Prepub Alert
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 05/15/2009
FICTION
Ballard, J.G. The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard. Norton. Sept. 2009. 1216p. ISBN 978-0-393-07262-4. $35.
Anyone who recalls Steven Spielberg's vivid Empire of the Sun will both regret the recent death of Ballard, author of the novel on which the film was based, and rejoice that his stories are now available here in their entirety. Specialized but important.
Boudinot, Ryan. Misconception. Black Cat: Grove. Sept. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-0-8021-7065-1. pap. $14.
Having piqued our interest with The Little Hitler, a story collection that got “Best of the Year” nods from Amazon and PW, Boudinot delivers a debut novel whose protagonist meets up with his high school sweetheart—to check out the memoir she wrote about their romance. Slightly edgy and likely a celebrated literary debut; reading group guide.
Brown, Dan. The Lost Symbol. Doubleday. Sept. 2009. 480p. ISBN 978-0-385-50422-5. $28.95. CD: Random Audio.
Da Vinci protagonist Robert Langdon is back, smack in the middle of another historico-religious thriller—with events compressed into 12 hours. Need I say more? I can't anyway; this book is embargoed. A five-million-copy first printing.
Butler, Robert Olen. Hell. Grove. Sept. 2009. 240p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1901-8. $24.
TV newscaster Hatcher McCord finds himself in Hell, along with luminaries from Shakespeare to Humphrey Bogart, but it seems that Beatrice—yes, Dante's Beatrice—might know how to spring him. With a ten-city tour; for those who like their humor black.
Cain, Chelsea. Evil at Heart. Minotaur: St. Martin's. Sept. 2009. 336p. ISBN 978-0-312-36848-7. $24.99. CD: Macmillan Audio.
Det. Archie Sheridan is back, and if he promises not to kill himself, Gretchen, the serial killer with whom he shares a mysterious bond, won't kill anyone else. But a copycat killer complicates things. With a one-day laydown on September 1; stock up.
Cave, Nick. The Death of Bunny Munro. Faber & Faber. Sept. 2009. 240p. ISBN 978-0-86547-910-4. $24. CD: Macmillan Audio.
There's been a little boom lately of musicians writing fiction (from violinist Eugene Drucker to alt/blues artist Tim Thornton). But Birthday Party et al. lead singer Cave did it 20 years ago with And the Ass Saw the Angel. Here, widower Bunny Munro drags his young son along on his escapades cum sales trips. With a national tour.
Dexter, Pete. Spooner. Grand Central. Sept. 2009. 350p. ISBN 978-0-446-54072-8. $26.99.
Warren Spooner can't remember his father, who died when Walter was a baby, but he's rowed unendingly with the durable stepdad who replaced him. An in-house favorite at Grand Central; with a reading group guide.
Dryden, Alex. Red to Black. Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. 512p. ISBN 978-0-06-180386-4. $25.99.
Why am I singling out this debut thriller, set in Putin's Russia and featuring the entanglements of MI6 spy Finn and KGB colonel Anna? Russia enchants as the ever-elusive enemy, pseudonymous journalist Dryden reportedly knows his stuff, plans for a series and a 50,000-copy first printing speak volumes, and millions of le Carré and Martin Cruz Smith fans can't be wrong.
Fellowes, Julian. Past Imperfect. St. Martin's. Sept. 2009. 416p. ISBN 978-0-312-57068-2. $24.99.
They bond in the Swinging Sixties, and then their friendship takes a tumble. Now Damian Baxter is dying, and he wants the narrator to track down the child he may have fathered. Guy lit? From the best-selling author who scripted Gosford Park.
Grenville, Kate. The Lieutenant. Atlantic Monthly. Sept. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1916-2. $24.
In the late 1700s, a disaffected English lad joins the marines and heads to New South Wales, where he builds a conservatory and bonds with an Aborigine girl. Then his loyalties get tested. Grenville, whose Commonwealth winner, The Secret River, proved how well she could handle this territory, here draws on the notebooks of British astronomer William Dawes. With a reading group guide; my pick on the list for a good conversation.
Hicks, Robert. A Separate Country. Grand Central. Sept. 2009. 432p. ISBN 978-0-446-58164-6. $25.99. lrg. prnt. $27.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
After the Civil War, Confederate general John Bell Hood contended with grievous war wounds, the 11 children he fathered, financial reversals, and yellow fever. This should do as well as Hicks's best-selling debut, The Widow of the South.
Huneven, Michelle. Blame. Sarah Crichton: Farrar. Sept. 2009. 304p. ISBN 978-0-374-11430-5. $25.
Patsy spends her life atoning for killing two people while driving drunk—but did she really? Huneven's first two novels received high praise; this could be her critical breakout. With a reading group guide.
Kane, Andrea. Drawn in Blood. Morrow. Sept. 2009. 368p. ISBN 978-0-06-123680-8. $24.99.
Should former agent Sloane Burbank keep a secret about a crime her father witnessed or tell her lover, FBI agent Derek Parker, and endanger them all? Kane's recent Twisted made the extended New York Times best sellers list; with a 50,000-copy first printing.
Lodato, Victor. Mathilda Savitch. Farrar. Sept. 2009. 304p. ISBN 978-0-374-20400-6. $24.
Young Mathilda can be snarky—“awful is easy if you make it your one and only”—but she's intent on figuring out who pushed her older sister, Helen, in front of a train. She's clueless until she cracks Helen's email password. This highly touted debut will shake us all up or fall hard. Fingers crossed.
Meyer, Deon. Blood Safari. Atlantic Monthly. Sept. 2009. 284p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1903-2. $19.95.
How could Emma's brother be responsible for killing four poachers and a witch doctor? He's assumed dead, having disappeared in Kruger National Park years ago. Go for it; South African Meyer keeps winning awards everywhere.
Mitchell, Shandi. Under This Unbroken Sky. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-177402-7. $25.99.
Mitchell is an award-winning Canadian director/screenwriter, which may explain the enthusiasm for this debut novel. Or maybe it's the ongoing interest in stories about the immigrant life—Mitchell draws on the experiences of her Ukrainian forebears. With a 60,000-copy first printing; reading group guide.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Little Bird of Heaven. Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. 448p. ISBN 978-0-06-182983-3. $25.99.
A woman is murdered, her husband and lover are both suspects, and the son and daughter of the respective families are attracted, though each thinks the other's father did it. Vintage Oates, and the setting is Gravedigger country; this can't go wrong. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
Sohn, Amy. Prospect Park West. S. & S. Sept. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7763-8. $25.
Four moms in upscale Park Slope, Brooklyn, go nutty. It's a post–Sex and the City world, and welcome to it; this is still hot territory. From New York columnist and best-selling author Sohn; with a five-city tour.
Sparks, Nicholas. The Last Song. Grand Central. Sept. 2009. 336p. ISBN 978-0-446-54756-7. $24.99. lrg prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
Still fuming over her parents' divorce, teenaged New Yorker Ronnie discovers that she's expected to spend the summer with her dad in small-town North Carolina. Guess who's starring in the movie? Yep, Miley Cyrus. With a ten-city tour.
Todd, Charles. A Duty to the Dead. Morrow. Aug. 2009. 336p. ISBN 978-0-06-179176-5. $24.99.
Skipping out on his award-winning Ian Rutledge series, Todd launches a new series featuring World War I nurse Bess Crawford, who starts by making a promise to a dying soldier that turns out risky. For those who can't get enough of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs.
NONFICTION
Anderson, Ray. Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: How My Company and I Transformed Our Purpose, Sparked Innovation, and Grew Profits—by Respecting the Earth. St. Martin's. Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-0-312-54349-5. $25.99.
Anderson always made sure that his carpet company, Interface, complied with environmental laws. Then he went radically green and managed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 82 percent while doubling earnings. With a national tour.
Beavan, Colin. No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts To Save the Planet—and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process. Farrar. Sept. 2009. 304p. ISBN 978-0-374-22288-8. $25. CD: Macmillan Audio.
In case you missed the 2008 documentary, aired at Sundance, and Beavan's ongoing blog, Beavan decided to see whether he could find a way to live that would have no impact on the environment...no plastics, no air-conditioning.... Sure to be big.
Bullock-Prado, Gesine. Confections of a Closet Master Baker: A Memoir. Broadway. Sept. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-7679-3268-4. $24.
Bullock-Prado's work kneads together the never-dying memoir genre and the hot new topic: food. The hook here: Bullock-Prado once headed up a production company called Fortis Films, but she threw over Hollywood to become a master baker in Vermont. Reading group guide, which is perfect; think of all the groups that eat while they talk.
Canfield, Oran. Long Past Stopping: A Memoir. Morrow. Sept. 2009. 224p. ISBN 978-0-06-145075-4. $25.99.
A memoir from a guy whose father created the Chicken Soup phenomenon? I had my doubts, but I'm assured that this is incredible—both honest and well crafted—and it's being compared to Augusten Burroughs's works.
Drabble, Margaret. The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Houghton Harcourt. Sept. 2009. 368p. ISBN 978-0-547-24144-9. $25.
Drabble, who's just declared that she will no longer write fiction for fear of repeating herself, here throws us a scrap by weaving her life story into the history of games, particularly jigsaws.
Eliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps—and What We Can Do About It. Houghton Harcourt. Sept. 2009. 384p. ISBN 978-0-618-39311-4. $24.
The brains of infant boys and girls differ but not by as much as we've been led to believe, argues neuroscientist Eliot. Taps right into our escalating anxieties about how best to raise children. With a national tour.
Fontana, Marian. The Middle of the Bed: A Memoir. S. & S. Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-1-4165-7547-4. $25.
Having triumphed over grief with A Widow's Walk, 9/11 widow Fontana continues her story. This will doubtless be much in demand, especially with talk about a TV series based on the comedienne/actress's life.
Furguson, Craig. American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-0-06-171954-7. $25.99.
America or bust: how the funny Furguson went from mucking around Glasglow to hosting The Late, Late Show. With a seven-city tour; a 250,000-copy first printing. Not a wee little book.
Goodall, Jane with Thane Maynard & Gail Hudson. Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink. Grand Central. Sept. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-0-446-58177-6. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
On saving the California condor, the black-footed ferret, and more. The beloved naturalist sells between 500 to 1000 copies of her backlist titles at each stop of her annual 30-city American tour. Order accordingly.
Jacobs, A.J. The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment. S. & S. Sept. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9906-7. $25.
He read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica and then followed all the rules in the Bible. For his third act, Jacobs turns himself into an experiment, e.g., he outsources everything in his life to India. With a 12-city tour. Ha!
James, Lebron & Buzz Bissinger. Shooting Stars. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2009. 352p. ISBN 978-1-59420-232-2. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Basketball star James recalls the bonds he forged with his inner-city buddies, which led them to a national championship in high school. Not just for sports fans.
Kenison, Katrina. The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir. Springboard: Grand Central. Sept. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-446-40948-3. $23.99. lrg prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
After Mitten Strings for God, advice on celebrating the everyday. Here's a new concept: there's large print, but it's on demand only.
Kidd, Sue Monk & Ann Kidd Taylor. Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story. Viking. Sept. 2009. 304p. ISBN 978-0-670-02120-8. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Another hot blend: the travel memoir, though while most people travel to find themselves, the author of The Secret Life of Bees and her college grad daughter travel through Greece and France to find each other. With a 13-city tour—in this country.
King, Sorrel. Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade To Make Medical Care Safe. Atlantic Monthly. Sept. 2009. 208p. ISBN 978-0-8021-1920-9. $24.
After being burned, King's daughter Josie recovered nicely at Johns Hopkins Hospital, then died when she was accidently given a fatal dose of methadone upon leaving. King's Josie King Foundation now works to avoid such medical errors. With an 18-city tour.
Millan, Cesar. Puppyhood: How To Raise the Perfect Dog. Harmony: Crown. Oct. 2009. 320p. ISBN 978-0-307-46129-2. $25.99. CD: Random.
Cesar whispers puppy tricks into your ear. Buy a whole litter.
Patterson, James. The Murder of King Tut. Little, Brown. Sept. 2009. 400p. ISBN 978-0-316-03404-3. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
Not fiction: the famed novelist presents evidence that King Tut died a bloody death. Everything Patterson touches turns to gold, and here's betting that this will, too.
Rao, Anthony & Michelle Seaton. The Way of Boys: Raising Healthy Boys in a Challenging and Complex World. Morrow. Sept. 2009. 304p. ISBN 978-0-06-170782-7. $25.99.
ADHD, Asperger's syndrome, and more: we're inflicting damaging diagnoses on boys in response to their normal exuberant behavior. A plea to stop from experienced psychologist Rao; a 50,000-copy first printing.
Reichl, Ruth. Gourmet Today: More Than 1,000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen. Houghton Harcourt. Sept. 2009. 1152p. ISBN 978-0-618-61018-1. $40.
Fresh recipes that focus on today's kitchen, where farmers market produce meets fancy ingredients from abroad.
Reid, T.R. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-1-59420-234-6. $25.95.
How other free-market, industrialized countries manage to deliver affordable health care for everyone. For the panic prone: yes, there are issues, but nothing socialized. From Washington Post correspondent Reid; important.
Sandel, Michael J. Justice: What We Owe One Another As Citizens—and How We Can Think About It Together. Farrar. Sept. 2009. 288p. ISBN 978-0-374-18065-2. $25.
Sandel's course on justice is one of Harvard's hottest, and it serves as the basis for a PBS series airing in the fall. Buy up for smart audiences.
Sullivan, Christine. Saving Cinnamon: The Amazing True Story of a Missing Military Puppy and the Desperate Mission To Bring Her Home. St. Martin's. Sept. 2009. 240p. ISBN 978-0-312-59628-6. $24.99.
Navy reservist Mark Feffer rescued a puppy in Kandahar, but she didn't make it onto the transport home. Sullivan, Feffer's sister, jump-started the 44-day search for Cinnamon and continues working with Operation Baghdad Pups.
Thomas, Elizabeth. The Hidden Life of Deer. Harper: HarperCollins.Sept. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-0-06-179210-6. $24.99.
This won't likely be as big as Thomas's The Hidden Life of Dogs—and the first printing is only 30,000 copies—but let's face it: deer are everywhere in America.
Zimmerman, Dwight John (text) & Wayne Vansant (art). The Vietnam War: A Graphic History. Hill & Wang. Sept. 2009. 160p. ISBN 978-0-8090-9495-0. $19.95.
Perfect credentials: Zimmerman writes frequently on military subjects, and Vansant, who served in Vietnam, illustrated Marvel's long-running comic The 'Nam.
