Prepub Alert
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 1/15/2007
Alsanea, Rajaa. Girls of Riyadh. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2007. 320p. ISBN 1-59420-121-8 [ISBN 978-1-59420-121-9]. $24.95. CD: Pegnuin Audio.While studying endodontics in Chicago, Saudi Arabian Alsanea published a first novel in Arabic about four very contemporary young Saudi women resisting society’s efforts to contain them. It was banned forthwith in her homeland and has since been sold to 11 countries. With a seven-city tour.Baldacci, David. Killer Genius. Warner. May 2007. 448p. ISBN 0-446-58034-1 [ISBN 978-0-446-58034-2]. $26.99; lrg. prnt. $28.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
With former Secret Service agent Michelle Maxwell in a psychiatric institution (following Hour Game), partner Sean King consoles himself by agreeing to investigate a murder at an exclusive scientific retreat—where a lot of suspect characters have ties to the institution tending Maxwell. Will the two team up to figure out what’s happening? You bet. Belle, Jennifer. Little Stalker. Riverhead: Putnam. May 2007. 352p. ISBN 1-59448-946-7 [ISBN 978-1-59448-946-4]. $24.95.
There’s lots of in-house enthusiasm for this first novel about a young woman who’s shocked to discover that the movie director she’s obsessed with isn’t perfect. Berg, Elizabeth. Dream When You’re Feeling Blue. Random. May 2007. 224p. ISBN 1-4000-6510-0 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6510-3]. $24.95.
World War II is raging, and sisters Kitty and Louise have already seen the boys they love march off to battle, while little sis Tish starts dancing up a storm at USO events. Their tale is told through the letters they exchange. With a 14-city tour; Reader’s Circle book group feature.Carlson, Ron. Five Skies. Viking. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-670-03850-4 [ISBN 978-0-670-03850-3]. $23.95.
Three troubled men unfold their sorrows as they work one summer at a construction project in the Rockies. The celebrated short story writer’s first full-length fiction in three decades; with a four-city tour.Chabon, Michael. The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. HarperCollins. May 2007. 432p. ISBN 0-00-714982-4 [ISBN 978-0-00-714982-7]. $26.95. CD: HarperAudio.
Already announced (see Prepub Alert, LJ 12/05), Chabon’s tale of murder and mayhem in an Alaskan homeland for the Jews post–World War II gets a one-day laydown.Clark, Clare. The Nature of Monsters. Harcourt. May 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-15-101206-7 [ISBN 978-0-15-101206-0]. $25.
Since Clark’s The Great Stink was no stinker, we’re glad to welcome back her new historical novel, set in early 1700s London. Young Eliza comes to realize that the apothecary she works for is not just odd but truly dangerous. Coben, Harlan. The Woods. Dutton. Apr. 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-525-95012-5 [ISBN 978-0-525-95012-7]. $26.95.
Four teens entered the deep, dark woods, and two returned. Now county prosecutor Paul Copeland is facing a case that recalls his sister’s disappearance that fateful night. With a national tour.Coelho, Paulo. The Witch of Portobello. HarperCollins. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-133880-X [ISBN 978-0-06-133880-9]. $24.95.
Many people tell the story of Athena, the “witch of Portobello Road,” who was abandoned by her gypsy mother, raised by adoptive parents in Beirut, and ended up living all over the globe. Look for the prepublication campaign at Starbucks.Connelly, Michael. The Overlook. Little, Brown. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-316-01895-3 [ISBN 978-0-316-01895-1]. $21.99; lrg. prnt. $23.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
You’ve read it serialized in the New York Times magazine—or most of it, anyway, as there’s new material here. Now get the book and prepare to be scared by the notion that radioactive cesium stolen from a doctor might lead to terrorism. With an eight-city tour.Connolly, John. The Unquiet. Atria: S. & S. May 2007. 416p. ISBN 0-7432-9893-4 [ISBN 978-0-7432-9893-3]. $25.95. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Detective Charlie Parker is stuck between those wishing to find a missing psychiatrist who harmed children in his care and those who wish he were dead. With a ten-city tour.Crace, Jim. The Pesthouse. Doubleday. May 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-385-52075-1 [ISBN 978-0-385-52075-1]. $24.95.
In a new work that recalls his fabulist landscapes of old, Crace takes us on a journey through a devastated America, as a man limping with his brother toward the ocean forms real bonds with a mortally ill woman. With a national tour. Donoghue, Emma. Landing. Harcourt. May 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-15-101297-0 [ISBN 978-0-15-101297-8]. $25.
Classy Irish flight attendant Síle and insular Canadian archivist Jude meet at Heathrow and find their orbits shifting. With an eight-city tour.Drabble, Margaret. The Sea Lady. Harcourt. May 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-15-101263-6 [ISBN 978-0-15-101263-3]. $24.
Two British academics meet after decades and reconstruct their frayed lives; see the review, p. 91.Englander, Nathan. The Ministry of Special Cases. Knopf. May 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-375-40493-7 [ISBN 978-0-375-40493-1]. $25.
Kaddish Poznan, who’s been scraping along at the edge of society, suddenly finds himself in the middle of Argentina’s infamous Dirty War when his son disappears. We’ve waited many years for Englander to follow up his remarkable story collection, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, with a first novel. Look for the reading group guide; with a 100,000-copy first printing and a 12-city tour.Flanagan, Richard. The Unknown Terrorist. Grove. Apr. 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-8021-1851-8 [ISBN 978-0-8021-1851-6]. $24.
Having spent the night with an enticing stranger, Gina is on the run; her paramour, who’s disappeared, seems to be connected to a bungled terrorist attack. Flanagan’s Gould’s Book of Fish was a big prize winner. With an eight-city tour; reading group guide.Frank, Dorothea Benton. The Land of Mango Sunsets. Morrow. May 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-06-089238-2 [ISBN 978-0-06-089238-8]. $24.95. CD: HarperAudio.
In this follow-up to the best-selling Full of Grace, Frank plops us down on Sullivan’s Island, SC, for some family drama. With a regional tour.French, Tana. In the Woods. Viking. May 2007. 464p. ISBN 0-670-03860-1 [ISBN 978-0-670-03860-2]. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Three children wander into some woods near Dublin, but only one is found, hysterical and bloodied. Some 20 years later, he’s a detective investigating a child’s murder in the same woods. Lots of in-house excitement, though one wonders whether Coben (see The Woods, above) and French have talked. With a reading group guide.Gingrich, Newt & William R. Forstchen. Pearl Harbor. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin’s. May 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-312-36350-8 [ISBN 978-0-312-36350-5]. $25.95. CD: Audio Renaissance.
Former Speaker of the House Gingrich and history professor Forstchen again join forces, launching a new series with a book that examines Pearl Harbor from a Japanese perspective.Gross, Andrew. The Blue Zone. Morrow. May 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-06-114340-5 [ISBN 978-0-06-114340-3]. $25.95. CD: HarperAudio.
James Patterson’s coauthor (e.g., Judge & Jury) goes it alone with the story of a young woman who must figure out why her father was arrested by the FBI and why he’s gone missing from the Witness Protection Program. Foreign rights have been sold to ten countries.Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Riverhead: Putnam. May 2007. 336p. ISBN 1-59448-950-5 [ISBN 978-1-59448-950-1]. $25.95.
Hosseini sees whether he can top The Kite Runner’sremarkable record—103 weeks on the New York Times best sellers list—with this tale of two very different Afghan women over 30 years. With a national tour.Hubbard, Susan. The Society of S. S. & S. May 2007. 384p. ISBN 1-4165-3457-1 [ISBN 978-1-4165-3457-0]. $25.
Vampires can, too, be kind and sensitive. Ask half-vampire, half-human 13-year-old Ariella Montero. From an award-winning author of literary short fiction in the mood for a romp.Jiles, Paulette. Stormy Weather. Morrow. May 2007. 336p. ISBN 0-06-053732-9 [ISBN 978-0-06-053732-6]. $24.95. CD: HarperAudio.
Now that her father has died, Jeanine Stoddard wonders how the family is going to survive. They do have one thing, however: the wayward racing stallion Smokey Joe. With a reading group guide.Lee, Min Jin. Free Food for Millionaires. Warner. May 2007. 512p. ISBN 0-446-58108-9 [ISBN 978-0-446-58108-0]. $24.99.
All Korean American Casey Han has to show for four impressive years at Princeton is a taste for the finer things in life—which is why she needs a job. Lee finally emerges after a decade spent racking up fellowships and awards. Leon, Donna. Suffer the Little Children. Atlantic Monthly. Apr. 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-87113-960-X [ISBN 978-0-87113-960-3]. $24.
Why have a Carabiniere captain and two privates forced their way into a pediatrician’s apartment and taken his baby boy? And what is Commissario Brunetti going to do about it? With a nine-city tour.Leonard, Elmore. Up in Honey’s Room. Morrow. May 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-06-072424-2 [ISBN 978-0-06-072424-5]. $25.95. CD: HarperAudio.
Detroit butcher Walter Schoen doesn’t just look like Heinrich Himmler; he’s actually slipping information about U.S. war production to the Nazis—which may be why agent Carl Webster is cozying up to Walter’s disaffected wife. With a five-city tour.Lindquist, Mark. The King of Methlehem. S. & S. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 1-4165-3577-2 [ISBN 978-1-4165-3577-5]. $23.
Having battled methamphetamine distribution as a prosecuting attorney, celebrated novelist Lindquist is well situated to write a thriller about a detective who’s chasing down a meth dealer. Lindquist was also one of People’s 100 most eligible bachelors in 2000.Mones, Nicole. The Last Chinese Chef. Houghton. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-618-61966-6 [ISBN 978-0-618-61966-5]. $24.
From the author of Lost in Translation; the story of a woman coping with her husband’s death and a paternity claim against him in Beijing, where his firm had an office. Chinese chef Sam makes all the difference by cooking up some wonderful food. The first fiction ever excerpted in Gourmet. Moore, Susanna. The Big Girls. Knopf. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-4190-2 [ISBN 978-1-4000-4190-9]. $24.
Moore unravels the connections among four women: an inmate at Sloatsberg women’s prison, the prison psychiatrist, a young corrections officer, and an intensely focused young star. With a five-city tour.Murakami, Haruki. After Dark. Knopf. May 2007. 208p. ISBN 0-307-26583-8 [ISBN 978-0-307-26583-8]. $22. CD: Random Audio.
Murakami paints a portrait of Tokyo through its night people: fashion model Eri and her studious sister, Mari; a jazz trombonist; a Chinese prostitute; and more. Palahniuk, Chuck. Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey. Doubleday. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-385-51787-4 [ISBN 978-0-385-51787-4]. $24.95. CD: Random Audio.
The life and early flame-out of a bad boy named Buster (“Rant”) Casey. With a national tour.Patterson, James & Maxine Paetro. The 6th Nanny. Little, Brown. May 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-316-01479-6 [ISBN 978-0-316-01479-3]. $27.99; lrg. prnt. $29.99. Cassette/CD: Hachette Audio.
With the Women’s Murder Club down one member after a brutal attack, Lindsay Boxer has her hands full: she’s trying to stop a nasty bunch from snatching children off the street and find time for the new love of her life. Quick, Amanda. The River Knows. Putnam. Apr. 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-399-15417-5 [ISBN 978-0-399-15417-1]. $24.95.
Dashing Anthony Stalbridge and dowdy Louisa Bryce have one thing in common: a conviction that Mr. Hastings is hiding some terrible secrets.Sandford, John. Invisible Prey. Putnam. May 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-399-15421-3 [ISBN 978-0-399-15421-8]. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Two elderly women have been murdered, and though only a few small items appear to have been stolen from their home, Lucas Davenport senses that something big is at stake. A BOMC, Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Mystery Guild main selection. Schine, Cathleen. The New Yorkers. Farrar. May 2007. 272p. ISBN 0-374-22183-9 [ISBN 978-0-374-22183-6]. $24.
The author of Rameau’s Niece writes about a modest little corner of New York where people are brought together and their lives changed by their dogs.Smith, Wilbur. The Quest. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin’s. May 2007. 512p. ISBN 0-312-31842-1 [ISBN 978-0-312-31842-0]. $27.95. CD: Audio Renaissance.
Smith brings back the warlock Taita, who finds bad news when he’s compelled by the pharaoh to discover why the Nile has failed.Swann, Maxine. Flower Children. Riverhead: Putnam. May 2007. 224p. ISBN 1-59448-945-9 [ISBN 978-1-59448-945-7]. $21.95.
Swann won a bouquet of prizes (e.g., the O. Henry Award) when she published the first chapter of this work as a short story in 1997, so expect interest in this tale of the children of hippies raising themselves in the Seventies.Vincenzi, Penny. Sheer Abandon. Doubleday. May 2007. 496p. ISBN 0-385-51988-5 [ISBN 978-0-385-51988-5]. $24.95. CD: Random Audio.
Three young women rather jazzily named Martha, Jocasta, and Clio meet at Heathrow in 1985 and allow their paths to cross in the coming years. A complication: one of them abandoned a baby at the airport. With a reading group guide. Vreeland, Susan. Luncheon of the Boating Party. Viking. May 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-670-03854-7 [ISBN 978-0-670-03854-1]. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Narrated by Renoir and the friends he featured in his famed Luncheon of the Boating Party, this work allows us to visit 19th-century France. With an 11-city tour.Willocks, Tim. The Tannhauser Trilogy. Bk. 1: The Religion. Sarah Crichton: Farrar. May 2007. 640p. ISBN 0-374-24865-6 [ISBN 978-0-374-24865-9]. $26. CD: Audio Renaissance.
With the massed forces of Suleiman the Magnificent planning to attack the Knights of St. John the Baptist at Malta, French countess Carla La Penautier has not picked a good time to visit the island in search of her lost child. Positioned as a blockbuster.Wolitzer, Hilma. Summer Reading. Ballantine. May 2007. 272p. ISBN 0-345-48586-6 [ISBN 978-0-345-48586-1]. $24.95.
It’s a lazy summer in the Hamptons, and earnest Angela hopes to convince her book group that reading Flaubert and Brontë really will make a difference. With a reading group guide, of course.NonfictionAblow, Keith, M.D. Living the Truth: Why Everything You’ve Lived Through Is the Key to Everything You Can Be. Little, Brown. May 2007. 320p. ISBN 0-316-01781-7 [ISBN 978-0-316-01781-7]. $25.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
Burying bad memories is bad, proclaims popular TV talk show host and psychiatrist Ablow in his first self-help book. Altman, Daniel. Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy. Farrar. May 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-374-13532-0 [ISBN 978-0-374-13532-4]. $24.
Seasoned journalist Altman isn’t for or against globalization, he just wants to describe it to you accurately. Beschloss, Michael. Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789–1989. S. & S. May 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-684-85705-7 [ISBN 978-0-684-85705-3]. $28. CD: S. & S. Audio.
The high-profile Beschloss pays a visit to all 43 Presidents, considering how they faced their biggest challenges. Blount, Roy, Jr. Long Time Leaving: Dispatches from Up South. Knopf. May 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-307-26618-4 [ISBN 978-0-307-26618-7]. $25.
President of the Authors Guild and NPR perennial, Blount delivers his first collection in more than ten years, humorously stewing over the differences between North and South. With an eight-city tour.Bugliosi, Vincent. Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Norton. May 2007. 1632p. ISBN 978-0-393-04525-3. $49.95.
In his consideration of Kennedy’s assassination and the surrounding conspiracy theories, Charles Manson’s prosecutor is nothing if not thoroughgoing (note the page count).Feinstein, John. Tales from Q School: Inside Golf’s Fifth Major. Little, Brown. May 2007. 400p. ISBN 0-316-01430-3 [ISBN 978-0-316-01430-4]. $26.99; lrg. prnt. $28.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
An inside look at the annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Q School.Gore, Al. The Assault on Reason. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2007. 304p. ISBN 1-59420-122-X [ISBN 978-1-59420-122-6]. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
When 30-second sound bites preempt reasoning, reasons Gore, we’re all in trouble. A manifesto for reintroducing sense into public discussion.Havel, Václav. The Castle: Reflections on My Strange Life as a Fairy-Tale Hero. Knopf. May 2007. 384p. ISBN 0-307-26641-9 [ISBN 978-0-307-26641-5]. $27.95.
From playwright to dissident to president of Czechoslovakia to president of the Czech Republic to lung cancer patient to supporter of the Iraq war to opponent of that war: Havel has a lot of ground to cover here.Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming. Viking. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-670-03852-0 [ISBN 978-0-670-03852-7]. $24.95.
The author of Growing a Business, basis of the noteworthy PBS series, Hawken catalogs the various environmental organizations large and small that he says make up the largest movement on Earth. With a six-city tour.Henneberger, Melinda. If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians To Hear. S. & S. May 2007. 416p. ISBN 0-7432-7896-8 [ISBN 978-0-7432-7896-6]. $27.
She’s been out in the field, and this prize-winning Newsweek reporter declares that what women want is not what the experts think.Iacocca, Lee with Catherine Whitney. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Scribner. May 2007. 192p. ISBN 1-4165-3247-1 [ISBN 978-1-4165-3247-7]. $25. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Iacocca stays upbeat in this assessment of issues like family values, job security, and the Iraq war. With a five-city tour.Jenkins, Sally. The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation. Doubleday. May 2007. 352p. ISBN 0-385-51987-7 [ISBN 978-0-385-51987-8]. $24.95; lrg. prnt. $27.95. CD: Random Audio.
Coauthor of It’s Not About the Bike, Jenkins switches sports and brings back the top football team of the early 1910s, which belonged to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.Kiernan, Frances. The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story. Norton. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-0-393-05720-1. $24.95.
With all the headlines about her son’s unguardianlike behavior, it’s good to have a biography reacquainting us with Mrs. Brooke Astor. Kingsolver, Barbara with Steven L. Hopp & Camille Kingsolver. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. HarperCollins. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-085255-0 [ISBN 978-0-06-085255-9]. $26.95. CD: HarperAudio.
What happens when the beloved novelist and her family decide to settle in southern Appalachia and eat only food that’s available locally. With a 12-city tour; one-day laydown.Kurkjian, Tim. Is This a Great Game, or What? From A-Rod’s Heart to Zim’s Head—My 25 Years in Baseball. St. Martin’s. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-312-36223-4 [ISBN 978-0-312-36223-2]. $24.95.
A look at baseball that’s purportedly both humorous and revealing from a man who has seen over 3000 games.Kurson, Robert. Crashing Through: A Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared To See. Random. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-6335-3 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6335-2]. $25.95.
Blinded at age three, Michael May became a champion skier, CIA analyst, entrepreneur, and more, but his biggest challenge was deciding whether to go through with an operation that could restore his sight. Based on a National Magazine Award–winning story.Langewiesche, William. The Atomic Bazaar. Farrar. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 0-374-10678-9 [ISBN 978-0-374-10678-2]. $24.
What worldwide nuclear weapons production really means and just how great the danger is; from the author of American Ground. Nicolson, Juliet. The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm. Grove. Apr. 2007. 304p. ISBN 0-8021-1846-1 [ISBN 978-0-8021-1846-2]. $25.
Nicolson limits her scope to four months in 1911 so that she can recapture England at the time of her grandparents Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West.Perry, Mark. Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2007. 320p. ISBN 1-59420-105-6 [ISBN 978-1-59420-105-9]. $27.95.
A noteworthy military analyst brings to light an important World War II alliance. Reagan, Ronald. The Reagan Diaries. HarperCollins. May 2007. 704p. ISBN 0-06-087600-X [ISBN 978-0-06-087600-5]. $35. CD: HarperAudio.
Now you can read the diary Reagan kept daily over his two terms as President.Rowell, Victoria. The Women Who Raised Me. Morrow. May 2007. 288p. ISBN 0-06-124659-X [ISBN 978-0-06-124659-3]. $25.95.
The child of an upper-crust white mother and unknown black father, actress/dancer Rowell was raised in a series of foster homes, here recalled lovingly as a source of inspiration.Salewicz, Chris. Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer; The Authorized Biography. Faber & Faber. May 2007. 592p. ISBN 0-571-21178-X [ISBN 978-0-571-21178-4]. $27.
A portrait of Clash frontman Joe Strummer from one who knew him well.Segev, Tom. 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East. Metropolitan: Holt. May 2007. 512p. ISBN 0-8050-7057-5 [ISBN 978-0-8050-7057-6]. $30.
From Ha’aretz columnist/historian Segev.Smith, Jean Edward. FDR. Random. May 2007. 704p. ISBN 1-4000-6121-0 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6121-1]. $35.
Roosevelt’s life in a single volume? Masterly biographer Smith can make it happen.Stracher, Cameron. Dinner with Dad: How I Braved Traffic, Rolled Burritos, Battled Picky Eaters, and Found My Way Back to the Family Table. Random. May 2007. 240p. ISBN 1-4000-6537-2 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6537-0]. $22.95.
Lawyer and law professor Stracher also writes on the side, but he finally realized he wasn’t spending enough time with his family and made the dinner hour sacrosanct. Expect lots of buzz; with a seven-city tour.Susanka, Sarah. The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters. Random. May 2007. 256p. ISBN 1-4000-6531-3 [ISBN 978-1-4000-6531-8]. $24.95.
Best-selling author/architect Susanka explains that in life as in buildings, bigger is not necessarily better. With a 12-city tour.
