Prepub Alert

By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 10/1/2006

Fiction | Nonfiction

Fiction

Auster, Paul. Travels in the Scriptorium. Holt. Feb. 2007. 160p. ISBN 0-8050-8145-3 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8145-9]. $22.
An old man awakens in a room he doesn't recognize and begins reading a mysterious manuscript seemingly left there for him. Kafkaesque? No, Austeresque. With a national tour; reading group guide.

Berry, Steve. The Alexandria Link. Ballantine. Feb. 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-345-48575-0 [ISBN 978-0-345-48575-5]. $25.95.
Too bad Cotton Malone knows how one might unearth the lost contents of the Library of Alexandria; now his bookstore has been ransacked and his son kidnapped. With a ten-city tour by request.

Clinch, Jon. Finn. Random. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 1-4000-6591-7 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6591-2]. $23.95.
Clinch spins his debut novel from a single scene in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Huck's father lying dead in a room stuffed with junk. With a ten-city tour.

Delinsky, Barbara. Family Tree. Doubleday. Feb. 2007. 368p. ISBN 0-385-51865-X [ISBN 978-0-385-51865-9]. $25.95. lrg. prnt. CD: Random Audio.
Dana never knew her father, but when she and her Mayflower-proud husband have a child whose physical traits seem vaguely African American, she realizes that she must investigate her past. Reading group guide.

Farah, Nuruddin. Knots. Riverhead: Putnam. Feb. 2007. 448p. ISBN 1-59448-924-6 [ISBN 978-1-59448-924-2]. $25.95.
Yes, Cambara wants to return home from North America to Mogadiscio, though she will be forced to wear a veil; she has some unfinished business with a nasty warlord. From the Somali-born winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

Francis, Patry. The Liar's Diary. Putnam. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-525-94990-9 [ISBN 978-0-525-94990-9]. $24.95.
Which diary—that of small-town Jeanne Cross or of charismatic new neighbor Ali Mather—can explain why Jeanne's son has been accused of murder? Debut novelist Francis, also a poet and short story writer, is known for the blogs simplywait.blogspot.com and waitresspoems.blogspot.com.

Franklin, Ariana. Mistress of the Art of Death. Putnam. Feb. 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-399-15414-0 [ISBN 978-0-399-15414-0]. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
When four children are murdered in medieval Cambridge, King Henry begs help from the king of Sicily, a country famed for medical experts called masters of the art of death. In response, he's sent a prodigy named Adelia. Franklin, the pen name of historical novelist Diana Norman, was lucky enough to have rights sold in 12 countries.

Gardner, Lisa. Hide. Bantam. Jan. 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-553-80432-4 [ISBN 978-0-553-80432-4]. $25. CD: Random Audio.
When the newspapers report that she's dead, Annabelle Mary Granger runs straight to detective Bobby Dodge to find out what's happening.

Landay, William. The Strangler. Bantam. Jan. 2007. 368p. ISBN 0-385-33615-2 [ISBN 978-0-385-33615-4]. $24. CD: Random Audio.
A cop, a prosecutor, and a thief, the Daley brothers are on opposing sides in 1960s Boston until the nefarious Strangler hits close to home.

Matar, Hisham. In the Country of Men. Dial. Jan. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-385-34042-7 [ISBN 978-0-385-34042-7]. $22.
For a boy in 1970s Libya, life suddenly appears dangerous—and not just because he spots his father sneaking around the marketplace when he's supposed to be away. London-based Matar revisits his parents' homeland in a debut whose rights have been sold in 15 countries. Reading group guide.

Parker, Robert B. High Profile. Putnam. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-399-15404-3 [ISBN 978-0-399-15404-1]. $24.95.
An irritating talk-show host and a young girl are found hanged only days apart, and police chief Jesse Stone is shocked that no one seems to care.

Roberts, Nora writing as J.D. Robb. Innocent in Death. Putnam. Feb. 2007. 432p. ISBN 0-399-15401-9 [ISBN 978-0-399-15401-0]. $25.95.
In Robb's latest futuristic ven- ture, Eve Dallas must figure out who murdered an affable young private-school teacher.

Robinson, Kim Stanley. Sixty Days and Counting. Bantam. Feb. 2007. 416p. ISBN 0-553-80313-1 [ISBN 978-0-553-80313-6]. $24.
A countdown to disaster as global warming threatens humanity in Robinson's latest socially engaged sf thriller.

Smiley, Jane. Ten Days in the Hills. Knopf. Feb. 2007. 448p. ISBN 1-4000-4061-2 [ISBN 978-1-4000-4061-2]. $26.
Following the 2003 Academy Awards, guests of legendary (but fading) writer/director Max and his lover, Elena, gossip, swim, couple, and enjoy movies in true Hollywood style. With an eight-city tour.

Spiegelman, Peter. Red Cat. Knopf. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-307-26316-9 [ISBN 978-0-307-26316-2]. $22.95.
For P.I. John March's brother, a little hot sex with a mystery woman has led to a whole lot of stalking. But soon March thinks that maybe his brother is the mystery. With a four-city tour.

Nonfiction

Bauer, Susan Wise. The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome. Norton. Feb. 2007. 800p. ISBN 0-393-05974-X [ISBN 978-0-393-05974-8]. $29.95.
First in a four-volume history series from a William & Mary professor who also homeschools her four children, this promises to be the work of a very fertile mind.

Carroll, Andrew. Grace Under Fire: Letters of Faith in Times of War. Doubleday. Feb. 2007. 168p. ISBN 0-385-51974-5 [ISBN 978-0-385-51974-8]. $16.95.
Founder of the Legacy Project, Carroll delivers correspondence dating from the Revolution to the Iraq war that embodies spiritual issues. With a national tour.

Diggins, John Patrick. Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History. Norton. Feb. 2007. 512p. ISBN 0-393-06022-5 [ISBN 978-0-393-06022-5]. $27.95.
CUNY historian Diggins argues that Reagan was a great President who hasn't been given a fair shake by the liberals dominating the teaching of U.S. history.

Johnson, Chalmers. Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic. Metropolitan: Holt. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-8050-7911-4 [ISBN 978-0-8050-7911-1]. $26.
The author of Blowback is at it again, here wondering whether massive debt and global overreach will bring down the republic. First serial to Harper's.

Kolb, Larry J. America at Night. Riverhead: Putnam. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 1-59448-900-9 [ISBN 978-1-59448-900-6]. $26.95.
Having blown his cover in Overworld, former CIA agent Kolb recounts his hunt for Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld, two CIA associates with fraud in their past who appear to have helped launder money for al Qaeda.

Krist, Gary. The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche. Holt. Feb. 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-8050-7705-7 [ISBN 978-0-8050-7705-6]. $26.
A perfect blizzard: award-winning novelist Krist reports on the massive snowfall in February 1910 that trapped two trains in Washington's Cascade Mountains and the avalanche that subsequently swept the trains into oblivion.

McKibben, Bill. Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Times Bks: Holt. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-8050-7626-3 [ISBN 978-0-8050-7626-4]. $25.
Forget growth, argues McKibben; instead, we need to focus on local, sustainable prosperity. With a ten-city tour.

MacMillan, Margaret. Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World. Random. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-6127-X [ISBN 978-1-4000-6127-3]. $27.95.
The award-winning author and University of Toronto history professor considers what Nixon and Mao got out of their historic handshake in February 1972. With a six-city tour.

Martin, Judith. No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and Pursuit of Venice. Norton. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-393-05932-4 [ISBN 978-0-393-05932-8]. $24.95.
According to Miss Manners herself, it is entirely appropriate to whoop it up for Venice.

Matthews, David. Ace of Spades: A Memoir. Holt. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-8050-8149-6 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8149-7]. $24.
With a black activist father and a white mother who dumped him, Matthews was stuck in the middle in 1980s America. With a ten-city tour; reading group guides.

Oren, Michael B. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East; 1776 to the Present. Norton. Jan. 2007. 608p. ISBN 0-393-05826-3 [ISBN 978-0-393-05826-0]. $29.95.
Not bumped to February, as we thought last month, this book reminds us that we have been embedded in the Middle East since we skirmished with the Barbary pirates. Oren is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. With a seven-city tour.

Phillips, Christopher. Socrates in Love: Philosophy for a Passionate Heart. Norton. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-393-06017-9 [ISBN 978-0-393-06017-1]. $24.95.
For the author of Socrates Café, love in all its varieties is the true subject of philosophy. With a ten-city tour.

Richards, Leonard L. The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War. Knopf. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-307-26520-X [ISBN 978-0-307-26520-3]. $25.
Award-winning history professor Richards argues that the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada intensified not only the rush of pioneers to California but the conflict between North and South.

Shirley, Paul. A View from the End of the Bench: Eleven Teams, Six Years, Five Countries, and My So-called Career as a Professional Basketball Player. Villard. Feb. 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-345-49136-X [ISBN 978-0-345-49136-7]. $23.95.
If you like “My So-called Career,” Shirley's column on ESPN.com, you'll no doubt love this full-scale account of the scruffy years he's spent playing professional basketball, from Phoenix to Siberia. With a five-city tour.

Stepp, Laura Sessions. Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both. Riverhead: Putnam. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 1-59448-938-6 [ISBN 978-1-59448-938-9]. $24.95.
Washington Post journalist Stepp covers teenagers, but even she was surprised after spending time with three adolescent girls in an effort to understand the new concept of hooking up.