Prepub Alert
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 10/15/2006
Fiction | Nonfiction
FictionAciman, André. Call Me by Your Name. Farrar. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-374-29921-8 [ISBN 978-0-374-29921-7]. $23.Author of the celebrated memoir Out of Egypt, Aciman offers a debut novel about a brief but transformative summer affair between a teenager and a visitor at his parents' Italian villa. Alarcón, Daniel. Lost City Radio. HarperCollins. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-059479-9 [ISBN 978-0-06-059479-4]. $24.95.
On her radio program, Norma reaches out to those whose relatives have been “disappeared” during their country's civil strife. Then a boy from a far-off village suggests he may know what happened to Norma's husband. A debut novel from a Whiting Award winner whose recent story collection was a PEN/ Hemingway finalist; with a six-city tour.Blunt, Giles. By the Time You Read This. Holt. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-8050-8061-9 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8061-2]. $19.95.
Was it really suicide that took Det. John Cardinal's wife? Must he really investigate all alone? And what about all those nasty pictures of one of the town's teenaged residents now appearing on the web? With a national tour.Bohjalian, Chris. The Double Bind. Crown. Feb. 2007. 368p. ISBN 0-4000-4746-3 [ISBN 978-0-4000-4746-8]. $25. CD: Random Audio.
When a homeless man dies at the shelter where Laurel works, leaving behind a hoard of photographs substantiating his claim that he knew jazz and blues greats of an earlier era, Laurel feels compelled to investigate his past. Reading group guide in book.Condé, Maryse. The Story of the Cannibal Woman. Atria: S. & S. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-7128-9 [ISBN 978-0-7432-7128-8]. $24.
When her husband disappears on a routine trip to the grocery story, Capetown resident Rosalie must support herself using the only skill she has—a gift for clairvoyance. A portrait of postapartheid South Africa; Book Club Reader newsletter feature.Crais, Robert. The Watchman. S. & S. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-7432-8163-2 [ISBN 978-0-7432-8163-8]. $25.95.
It's Joe Pike front and center when bratty rich miss Larkin Conner Barkley needs protection—she's a federal witness. But he's got to work hard to get her cooperation. Elvis Cole helps out. With a 15-city tour.Davies, Peter Ho. The Welsh Girl. Houghton. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-618-00700-8 [ISBN 978-0-618-00700-4]. $24.
Proclaimed one of the “Best Young Novelists” by Granta on the strength of several award-winning story collections, Davies finally gets around to his debut novel: the tale of a Welsh girl who falls for a German POW incarcerated near her village during World War II. With a national tour.Davis, Jill A. Ask Again Later. Ecco: HarperCollins. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-087596-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-087596-1]. $23.95.
Emily leaps at the chance to abandon all when her mother insists that she's dying of cancer, but she surely doesn't expect to encounter her long-lost father after moving home to help. With a six-city tour.Dietrich, William. Napoleon's Pyramids. HarperCollins. Feb. 2007. 368p. ISBN 0-06-084832-4 [ISBN 978-0-06-084832-3]. $24.95.
Inexplicably accused of murder after winning a mysterious medallion in a card game, expatriate American Ethan Gage is compelled to join Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, where the medallion may help solve the mysteries surrounding the Great Pyramids. With a four-city tour.Dorsey, Tim. Hurricane Punch. Morrow. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-06-082967-2 [ISBN 978-0-06-082967-4]. $24.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
It's hurricane season, and two serial killers are on the loose in Florida. Who else but Serge A. Storms to the rescue? With a nine-city tour.Dugoni, Robert. Damage Control. Warner. Feb. 2007. 448p. ISBN 0-446-57870-3 [ISBN 978-0-446-57870-7]. $24.99.
Her husband's unfaithful, her doctor says she has breast cancer, and her twin brother has just been murdered. So hotshot lawyer Dana Hill quits her job to hunt down the killer. With a four-city tour.Gallagher, Nora. Changing Light. Pantheon. Feb. 2007. 240p. ISBN 0-375-42451-2 [ISBN 978-0-375-42451-9]. $22.
In summer 1945, a young painter named Eleanor who's exiled herself to New Mexico cares for a disoriented man she encounters in the desert near her home. Wouldn't she be surprised to learn that he's run off from the Manhattan Project, his conscience bleeding about the consequences of the bomb. A big debut from the author of Things Seen and Unseen; with a nine-city tour.Gregory, Jill & Karen Tintori. The Book of Names. St. Martin's. Jan. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-312-36632-9 [ISBN 978-0-312-36632-2]. $19.95.
According to the Kabbalah, each generation boasts 36 righteous souls without whom the world would be destroyed. Now an evil cult called Gnoseos intends to wipe out this generation's allotment, and professor David Shepherd has found a book listing the victims' names—including his stepdaughter's. Rights sales to 11 countries signal big enthusiasm.Hambly, Barbara. Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers. Bantam. Jan. 2007. 464p. ISBN 0-553-80428-6 [ISBN 978-0-553-80428-7]. $25.
Tales of Martha, Abigail, Dolley, and Sally Hemings.Hill, Joe. Heart-Shaped Box. Morrow. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-06-114793-1 [ISBN 978-0-06-114793-7]. $24.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
Rocker Judas Coyne collects creepy stuff—like a hangman's noose—but when he buys a ghost off the Internet, he's in real trouble. This wraith is the stepfather of a girl Judas loved and left to suicide. Movie rights have already vanished. Isaacs, Susan. Past Perfect. Scribner. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-7432-4216-5 [ISBN 978-0-7432-4216-5]. $25.
Her past may not have been so perfect—this woman agent was thrown out of the CIA—but she's back in the saddle again for some Isaacs-style fun.McGrory, Brian. Strangled. Atria: S. & S. Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-7434-6368-4 [ISBN 978-0-7434-6368-3]. $25.
Journalist Jack Flynn has a really tough quarry this time—folks think that the latest crime spree is being perpetrated by the ghost of the Boston Strangler.Norman, Howard. Devotion. Houghton. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-618-73541-0 [ISBN 978-0-618-73541-9]. $24.
A man and his new son-in-law come to blows, and two-time National Book Award nominee Norman explains how it happened. With a five-city tour.Palmer, Michael. The Fifth Vial. St. Martin's. Feb. 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-312-34351-5 [ISBN 978-0-312-34351-4]. $25.95.
A kidnapped medical student, left for dead. A brilliant scientist rushing to perfect a miracle cure for others before he himself dies. A detective investigating a bizarre murder. They're all connected in this tale of a secret society (of course) intent on world conquest (what else?). With a national tour.Patterson, James & Michael Ledwidge. Step on a Crack. Little, Brown. Feb. 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-316-01394-3 [ISBN 978-0-316-01394-9]. $27.99. lrg prnt. Cassette/CD: Hachette Audio.
Vicious types disguised as monks take over at the funeral of a former First Lady, held at a New York cathedral, and make threats about blowing up the celebrities (from politicians to actors) trapped inside.
Phillips, Susan Elizabeth. Natural Born Charmer. Morrow. Feb. 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-06-073457-4 [ISBN 978-0-06-073457-2]. $24.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
The woman famed quarterback Dean Robillard encounters along the roadside is beautiful if a little odd—she's wearing a beaver costume—and he's intent on winning her over. With a one-day laydown on February 6.Roby, Kimberla Lawson. Love and Lies. Morrow. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-089249-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-089249-4]. $23.95.
Still misbehaving but still somehow blessed, the Rev. Curtis Black returns from a successful author tour to a vexed wife with some guilty secrets of her own. With a ten-city tour.Stone, David. The Echelon Vendetta. Putnam. Feb. 2007. 448p. ISBN 0-399-15408-6 [ISBN 978-0-399-15408-9]. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Someone is using intricate knifework to murder CIA agents in batches, and it's up to cleanup guy Micah Dalton to stop the bloodshed.NonfictionAbdul-Jabbar, Kareem with Raymond Obstfeld. On the Shoulders of Giants. S. & S. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 1-4165-3488-1 [ISBN 978-1-4165-3488-4]. $26.
Not about basketball: how the Harlem Renaissance changed America—and ­Abdul-Jabbar himself. Look for the accompanying documentary by Spike Lee.Acocella, Joan. Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays. Pantheon. Feb. 2007. 464p. ISBN 0-375-42416-4 [ISBN 978-0-375-42416-8]. $27.95.
New Yorker writer Acocella delivers portraits of a host of intriguing artists, from Vaslav Nijinsky and Marguerite Yourcenar to Susan Sontag and Primo Levi, plus Joan of Arc and Mary Magdalene.Agrell, Siri. Bad Bridesmaid: Bachelorette Brawls and Taffeta Tantrums—Tales from the Front Lines. Holt. Feb. 2007. 160p. ISBN 0-8050-8269-7 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8269-2]. $15.
A staffer at Canada's National Post, Agrell wondered in print what purpose a bridesmaid really served and promptly got kicked off the team by her bride-to-be best friend. Now she can really spill the beans. Conason, Joe. It Can Happen Here: Star-Spangled Fascism in Bush's America. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-312-35605-6 [ISBN 978-0-312-35605-7]. $24.95.
Are big business and rightist government moving us toward fascism? Ask Conason, political columnist for the New York Observer. Everett, Rupert. Rupert Everett: The Autobiography. Warner. 320p. ISBN 0-446-57963-7 [ISBN 978-0-446-57963-6]. $25.99.
Never mind the plain brown wrapping of a title, Everett offers tales of a rich and wild life that has included acting in Shakespeare in Love, befriending Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger, and watching the Berlin Wall fall.Frayn, Michael. The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of a Universe. Metropolitan: Holt. Feb. 2007. 512p. ISBN 0-8050-8148-8 [ISBN 978-0-8050-8148-0]. $32.50.
Where would the universe be without us to imagine it? Philosophical musings from playwright/novelist Frayn. Kamdar, Mira. Planet India: How the Rise of the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World. Scribner. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-9685-0 [ISBN 978-0-7432-9685-4]. $26.
Here's your ticket to the new India, where technological innovation is encouraged and a free market reigns. From a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute.Katie, Byron with Stephen Mitchell. A Thousand Names for Joy: A Guide to Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are. Harmony: Crown. Feb. 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-307-33923-8 [ISBN 978-0-307-33923-2]. $24.95. CD: Random Audio.
Best-selling inspirational author Katie links up with Mitchell, translator of Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, to explain what that classic text means for you. Lavine, Kim. Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea into a Million Dollars and How You Can Too! St. Martin's. Feb. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-312-35457-6 [ISBN 978-0-312-35457-2]. $23.95.
Having turned the little pillow she sewed as a Christmas gift for her son's teacher into a multimillion-dollar product called a Wuvit, Lavine has good tips for anyone interested in launching a home-based business. With a five-city tour.Lawrence, Bruce. The Qur'an: A Biography. Atlantic Monthly. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-87113-951-0 [ISBN 978-0-87113-951-1]. $19.95.
Helping to launch the publisher's “Books That Changed the World” series, this work helps us understand a religious text that is now much in the news. The author is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion at Duke and (as his web site proclaims) a defrocked medievalist. Levin, Gail. Becoming Judy Chicago: A Biography of the Artist. Harmony: Crown. Feb. 2007. 384p. ISBN 1-4000-5412-5 [ISBN 978-1-4000-5412-1]. $30.
CUNY scholar Levin issues an invitation to innovative artist Judy Chicago's famed The Dinner Party and other intriguing works.Mamet, David. Bambi v. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. Pantheon. Feb. 2007. 224p. ISBN 0-375-42253-6 [ISBN 978-0-375-42253-9]. $22.
You've seen the films based on his screenplays as well as his Pulitzer Prize–winning plays. Now read what he has to say about how movies are really made.Mann, James. The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression. Viking. Feb. 2007. 144p. ISBN 0-670-03825-3 [ISBN 978-0-670-03825-1]. $19.95.
Former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Mann suggests that (contrary to wishful thinking) authoritarian government will not necessarily wither away in China as capitalism expands. With a five-city tour.Millner, Caille. The Golden Road: Notes on My Gentrification. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2007. 240p. ISBN 1-59420-109-9 [ISBN 978-1-59420-109-7]. $22.95.
Raised in Latino San Jose, CA, African American Millner traveled the golden road to the larger, sometimes less welcoming world, seeking both identity and connection. A much-touted memoir; regional tour.Monagan, David with David O. Williams, M.D. Journey into the Heart: A Tale of Pioneering Doctors and Their Race To Transform Cardiovascular Medicine. Gotham Bks: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2007. 352p. ISBN 1-59240-265-8 [ISBN 978-1-59240-265-6]. $27.50.
In time for National Heart Month in February, an account of doctors like East German Andreas Gruentzig who figured out how to facilitate open heart surgery.Nguyen, Bich Minh. Stealing Buddha's Dinner. Viking. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-670-03832-6 [ISBN 978-0-670-03832-9]. $24.95.
Having arrived here from Saigon in 1975, the young Nguyen found that the best way to fit into her new country was to embrace its food. Winner of the 2005 PEN/Jerard Award for memoir in progress; with a seven-city tour.Nuland, Sherwin B., M.D. How To Grow Old: A Doctor's Reflections on the Art of Aging. Random. Feb. 2007. 240p. ISBN 1-4000-6477-5 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6477-9]. $24.95.
Now that he's taught us How We Die, physician/author Nuland addresses the onslaught of the golden years.Richards, Renée with John Ames. No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life. S. & S. Feb. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-9013-5 [ISBN 978-0-7432-9013-5]. $25.
Thirty years after a sex-change operation that made headlines, Richards (born Richard Raskin) can reflect peaceably on issues of gender dysphoria and what it is like to live as both a woman and a man.Sheffield, Rob. Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time. Crown. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-8302-8 [ISBN 1-4000-8302-2]. $22.95. CD: Random Audio.
A good Catholic boy from Boston, now a rock critic with Rolling Stone, Sheffield explains how music became the tie that bound him to his Southern Baptist wife—until her death five years after their marriage.Sontag, Susan. At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches. Farrar. Feb. 2007. 224p. ISBN 0-374-10072-1 [ISBN 978-0-374-10072-8]. $23.
Written at the end of Sontag's life, these 16 essays demonstrate her continued humanist concerns and brilliance as a thinker. Swarner, Sean. Keep Climbing. Atria: S. & S. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-7432-9205-7 [ISBN 978-0-7432-9205-4]. $24.
Diagnosed with both Hodgkin's disease and Askin's Sarcoma at age 13 and lung cancer several years later, Swarner was repeatedly tossed a death sentence by his doctors but opted to fight back. Eventually, he became the first cancer survivor to scale Mt. Everest. With a nine-city tour.Tenet, George. At the Center of the Storm. HarperCollins. Feb. 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-06-114778-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-114778-4]. $27.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
Talk about an insider's account. Head of the CIA from 1997 to 2004, Tenet ushers us inside the agency before and after 9/11.Yagoda, Ben. When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse. Broadway. Feb. 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-7679-2077-5 [ISBN 978-0-7679-2077-3]. $21.95
From an author noted for the elegance and exactitude of his own writing comes a guide to the use—and some strong feelings about the misuse—of the English language.
