Prepub Exploded: Feb. 2011, Pt. 1
By Barbara Hoffert Aug 4, 2010In this edition of Prepub Exploded, an advance, online expansion of Prepub Alert, you'll find lots of thriller authors, like J.D. Robb, plus much-anticipated debuts from Deborah Rodriguez and Karen Rusell. Nonfiction is full of predictions from George Friedman and Michio Kaku.
Fiction
Berenson, Alex. The Secret Soldier. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 416p. ISBN 978-0-399-15708-0. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Never mind that John Wells has left the CIA; when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia tells him that conspiracy threatens his country, Wells goes undercover-again. The best-selling Berenson, winner of the 2007 first novel Edgar for The Faithful Spy, covered the Iraq invasion for the New York Times and so should be able to deliver well-grounded thrills. And he keeps building.
Bradley, Alan. A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Mystery. Delacorte. Feb. 2011. 384p. ISBN 978-0-385-34232-2. $24.
Having won an Agatha and a Dilys Winn Award, made numerous best sellers lists, reached the New York Times's extended list, won numerous best book accolades, and hit 31 territories worldwide with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, little Ms. Flavia de Luce should be proud. In her third outing, she demonstrates a firm knowledge of poisons while saving a gypsy from accusations of child abduction. Fun for book groups; there's even a related tea-party kit available.
Braunstein, Sarah. The Sweet Relief of Missing Children. Norton. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-393-07659-2. $24.95.
In New York City, a girl named Leonora disappears. Years earlier, in upstate New York, a boy name Paul finally ditches his irresponsible mother. How do these two stories connect? Debut novelist Braunstein is itching to tell you, and since she's a Rona Jaffe Writers' Award winner, this could be good. With a reading group guide.
Chiaverini, Jennifer. The Union Quilters: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 978-0-525-95203-9. $24.95.
When Civil War comes, the men of Water's Ford, PA, rise up to fight for the Union, leaving the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee with some awesome responsibilities of their own. Chiaverini's popularity has been building over the last decade, with more than 1.5 million copies of her books now in print. With an eight-city tour; don't miss wherever historical fiction is popular.
Dean, Louise. The Old Romantic. Riverhead: Putnam. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 978-1-59448-779-8. $25.95.
Upscale Nick has virtually no connection with his blunt and embarrassing working-class parents-until his father decides that he's about to die and initiates an earth-shattering rapprochement. British author Dean's Becoming Strangers won the Betty Trask Prize, and her new work is generating some inhouse warmth, so track for Anglophiles and readers who like gently crazy families.
Delaney, Frank. The Matchmaker of Kenmare. Random. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6784-8. $26.
Ben McCarthy, back after Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show and devastated by the loss of his wife, finds friendship with Miss Begley, the matchmaker of Kenmare. Then she matches herself up with an American officer who sends her on a mission into enemy territory, with Ben in tow. Delaney's Irish charmers sell really well; buy wherever he's popular.
Ellis, David. Breach of Trust. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 978-0-399-15710-3. $25.95.
Jason Kolarich is back, devastated by the death of his wife and daughter and ready to avenge the murder (on the same night) of an informant. Alas, that lands him on the wrong side of the FBI. An Edgar winner for his debut, Line of Vision, Ellis has been compared to everyone from Agatha Christie to Philip Margolin, with Richard Russo thrown in there, too (for the dialog). Buy accordingly.
McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife. Ballantine. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 978-0-345-52130-9. $25. CD: Random Audio.
McLain has done nicely with two poetry collections, a debut novel (A Ticket To Ride), and a memoir of her life in foster homes, but this evocation of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley-which is, by extension, an evocation of 1920s Paris-promises to be the author's breakout. The book reportedly sold for $500,000 after a hotly contested auction. With a five-city tour, including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and by request; no reading group guide, alas, though this seems a natural for book clubs.
Mosse, Kate. The Winter Ghosts. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 272p. ISBN 978-0-399-15715-8. $24.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
As in the best-selling Labyrinth and Sepulchre, Mosse takes us to southern France and layers on a complex, time-shifting plot. Freddie Watson is still mourning his brother's death in World War I when he is caught in a snowstorm in the Pyrenees and ends up investigating an ancient mystery with the charming Fabrissa. Orange Broadband Prize cofounder Mosse's works gets the occasional critic/reader kvetch, but they've done very nicely, thank you-Labyrinth sold more than a million in paperback in the UK alone, and Sepulchre has been translated into 35 languages. Buy wherever historical thrillers are loved.
Pearson, Allison. I Think I Love You. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-1-4000-4235-7. $24.95. CD: Random Audio.
In mid-1970s Wales, Petra and best friend Sharon enter the Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz, whose winner will be flown to America to meet Cassidy himself. In late 1990s London, sadder but wiser Petra finds an old letter hidden in her mother's closet announcing that she had won. And that's how she ends up in Las Vegas with Sharon, finally meeting her hero. A follow-up to Pearson's sprightly best seller, I Don't Know How She Does It; sure to charm women of a certain age. With a four-city tour to Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto and a reading group guide.
Robb, J.D. Treachery in Death. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 384p. ISBN 978-0-399-15703-5. $26.95.
Det. Eve Dallas and her new partner, Peabody, face double trouble: the mindless murder of a neighborhood grocer by three stoners out for kicks and snacks and the realization that two fellow cops have blood on their hands. Robb is always a No. 1 New York Times best seller, and this is the publisher's biggest book of the month.
Rodriguez, Deborah. A Cup of Friendship. Ballantine. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-345-51475-2. $25. CD: Random.
Having triumphed with her best-selling and much-praised memoir, Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil, Rodriguez now tries fiction. Sunny, who runs a coffee shop for expats in Kabul, shelters a young woman kidnapped from a distant village, even as other customers seek to help-or be helped. With an eight-city tour; clearly great book club read.
Roy-Bhattacharya, Joydeep. The Story of Marrakesh. Norton. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 978-0-393-07058-3. $23.95.
Each year, exhorted by storyteller Hassan, folks gather in Marrakesh's city square to re-create the story of a foreign couple who disappeared from their midst. Are they trying to discover the truth or cover it up with their own myth making? The author's previous The Gabriel Club appeared in 16 countries, but this intriguing-sounding work is his U.S. debut. Check it out for readers of literate mystery and global fiction; with a five-city tour to Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Albany, and Buffalo.
Fiction Pick
Russell, Karen. Swamplandia! Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-307-26399-5. $24.95.
One of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. One of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35. One of New York magazine's 25 People To Watch Under 25. And a featured author in The New Yorker's coveted debut fiction issue. At age 28, Russell's had it all-before the publication of this debut novel. Russell won her kudos for the sharp and enchanting collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, which LJ's reviewer called "a thing of beauty...which feels as though it might have been written by Lemony Snicket and Margaret Atwood" (LJ 10/1/06). Her novel sounds just that wacky. Swamplandia!, home of the Bigtree alligator wrestling family, is being sunk by a new competitor called the World of Darkness. With her headliner mother dead, her father vanished, her brother now allied with the World of Darkness, and her sister secretly involved with a ghost, 12-year-old Ava has a lot on her plate. Now she must travel to a very dark part of the swamp to save her family. Apparently expanding on a story in Russsell's collection, this work sounds both shivery and enchanting. For readers of all but the most recondite fiction; with a four-city tour to Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle and a reading group guide.
Stuckey-French, Elizabeth. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady. Doubleday. Feb. 2011. 320p. ISBN 978-0-385-51064-6. $24.95.
Marylou Ahearn intends to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs, who back in 1953 gave her a radioactive cocktail without her knowledge as part of a hush-hush government study. But to get close enough to him, she must get close to his family, with messy results. Watch this; it's the author's first since her 2002 debut novel, Mermaid on the Moon, which was quirky and much praised.
sturges, p.g. Shortcut Man. Scribner. Feb. 2011. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4391-9417-1. $24.
Dick Henry has a problem. He's been hired by a porn producer who thinks that his wife is cheating on him. Sure she is-she's sleeping with Henry. Screenwriter/playwright sturges (yup, his dad is Preston Sturges) seems to be getting some buzz for his first novel; Michael Connelly, for instance, has the galley on his reading pile.
Taylor, Brad. One Rough Man. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 400p. ISBN 978-0-525-95213-8. $25.95.
A washed-up operator on the Taskforce-an extralegal entity created by the U.S. government-Pike Logan is on the trail of two rogues who pose a far greater risk to humankind than wayward governments or movements. Debut novelist Taylor, a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, is being compared to Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. Big push; watch for readers of these authors.
White, Randy Wayne. Night Vision. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-399-15705-9. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
The manager of a trailer park serving mostly illegal laborers is prepared to clear the place out for a syndicate eager to develop the property. But when a girl with special gifts sees him commit murder, he's got a problem. It's Doc Ford to the rescue of the runaway girl. Sounds terse and relevant, and last year's Deep Shadow was White's best debut yet, starting out at No. 6 on the New York Times best sellers list.
Willig, Lauren. The Orchid Affair. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 400p. ISBN 978-0-525-95199-5. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Lauren Grey is thrilled to be part of the Selwick Spy School-until she finds out that her first assignment is to serve as governess to the children of Andre Jaouen, assistant to Bonaparte's minister of police. But things turn exciting when she starts noticing suspect activity in the house. It certainly seems that for most fans the Pink Carnation series is not wilting. A reading guide-but no tour?
Nonfiction
Cockburn, Patrick & Henry Cockburn. Henry's Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, a Father and Son's Story. Scribner. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 978-1-4391-5470-0. $25.An award-winning Iraq correspondent for the Independent, Patrick Cockburn has gone where many have not gone before, but nothing prepared him for his son's descent into schizophrenia-signaled by Henry's effort to swim an estuary near Brighton, England, on a winter's day. Henry has been mostly hospitalized since then but here tells a dual story with his father. In 2009, Patrick won the Orwell Prize in journalism, in part for the clear-eyed writing he did on his son's illness. A nice match with Michael Greenberg's Hurry Down Sunshine.
Cohen, Arianne, ed. The Sex Diaries Project. Doubleday. Jan. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-385-53390-4. $24.95.
Do folks really want to know what others do in bed? But of course. Initiated in 2007, Cohen's "Sex
Diaries" column is the most popular feature on New York magazine's web site. No mere compilation of past beddings, this book offers 50 new diaries selected from entries Cohen had, um, solicited. Should be popular.
Conley, Susan. The Foremost Good Fortune. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-307-59406-8. $25.95.
When Conley moved to Beijing with her husband and children, she had to get used to things like Chinese megamarkets and the impossibility of communicating the most basic needs. All that paled when she discovered that she had cancer. It's hard to gauge the tone of this work without seeing it, but do watch; Conley has published in places like the Paris Review, and she's set for a pretty big tour (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and other New England locales).
D'Amboise, Jacques. I Was a Dancer: A Memoir. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-1-4000-4234-0. $35.
And what a dancer he was. A principal of the New York City Ballet by age 17, d'Amboise partnered the likes of Maria Tallchief and Suzanne Farrell and had more works choreographed on him by Balanchine than any other dancer. His memoir takes in a time of tremendous, trailblazing artistic ferment and is required reading for anyone who cares about the arts in America. And since I am a Balanchine fanatic, it's on the top of my list.
Dubus, Andre III. Townie: A Memoir. Norton. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-393-06466-7. $25.95.
After his parents' divorce, the author of House of Sand and Fog had a split childhood. On Sundays, he visited his famous author father on his high-toned college campus, but the rest of the time he lived with his mother in a has-been Massachusetts mill town where drugs and violence ruled. If this memoir of overcoming the dangers of his townie life is as good as his fiction, it will be good indeed. With a ten-city tour to Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Memphis, and Oxford, MS. Not just for literary readers.
Friedman, George. The Next Decade: What the World Will Look Like. Doubleday. Jan. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-385-53294-5. $28.95.
Ten years fro now, the conflict between Islam and the West will have cooled, and labor shortages will matter more than financial crisis. So says the founder and CEO of Stratfor, author of the best-selling The Next 100 Years. I get suspicious of auguries like these, but the New York Times does compare Friedman to a Magic 8-Ball.
Holt, Jim. Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story. Norton. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-393-06534-3. $26.95.
A noted critic/essayist on philosophy, mathematics, and science asks that thorny question-why is there something rather than nothing?-and tries getting answers from folks like an Oxford don, a physic Nobel Laureate, and a Buddhist monk. Okay, not for everyone, but sometimes we should get down to basics. With a three-city tour to Boston, New York, and Washington, DC.
Hornfischer, James. Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal. Bantam. Feb. 2011. 544p. ISBN 978-0-553-80670-0. $28.
Hornfischer's account of the bloody three-month Guadalcanal campaign should be welcomed by military readers everywhere, who have made his books big sellers. Previous titles (e.g., Ship of Ghosts) sell around 60,000 copies in hardcover and three to five times that in paperback. You know if you've got the readers.
Ice-T with Douglas Century. Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption-from South Central to Hollywood. One World: Ballantine. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-345-52328-0. $25.
He's a rapper. He's an actor (with two NAACP Image Award for his starring role as Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on Law & Order: SVU). He's producer of the reality show Peacemakers, set to premiere later this year, which works to defuse tensions among warring gangs. And now he's got a memoir about his breakthrough from life on the street to life in Hollywood. I'd expect a big audience.
Kaku, Michio. Physics of the Future: How Science Will Change Daily Life by 2100. Doubleday. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-385-53080-4. $28.95.
The Internet will be embedded in your contact lenses, and your computer and other appliances will respond to sensors attuned to your brain. It sounds like science fiction, but string theory cofounder and CUNY Graduate Center professor Kaku bases such predictions on interviews with more than 300 scientists already working on this stuff. Not just for nerds.
Kanfer, Stefan. Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-307-27100-6. $26.95.
Here's looking at you, Bogie, from your privileged but messy childhood through 30 obscure films, stardom in unqualified masterpieces, four marriages, and death at age 57. Former Time editor/writer Kanfer (Groucho) is great with the movie stuff. For anyone who likes the oldies but goodies. With a three-city tour to Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
Keller, Timothy. King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-0-525-95210-7. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Found of Manhattan's Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Keller speaks to 5000 souls each Sunday-and reaches more through his best sellers. Here's an account of Jesus, drawn from the Gospel of Mark, that aims to be both transcendent and personal. If straight-to-the-heart but not fuzzy is your religious style, then this is for you.
Oher, Michael with Don Yaeger. I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side and Beyond. Gotham Bks: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 978-1-592-40612-8. $26.
You know Oher's story from Michael Lewis's The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game and the subsequent film starring Sandra Bullock. Now read what Oher, an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens and nominee for NFL Rookie of the Year Award, has to say for himself. Inspirational and likely a hit.
Robison, Margaret. The Long Journey Home. Spiegel & Grau. Feb. 2011. 400p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6869-2. $26.
Hardly given the gentle treatment in memoirs by her sons Augusten Burroughs and John Elder Robison (okay, they straight out said she was crazy), Robison here tells her story-from tortured Southern childhood to equally tortured marriage, breakdown, stroke, and redemption. There's a built-in audience, and rumor has it that the writing glows.
Rose, Frank. The Age of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Art of Storytelling. Norton. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 978-0-393-07601-1. $25.95.
Once we consumed entertainment. Now, with YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, we create it-and TV, film, advertising, whatever, will never be the same. Wired contributing editor Rose explores what the participatory nature of entertainment means to us all. Future thought for smarties.
Sandbrook, Dominic. Mad as Hell: The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of the Populist Right. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 978-1-4000-4262-3. $30.
Opening with Watergate and plowing through several weak administrations, the Seventies was a time when many Americans felt jipped, angry, and lost. Hence the rise of the populist Right, argues Sandbrook-remarkably, not American but a British expert on American history. The publicist says that the way he captures us is uncanny.
Sharp, John R., M.D. The Emotional Calendar: Understanding Seasonal Influences and Milestones to Become Happier, More Fulfilled, and in Control of Your Life. Holt. Jan. 2011. 288p. ISBN 978-0-8050-9130-4. $26.
Heat got you down? Actually, says psychiatrist Sharp of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the seasons in general greatly affect our moods. For instance, contrary to popular opinion, people tend to get depressed as blossoms bloom in spring: April has the highest suicide rate (though could that be taxes?). Sharp wants to help you manage your moods by understanding "the emotional calendar." Sounds better than little yellow pills to me.
Szuchman, Paula & Jenny Anderson. Spousonomics: Using Economics To Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes. Random. Feb. 2011. 224p. ISBN 978-0-385-34394-7. $25.
Financial journalists both-Szuchman is a front-page editor for the Wall Street Journal and Anderson a Loeb-award winning New York Times reporter who's covered Wall Street-these authors apply basic economic principles to managing a marriage. For instance, they advise that the 50/50 division of chores is not smart; one needs to consider comparative advantage. Lots of inhouse enthusiasm for this one; it could help smart readers.
Nonfiction Pick
Washington, Harriet A. Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Company Takeover of Life Itself-And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future. Doubleday. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 978-0-385-52892-4. $28.
The U.S. Patent Office is considering or has granted patents for more than 500,000 genes or DNA sequences, which means that your body is not wholly yours; before surgery, for instance, you could be compelled to sign away rights to any excised tissue. Author of Medical Apartheid, winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award and the ALA Black Caucus Nonfiction Award, among others, Washington is just right to challenge Big Pharma's contention that it needs these patents to protect its investments. She'll also clue us in on the legal, ethical, and social issues involved. Doubtless as scary, eye-opening, and well-documented as its predecessor, this is an important book. Pair with Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
This Just In
Larsson, Stieg. Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Deluxe Boxed Set: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Plus On Stieg Larsson. Knopf. Nov. 2010. 1627p. ISBN 978-0-307-59557-7. $99.
This might not be for every library, but it could be for yours. Here's a slip-cased set of all three Larrson works, plus On Stieg Larsson, a previously unpublished collection of essays about and correspondence with the author. Nice production: each volume is cloth-bound and uniquely stamped, with maps and individual full-color endpapers. And there's a 100,000-copy first printing. So get in line.
