Prepub Alert

By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 07/15/2007

Fiction  |  Nonfiction

Fiction

Ackroyd, Peter. The Fall of Troy. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Nov. 2007. 192p. ISBN 978-0-385-52290-8. $23.
This latest from the awarding-winning novelist/biographer might have been called "The Fall of Heinrich Obermann" after its protagonist, here credited with unearthing Troy and suspected by his new wife of a certain unseemly reticence regarding his past and his intentions at the dig.

Andersen, Hans Christian. The Annotated Hans Christian Andersen. Norton. Nov. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-0-393-06081-2. $35.
Having delighted us with two annotated fairy tale collections, Harvard humanities dean Maria Tatar now assays the creator of "The Emperor's New Clothes."

Baldacci, David. Stone Cold. Grand Central. Nov. 2007. 448p. ISBN 978-0-446-57739-7. $26.99; lrg. prnt. $28.99. Cassette/CD: Hachette Audio.
One enemy—casino kingpin Jerry Bagger—isn't enough for Oliver Stone and the Camel Club. They're also facing down evil assassin Harry Finn.

Bradford, Barbara Taylor. The Heir. St. Martin's. Nov. 2007. 496p. ISBN 978-0-312-35462-6. $25.95. CD: Audio Renaissance.
Having built a business empire in early 1900s England, Edward Deravenel faces the unenviable task of figuring out who will inherit it.

Buffett, Jimmy (text) & Helen Bransford (illus.). Swine Not? Little, Brown. Nov. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-0-316-11402-8. $23.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
When Ellie McBride whisks her family from Tennessee to a fancy-schmancy hotel in New York, where she's found work, of course she brings along the pet pig. Now, how to hide Rumpy from that nasty chef?

Coughlin, Jack with Donald A. Davis. Kill Zone: A Sniper Novel. St. Martin's. Nov. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-0-312-36018-4. $24.95. CD: Audio Renaissance.
A marine sniper stymied in his efforts to rescue a U.S. general from (who else?) Islamic extremists comes to the uncomfortable conclusion that he's actually facing a bunch of American mercenaries. From the author of the best-selling nonfiction title Shooter.

Cussler, Clive. The Chase. Putnam. Nov. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-0-399-15438-6. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
It's 1916, and the U.S. government has hired implacable detective Isaac Bell to catch the notorious "Butcher Bandit," but who's chasing whom? With a nationaltour.

Delaney, Frank. Tipperary. Random. Nov. 2007. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6523-3. $26.95.
Even as the Irish fight to toss the English from their lands, gentle folk-healer Charles O'Brien helps a beautiful young Englishwoman reclaim her family's Irish estate. With an eight-city tour.

Flynn, Vince. Protect and Defend: A Thriller. Atria: S. & S. Nov. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-0-7432-7041-0. $26.95. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Israel bombs Iran's nuclear facilities to smithereens, the United Nations rages, Lebanese master terrorist Imad Mugniyah sharpens his swords, CIA director Irene Kennedy tries to calm everyone down, and famed terrorist hunter Mitch Rapp finally saves the day—again. With a ten-city tour.

Ha Jin. A Free Life. Random. Nov. 2007. 624p. ISBN 978-0-375-42465-6. $26.
After the Tiananmen Square massacre, a young Chinese couple studying at Brandeis arrange to have their son brought stateside. Now all they have to do is figureout how to make America their own. With a nine-city tour.

Hill, Lawrence. Someone Knows My Name. Norton. Nov. 2007. 512p. ISBN 978-0-393-06578-7. $24.95.
Torn from Africa, enslaved, and subsequently separated from her husband and child, Aminata lands in Revolutionary-era Manhattan and helps write The Book of Negroes, an actual document concerning African Americans given safe passage to Nova Scotia because they remained loyal to the Crown. With a reading group guide.

Høeg, Peter. The Quiet Girl. Farrar. Nov. 2007. 448p. ISBN 978-0-374-26369-0. $26. CD: Audio Renaissance.
Finally, a follow-up to Smilla's Sense of Snow. In contemporary Denmark, a circus clown who's frantically in debt agrees to serve as guardian for a group of children with mystical gifts. Then he discovers the children's real purpose.

Iles, Greg. Third Degree. Scribner. Nov. 2007. 528p. ISBN 978-0-7432-9250-4. $25.95.
It's bad enough that Liz thinks she may be pregnant by the lover she has reluctantly abandoned. Now she realizes that her husband has discovered the affair—and he's holding a gun. With a national tour.

Lappé, Anthony & Dan Goldman. Shooting War. Grand Central. Nov. 2007. 192p. ISBN 978-0-446-58120-2. $21.99.
Suddenly famous for his searing footage of one more terrorist attack on New York (it's 2011), video-blogger Jimmy Burns is emboldened to seek the truth about Iraq—still war-torn after all these years. Not your average escapist graphic novel. With a six-city tour.

McCaig, Donald. Rhett Butler's People. St. Martin's. Nov. 2007. Nap. ISBN 978-0-312-26251-8. $27.95.
Rhett, Rhett, whatever shall I do? Read this Gone with the Wind companion, told by an author famed for his Civil War fiction and nonfiction. With a 1.5 million-copy first printing.

McCourt, Frank (text) & Loren Long (illus.). Angela and the Baby Jesus. Scribner. Nov. 2007. 32p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7470-5. $14.95.
A Christmas story for adults, penned by a real spinner of tales and illustrated by a two-time Golden Kite Award winner. (Children won't be ignored, though; there is a separate edition for them.)

Martin, George R.R. Dreamsongs. Vol. 1. Oct. 2007. ISBN 978-0-553-80545-1. Martin, George R.R. Dreamsongs. Vol. 2. Nov. 2007. ISBN 978-0-553-80658-8. ea. vol: Random. 720p. $27. CD: Random Audio.
He's not just the author of "Ice and Fire" sagas; Martin shows that he can do short fiction, novellas, teleplays, and more in two collections that include both unpublished and award-winning earlier work.

O'Nan, Stewart. Last Night at the Lobster. Viking. Nov. 2007. 160p. ISBN 978-0-670-01827-7. $19.95.
So what if the Red Lobster restaurant is closing before Christmas? Harassed manager Manny DeLeon must still serve those last few customers. With a six-city tour.

Patterson, James. Double Cross. Little, Brown. Nov. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-0-316-01505-9. $27.99; lrg. prnt. $29.99. Cassette/CD: Hachette Audio.
Readers love Alex Cross (his series has sold more than 50 million copies), so they'll be concerned to see how he handles a murderer who really likes to show off.

Patterson, Richard North. The Race. Holt. Nov. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-0-8050-7948-7. $26. CD: Audio Renaissance.
He's not a candidate himself, but Patterson enters the presidential campaign with this portrait of ornery Republican senator Corey Grace (e.g., he battles the Christian Right) and ends up in the primary fight of his life.

Roberts, Nora writing as J.D. Robb. Creation in Death. Putnam. Nov. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-0-399-15436-2. $25.95.
NYPSD lieutenant Eve Dallas is back, and so is the Groom, a nasty serial killer Eve battled ten years earlier who has made his latest spree personal.

Steel, Danielle. Amazing Grace. Delacorte. Nov. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-0-385-34023-6. $27; lrg. prnt. $29.95.
What could possibly bring together a Grammy Award-winning singer, a photographer, the wife of a financial kingpin, and a nun? They were all at a charity event in San Francisco when an earthquake intervened.

Sussman, Paul. The Last Secret of the Temple. Atlantic Monthly. Oct. 2007. 560p. ISBN 978-0-87113-972-6. $24.
And what could possibly bring together an Egyptian detective, an Israeli cop, and a Palestinian journalist? This international best seller, dubbed "an intelligent reader's answer to The Da Vinci Code," which concerns Middle East murder and the hunt for a missing treasure. By an archaeologist, no less.

Thewlis, David. The Late Hector Kipling. S. & S. Nov. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4165-4121-7. $25.
Whether you loved him in Naked or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, you'll be interested to know that British actor Thewlis has crafted a first novel about midlife crisis in the London art world.

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. Knopf. Nov. 2007. 1168p. tr. by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky. ISBN 978-0-307-26693-4. $40.
Not a new work by Tolstoy, alas, but a new rendering by two award-winning translators. Big in so many ways.

Weiner, Jennifer. Certain Girls. Atria: S. & S. Oct. 2007. 384p. ISBN 978-0-7432-9425-6. $26. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Cannie Shapiro returns, and she's too busy dealing with teenage daughter Joy and her husband's desire for a baby to worry whether she's Good in Bed. With a seven-city tour.

Woodiwiss, Kathleen E. Everlasting. Morrow. Nov. 2007. 496p. ISBN 978-0-06-054552-9. $24.95. CD: HarperAudio.
Berengaria hates the icky squire she has been forced to marry, so it's a good thing that Scottish soldier Raven is ready to save her. With a one-day laydown.

Nonfiction

Armstrong, Karen. The Bible: Books That Changed the World. Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 2007. 192p. ISBN 978-0-87113-969-6. $21.95. CD: Tantor Audio.
All 66 books of the Christian Bible, that is. How oral history became scripture, unchallenged until the Scientific Age.

Ball, Edward. The Genetic Strand: Exploring a Family History Through DNA. S. & S. Nov. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-7432-6658-1. $25.
After discovering nine locks of hair snipped from long-dead relatives, Ball—National Book Award winner forSlaves in the Family—used DNA analysis to learn more about his family. With a five-city tour.

Berry, Stephen. House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided by War. Houghton. Nov. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-618-42005-6. $28.
With some of Mary Todd Lincoln's siblings fighting for the Confederacy, says this University of North Carolina historian, the President inevitably tempered his attitudes toward the South. With a four-city tour.

Blight, David W. A Slave No More: The Emancipation of John Washington and Wallace Turnage. Harcourt. Nov. 2007. 336p. ISBN 978-0-15-101232-9. $25.
The director of Yale's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition enriches our understanding with this examination of two newly discovered slave narratives. With a discussion guide.

Brokaw, Tom. Boom! Personal Reflections on the Sixties and Today. Random. Nov. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6457-1. $27.95.
The man who gave us The Greatest Generation moves on to a rowdier bunch.

Bryson, Bill. William Shakespeare. Atlas Bks: HarperCollins. (Eminent Lives). Nov. 2007. 208p. ISBN 978-0-06-074022-1. $19.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
Not a biography but a walk in the woods with the actors, academics, curators, and others who love Shakespeare.

Capote, Truman. Portraits and Observations: The Essays of Truman Capote. Random. Nov. 2007. 400p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6661-2. $26.95.
All of Capote's essays, from youthful travelogs to his final piece.

DeFrank, Thomas M. Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford. Putnam. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-399-15450-8. $25.95.
Having uttered an indiscretion to White House correspondent DeFrank in 1972, Vice President Gerald Ford begged him to "write it when I'm gone." Now DeFrank is ready to spill the beans on all their conversations.

Dirda, Michael. Classics for Pleasure. Harcourt. Nov. 2007. 384p. ISBN 978-0-15-101251-0. $25.
From the Washington Post Book World's Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic: fun books from Icelandic sagas to Dracula.

Dobbs, Lou. A New America: Awakening the National Spirit. Viking. Nov. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-670-01836-9. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
The man who protested the War on the Middle Class offers a corrective to policies that have eroded equal opportunity over the decades. With a seven-city tour.

Eco, Umberto. Turning Back the Clock: Hot Wars and Media Populism. Harcourt. Nov. 2007. 360p. ISBN 978-0-15-101351-7. $27.
The famed novelist/semiotician investigates racism, rhetoric, the European Union, 9/11, medieval Latin, and more.

Eisen, Rich. Total Access: The Journey to the Center of the NFL Universe. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Nov. 2007. 288p. ISBN 978-0-312-36978-1. $24.95. CD: Audio Renaissance.
Get total access to the NFL Network's popular show Total Access, hosted by Eisen. With a national tour.

Faludi, Susan. The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America. Metropolitan: Holt. Oct. 2007. 352p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8692-8. $26. CD: Audio Renaissance.
A reporter speaking to Faludi about 9/11 ventured that feminism had just lost out. Her response? An examination of how the nation fell back on cowboy myths when our dominance was challenged. With a national tour.

Gay, Peter. Modernism: The Lure of Heresy. Norton. Nov. 2007. 640p. ISBN 978-0-393-05205-3. $35.
Think contemporary culture is so radical? Join cultural historian Gay for a look at modernism, from bad-boy Baudelaire through Joyce, Picasso, Schoenberg, and more.

Kessler, Ronald. The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race To Stop the Next Attack. Crown Forum. Nov. 2007. 304p. ISBN 978-0-307-38213-9. $26.95.
How the war on terrorism is being fought; from a best-selling author.

Lehrer, Jonah. Proust Was a Neuroscientist. Houghton. Nov. 2007. 256p. ISBN 978-0-618-62010-4. $24.
A truly protean 25-year-old—he's been a journalist, line cook, and lab assistant to a Nobel prize-winning scientist—Lehrer argues that art already knew everything that science is now discovering. With a six-city tour.

McGinniss, Joe. Greed Kills. S. & S. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-7432-9636-6. $25.
A true-crime expert (Fatal Vision) considers Robert Kissel's children, whose mother murdered their father and whose guardian (Robert's brother) was mown down three years later.

MacLaine, Shirley. Sage-ing While Age-ing. Atria: S. & S. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5041-9. $26.
Growing old with insight as well as grace; with an eight-city tour.

Mosley, Charlotte, ed. The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters. HarperCollins. Nov. 2007. 832p. ISBN 978-0-06-137364-0. $39.95.
When the six sisters are the Mitfords, you know the reading will be good. Edited by Diana's daughter-in-law.

Novick, Sheldon M. Henry James: The Mature Master. Random. Nov. 2007. 624p. ISBN 978-0-679-45023-8. $35.
Novick finds more passion than one could have imagined when completing his two-volume study of James.

Oliphant, Thomas. Utter Incompetents: How Some of the Most Experienced, Talented and Savvy Political Leaders in Washington Fumbled, Bumbled and Ran the Bush Regime into the Ground. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-312-36017-7. $24.95.
Bush is politically clever if an anti-intellectual, says Oliphant, so how could his administration have done so badly on fiscal policy, healthcare, foreign policy, and more?

Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Nov. 2007. 176p. ISBN 978-1-59420-145-5. $21.95.
Our obsession with nutrition is ruining our health, argues Pollan—and it makes for some really bad meals.

Quindlen, Anna. Good Dog. Stay. Random. Nov. 2007. 96p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6713-8. $14.95.
Black Lab Beau takes a bow-wow, with mistress Quindlen in tow.

Richardson, John. A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932. Knopf. Nov. 2007. 448p. ISBN 978-0-307-26665-6. $40.
Volume 3 of Richardson's masterly portrait of a master; with a seven-city tour.

Saviano, Roberto. Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System. Farrar. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-374-16527-7. $25.
Saviano went underground as a waiter and construction worker and even traveled to China to discover how the Camorra crime network has ruined Naples and its environs. An Italian best seller.

Sikov, Ed. Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis. Holt. Nov. 2007. 496p. ISBN 978-0-8050-7548-9. $30.
Film critic Sikov tells us all about Bette.

Thomas, Clarence. My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir. HarperCollins. Nov. 2007. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-056555-8. $26.95. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
How did Thomas get where he is today? The profound work ethic of the grandfather who helped raise him. With a one-day laydown.