidnapping he is doomed to attempt. Reprint.
NINETEEN MINUTES, By: Jodi Picoult (February 5, 2008)
In the aftermath of a horrific small-town school shooting, lawyer Jordan McAfee finds himself defending a youth who desperately needs someone on his side, while intrepid detective Patrick DuCharme works with a primary witness in the daughter of the superior court judge assigned to the case. By the author of The Tenth Circle. Reprint. 800,000 first printing.
THE 6TH TARGET, By: James Patterson
When a horrifying attack leaves one of the four members of the Women’s Murder Club struggling for her life, the others fight to keep a madman behind bars before anyone else is hurt. And Lindsay Boxer and her new partner in the San Francisco police department run flat-out to stop a series of kidnappings that has electrified the city: children are being plucked off the streets together with their nannies–but the kidnappers aren’t demanding ransom. Amid uncertainty and rising panic, Lindsay juggles the possibility of a new love with an unsolvable investigation, and the knowledge that one member of the club could be on the brink of death. And just when everything appears momentarily under control, the case takes a terrifying turn, putting an entire city in lethal danger. Lindsay must make a choice she never dreamed she’d face–with no certainty that either outcome has more than a prayer of success.
ONCE IN A PROMISED LAND, By: Laila Halaby
Jassim Haddad, a Jordanian, has come to Arizona to pursue his career as an hydrologist, but after the events of September 11th, he and his wife find themselves under investigation by the FBI as their marriage begins to unravel. Reprint.
AWARD WINNING FIRST IN MYSTERY SERIES
THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE, By: Laurie R. King
A chance meeting with a Sussex beekeeper turns into a pivotal, personal transformation when fifteen-year-old Mary Russell discovers that the beekeeper is the reclusive, retired detective Sherlock Holmes, who soon takes on the role of mentor and teacher. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.
THE MEANING OF NIGHT, By: Michael Cox
Convinced that he is destined for great wealth, power, and influence, Edward Glyver–booklover, scholar, and murderer–will to anything to reclaim a prize that is rightfully his, following a trail from the underworld depths of Victorian London, to the posh estate of Evenwood and all-consuming love for the enigmatic Emily Carteret, to an ultimate showdown with his rival, poet-criminal Phoebus Rainsford Daunt. 100,000 first printing.
OTHER BOOKS OF NOTE…
77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age, By: Terry Frei
Documents the successful football season of the 1977 AFC champion Denver Broncos on their quest to their first Super Bowl in terms of the dramatic changes that occurred in Denver, Colorado, during the late 1970s related to the city’s political, cultural, economic, and social intitutions, and offers profiles of such legendary players as Lyle Alzado, Craig Morton, and others.
The Ghost Mountain Boys: their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea – the Forgotten War of the South Pacific, By: James Campbell
An in-depth chronicle of a little-known episode during the Second World War describes how the America’s “Ghost Mountain Boys” endured hardship, malnutrition, disease, and harsh environmental conditions in a forty-two-day march from New Guinea’s south coast across jungle and mountain terrain to the north coast battlefields of Buna. 50,000 first printing.
Baby Doe Tabor: The Madwoman in the Cabin, By: Judy Nolte Temple
Long before her body was found frozen in the Leadville shack where for decades she had guarded the Matchless Mine, Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor was the stuff of legend. For thirty-five years, Baby Doe, who was considered mad, lived in solitude high in the Colorado Rockies. Baby Doe Tabor left a record of her madness in a set of writings she called her “Dreams and Visions.” These were discovered after her death but never studied in detail–until now. In Baby Doe Tabor: The Madwoman in the Cabin, author Judy Nolte Temple retells Lizzie’s story with greater accuracy than any previous biographer. She unpacks the mythology to uncover Lizzie’s actual experiences as told in her fragmentary writings and correspondence. Undertaking the first close analysis of Lizzie’s writings, Temple reveals a story more heartbreaking than the legend and, for the first time, gives voice to the woman behind the myth.
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