Prepub Alert

Fiction
Arana, Marie. Lima Nights. Bantam. Jan. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-0-385-34258-2. $25.
Carlos Bluhm leads an elegant, throwaway sort of life in upper-class Lima—until he meets a 16-year-old tango dancer on the wrong side of town. With a reading group guide.
Bauermeister, Erica. The School of Essential Ingredients. Putnam. Jan. 2009. 368p. ISBN 978-0-399-15543-7. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.

A widower, a young mom, an immigrant, and more gather at Lillian's Restaurant for lessons in cooking and in life.

Griffin, W.E.B. Black Ops: A Presidential Agent Novel. Putnam. Jan. 2009. 512p. ISBN 978-0-399-15517-8. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.

As agents keep dying in out-of-the-way places like Ukraine and Turkmenistan—and in Virginia, the CIA's backyard—lucky Lt. Col. Charley Castillo gets to figure out why.
Houghteling, Sara. Pictures at an Exhibition. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-0-307-26685-9. $24.95. CD: Random Audio.
When the Nazis occupied Paris, the Berenzon family's fabulous art collection vanished without a trace. Son Max's efforts to recover them postwar lead him to the city's dark and dirty side. First novelist Houghteling has already won awards. With a five-city tour; reading group guide.
Iles, Greg. The Devil's Punchbowl. Scribner. Jan. 2009. 480p. ISBN 978-1-7432-9251-1. $26.95.
The Devil's Punchbowl is a seemingly bottomless pit near the Mississippi River at Natchez that's apparently loaded with snakes, murder victims, and maybe Jean Lafitte's treasure. The perfect setting for the return of Penn Cage (The Quiet Game

). Big tour.
Krentz, Jayne Ann. Running Hot. Putnam. Jan. 2009. 368p. ISBN 978-1-399-15521-5. $24.95.
Luther Malone, a former cop and member of the hush-hush Arcane Society for paranormals, is shepherding newbie Grace Renquist—a librarian—who's been assigned an aura-reading task regarding a murder suspect. Sparks fly, but they must be tamped down as some bad paranormals enter the picture.

Majors, Inman. The Millionaires: A Novel of the New South. Norton. Jan. 2009. 416p. ISBN 978-0-393-06802-3. $24.95.
Roland Cole is running for governor, brother J.T. pulls off a world's fair in little Glennville, TN, and suddenly everyone wonders where they got their money. With a reading group guide.
Mun, Nami. Miles from Nowhere. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-59448-854-2. $21.95.
Her father has deserted the family and her mother is in shock, so 13-year-old Korean American Joon heads for the streets. A hot first novel from a Pushcart Prize winner; with a national tour.
O'Connell, Carol. Bone by Bone. Putnam. Jan. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-399-15514-7. $24.95.
Two teenaged brothers enter a California woods, and one disappears. Years later, he starts arriving home in pieces, and his older brother—a former army investigator—must dig up some ugly secrets. With a national tour.

Phillips, Jayne Anne. Lark and Termite. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-375-40195-4. $24. lrg. prnt.
In 1950s West Virginia, Lark worries about her sweet but disabled brother and her father, a corporal off fighting in Korea. Phillips's first book in nine years. With an 11-city tour; reading group guide.
Suarez, Daniel. Daemon. Dutton. Jan. 2009. 208p. ISBN 978-0-525-95111-7. $25.95.
A legendary computer-game designer dies, and a daemon (an autonomous computer program) goes berserk. Self-published by independent systems consultant Suarez, this first novel was beloved by techies everywhere and even featured in Wired. Foreign rights to four countries.

Woods, Stuart. Mounting Fears. Putnam. Jan. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-399-15547-5. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Bad news: The vice president has died, his proposed replacement has dark secrets, and someone is gunning for the CIA director, who's also the President's wife.

Nonfiction
Bardach, Ann Louise. Without Fidel: In Miami, Havana, and Washington. Scribner. Jan. 2009. 176p. ISBN 978-1-4165-5150-8. $23.

Having spent years writing about Cuba for places like the New York Times, Pen Award–winning investigative journalist Bardach has a lot to say about Fidel's last hurrah. With a four-city tour.
Berry, Mary Frances. And Justice for All: The United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Continuing Struggle for Freedom in America. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-0-307-26320-9. $27.95.
A professor of American social thought at the University of Pennsylvania, Berry served on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission for 20 years. Here she gives us the first real history in decades. With a six-city tour.
Blyth, Catherine. The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour to a Neglected Pleasure. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2009. 240p. ISBN 978-1-59240-419-3. $22.50.
A refresher course for those who've been plugged into their iPods for too long. Rights sold to five countries; with a national tour.
Gopnik, Adam. Angels and Ages: Lincoln, Darwin, and the Making of the Modern Age. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-0-375-27078-8. $24.95.
One other thing Lincoln and Darwin had in common (aside from radically influencing human events): a birthday. From New Yorker writer Gopnik; with a three-city tour.
Holmes, Hannah. The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself. Random. Jan. 2009. 368p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6541-7. $25.
Taking herself as a starting point, science journalist Holmes considers how we are like mammals—and how we are not. With a six-city tour.
Hyman, Mark, M.D. The UltraMind Solution: Automatically Boost Your Brain Power, Improve Your Mood, and Optimize Your Memory. Scribner. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-4971-0. $26. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Ditch what's bad for your brain, e.g., your couch-potato ways, and follow the Seven Simple Keys Hyman first introduced in Ultraprevention. You'll be smarter, happier, and faster on your feet.
Johnson, Steven. The Invention of Air: The Story of Science, Terror, and the Birth of America. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2009. 240p. ISBN 978-1-59448-852-8. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
You don't know Joseph Priestley? Let the best-selling author of The Ghost Map tell you. A brilliant scientist (he helped discover oxygen) and a radical minister (he helped found the Unitarian Church), Priestley corresponded with Benjamin Franklin and fled England for America, where he influenced the Founding Fathers. With a national tour.
Kaiser, Robert G. So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 384p. ISBN 978-0-307-26654-5. $27.95.
Veteran Washington Post reporter Kaiser (Russia: The People and the Power) explains how lobbying got out of hand—and the consequences.
Keltner, Dacher. Born To Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. Norton. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-0-393-06512-1. $25.95.
Berkeley psychology professor Keltner explains that gratitude, awe, and compassion evolved for a very good reason. With a three-city tour.
Leach, Penelope. Child Care Today: Getting It Right for Everyone. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4000-4256-2. $24.95.
Child care expert Leach sends us a report card on how we are raising our children today. With a five-city tour.

Minor, Rickey. There's No Traffic on the Extra Mile: What It Takes To Be in the Top 1% Who Achieve Their Dreams.Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-1-59240-418-6. $26.
If the music director of American Idol can't tell you how to achieve your dreams, no one can.
Rodman, Peter W. Presidential Command: Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush. Knopf. Jan. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-0-375-26979-9. $26.95.
How Presidents take on the world; from a man who served as deputy assistant for national affairs, special assistant to Henry Kissinger, director of the State Department's policy planning staff, and assistant secretary for defense for international security affairs. Some credentials.
Schwartz, Sunny with David Boodell. Dreams from the Monster Factory: A Tale of Prison, Redemption, and One Woman's Fight To Restore Justice to All. Scribner. Jan. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4165-6981-7. $24.
You've seen her on Oprah and Larry King Live. Now read this work by the activist whose prison program, Resolve To Stop the Violence (RSVP), has cut recidivism by almost 80 percent.
Tyson, Neil deGrasse. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet. Norton. Jan. 2009. 160p. ISBN 978-0-393-06520-6. $23.95.
Since Hayden Planetarium director Tyson helped demote Pluto, he still gets hate mail. Here's his history of our obsession with the little planet that couldn't. With an eight-city tour.
Uhlberg, Myron. Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love. Bantam. Jan. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-0-553-80688-5. $23.
Uhlberg recalls growing up during the Depression. Nothing unusual about that—except that he could hear and his parents could not.
Werth, Barry. Banquet at Delmonico's: Great Minds, the Gilded Age, and the Triumph of Evolution in America. Random. Jan. 2009. 400p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6778-7. $27.
Who's dining at Delmonico's, late 19th-century New York's famed watering hole? Not the rich and ambitious but a bunch of intellectuals honoring Herbert Spencer. Werth (The Scarlet Professor) shows how the idea of evolution influenced every aspect of American life. With a three-city tour.
White, Ronald C., Jr. A. Lincoln: A Biography. Random. Jan. 2009. 800p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6499-1. $35.
More Lincoln celebrations: Huntington Library fellow White frames his account by considering Lincoln's ethics. With a 12-city tour.
Whyte, David. The Three Marriages: Holding Together Work, Self, and Relationship. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2009. 512p. ISBN 978-1-59448-860-3. $25.95.
Author of best sellers like The Heart Aroused, Whyte argues that work, self, and one's beloved must be nurtured with equal care—or all hell will break loose.