Prepub Alert, September 1, 2010
Sep 1, 2010FICTION
Berenson, Alex. The Secret Soldier. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780399157080. $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 9780385342322. $24.
Having won an Agatha and a Dilys Winn Award, made numerous best sellers lists, reached the New York Times's extended list, won copious 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 9780393076592. $24.95.
In New York City, a girl named Leonora disappears. Years earlier, in upstate New York, a boy named 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 9780525952039. $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 9781594487798. $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 9781400067848. $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.
Dew, Robb Forman. Being Polite to Hitler. Little, Brown. Jan. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780316889506. $24.99.
It's summer 1953, and Agnes Scofield realizes that she's fed up with defining herself by her friends, her relatives, and her job. This shouldn't be a problem for her wild family, so quick to condemn those slaves of propriety who would be "polite to Hitler." Right? The quietly accomplished Dew won a National Book Award for First Novel back in 1982 for Dale Loves Sophie to Death; recommend to the Anne Tyler crowd. With a reading group guide.
Ellis, David. Breach of Trust. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780399157103. $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.
Fforde, Katie. Love Letters. St. Martin's. Jan. 2011. 496p. ISBN 9780312674533. $25.99.
Laura volunteers to help organize a literary festival, only to find that the festival committee thinks she's a friend of hermit-like author Dermot Flynn and dispatches her to Ireland to get him to the event. Turns out he's really crabby...but cute. Fforde is a huge best seller in the UK but hasn't broken out stateside; here's hoping, but meanwhile the St. Martin's folks see this as a little gem and librarian favorite.
Lennon, F.J. Soul Trapper. Atria: S. & S. Jan. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781439184448. $24.99.
Laid-back sort-of musician Kane Pryce boasts one distinction: he owns a supernaturally charged object called a Soul Trap that lets him locate ghosts stuck in this realm and send them on to the next. Here, while helping a frantic priest roust out the ghost of a little boy haunting his church, Kane falls for the boy's mom—who's been dead for five decades. Oops. Lennon, who's developed nearly 50 computer games and software titles, here expands on one of his most popular applications, which undoubtedly makes this the first novel ever inspired by an iPhone program. Calling all techno wizards—and suspense lovers, too.
McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife. Ballantine. Feb. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780345521309. $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; no reading group guide, alas, though this seems a natural for book clubs.
Mosse, Kate. The Winter Ghosts. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 272p. ISBN 9780399157158. $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 copies 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 9781400042357. $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; reading group guide.
Robb, J.D. Treachery in Death. Putnam. Feb. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780399157035. $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 9780345514752. $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 a great book club read.
Roy-Bhattacharya, Joydeep. The Story of Marrakesh. Norton. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780393070583. $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.
Stuckey-French, Elizabeth. The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady. Doubleday. Feb. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780385510646. $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 9781439194171. $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 9780525952138. $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 9780399157059. $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 release yet, starting out at No. 6 on the New York Times best sellers list.
Willig, Lauren. The Orchid Affair. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780525951995. $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?
Winter, Kathleen. Annabel. Black Cat: Grove. Jan. 2011. 480p. ISBN 9780802170828. pap. $14.95.
A child born in 1968 in Labrador, Canada, seems to be both boy and girl—a secret kept by the midwife and the parents, who opt to raise him as Wayne. Eventually, Wayne must acknowledge his second self, a girl he privately calls Annabel. Winter's story collection, boYs, won numerous awards in Canada; this debut novel should appeal to anyone interested in questions about gender and self.
Woods, Stuart. Strategic Moves. Putnam. Jan. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780399157110. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
In Woods's latest, Stone Barrington is pleased to bring a new client to his law firm. Then he realizes that the guy might make Bernie Madoff look like a pussycat. Woods's Lucid Interval debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times list this spring and hung around for four weeks; his Santa Fe Edge will be out in September. Yes, Woods delights his fans by giving them three books a year for the last couple of years; get ready.
NONFICTION
Cockburn, Patrick & Henry Cockburn. Henry's Demons: Living with Schizophrenia; A Father and Son's Story. Scribner. Feb. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781439154700. $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 9780385533904. $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 website. 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 9780307594068. $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.
D'Amboise, Jacques. I Was a Dancer: A Memoir. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9781400042340. $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.
Dederer, Claire. Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses. Farrar. Jan. 2011. 320p.
ISBN 9780374236441. $25.
Dederer threw her back out, took up yoga, and then threw out her basic beliefs. Yoga wasn't just another good thing to do, like shunning white bread and practicing attachment parenting, but a whole new worldview. I'm curious to see where this one is going. For yogis and other seekers; with a national tour and reading group guide.
Dubus, Andre, III. Townie: A Memoir. Norton. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780393064667. $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 Massachu-setts 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. Not just for literary readers.
Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. S. & S. Jan. 2011. 512p. ISBN 9781416592808. $30.
He's done Julius Caesar, so it's hardly surprising that Classics professor Freeman wants to go back to the ruler studied by Caesar himself (not to mention Hannibal and Napoleon). The publisher's pitch? Hey, we loved Russell Crowe in Gladiator and Brad Pitt in Troy; why not Alexander? But who would play him?
Friedman, George. The Next Decade: What the World Will Look Like. Doubleday. Jan. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780385532945. $28.95.
Ten years from 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.
Gill, Jonathan. Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America. Grove. Feb. 2011. 496p. ISBN 9780802119100. $29.95.
American history/literature professor Gill revisits Harlem, from Henry Hudson's first encounter with the Natives through the Revolutionary War, settlement by different immigrant groups, and the neigh-borhood's emergence as the center of black America and source of everything from jazz and hip-hop to major civil rights efforts. Sounds like solid, approachable history, and it pairs so nicely with Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts's Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America, previewed below.
Graff, Garrett M. The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War in the Age of Global Terror. Little, Brown. Jan. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780316068611. $27.99.
Editor in chief of the Washingtonian, Graff conducted interviews, combed previously barred documents, and traveled extensively with FBI director Robert Mueller (more than any other journalist, we're told) to chronicle a bunch of FBI agents intent on battling terrorists but on their own terms—that is, without sacrificing high ideals. Which evidently created tensions with
the CIA. The very young, very hot (as in hotshot) Graff has been singled out as a journalist to watch; watch this book.
Hicks, Brian. Toward the Setting Sun: John Ross, the Cherokees, and the Trail of Tears. Atlantic Monthly. Jan. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780802119636. $26.
Only an eighth Cherokee, John Ross eventually became Cherokee chief for four decades in the early 1800s and mightily battled Andrew Jackson's desire to evacuate his and other "Civilized Tribes" to lands beyond the Mississippi. Noted journalist/author Hicks should tell this story passionately, as he is of Cherokee descent.
Hornfischer, James. Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal. Bantam. Feb. 2011. 544p. ISBN 9780553806700. $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 9780345523280. $25.
He's a rapper. He's an actor (with two NAACP Image Awards for his role as Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on Law & Order: SVU). He's producer of the A&E reality show The Peacemaker, set to premiere later this year, which works to defuse tensions among warring gangs. Now he's got a memoir about his breakthrough from life on the street to life in Hollywood. Expect a big audience.
Kaku, Michio. Physics of the Future: How Science Will Change Daily Life by 2100. Doubleday. Feb. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780385530804. $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 9780307271006. $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.
Keller, Timothy. King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus. Dutton. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780525952107. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Founder 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.
Lawrence, Greg. Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Jan. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780312591939. $25.99.
Everyone remembers the glamorous First Lady Jackie Kennedy and the equally glamorous Mrs. Aristotle Onassis. But Jackie worked as an editor for nearly two decades, signing and publishing more than 100 titles for Viking and Doubleday. Best-selling author Lawrence, three of whose books were edited by Jackie, tells this story. Not a celeb bio, or at least not quite; with a 75,000-copy first printing.
Mulvaney, Kieran. The Great White Bear: A Natural and Unnatural History of the Polar Bear. Houghton Harcourt. Jan. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780547152424. $26.
A seasoned traveler to the Arctic, a frequent contributor to venues like BBC Wildlife, a correspondent for Discovery News, and author of At the Ends of the Earth: A History of the Polar Regions, Mulvaney seems well positioned to tell us about the world's largest land carnivore. Rumor has it that the writing is graceful and absorbing. Definitely promote to your conservation and natural history fans and pair with Richard Ellis's On Thin Ice.
Nugent, Kevin (text) & Abelardo Morell (illus.). Your Baby Is Speaking to You. Houghton Harcourt. Jan. 2011. 128p. ISBN 9780547242958. $20.
Nugent, director of the Brazelton Institute of Children's Hospital, Boston, and author with T. Terry Brazelton of the widely used Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, here shows newbie parents what all those yawns, shrieks, cries, and little smiles mean. He's helped along by images from photogra-pher Morell, who's exhibited in major museums worldwide. America's parents are ever desperate, so this should do well.
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 9781592406128. $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, has to say for himself. Inspirational and likely a hit.
Pistono, Matteo. In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet. Dutton. Jan. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780525951193. $25.95.
Set on abandoning his career in politics, Pistono sought peace in the Himalayas—and eventually ended up as a Buddhist student in Tibet. There he became involved in smuggling in messages from the Dalai Lama and smuggling out evidence of abuse and torture. His book promises to be a sobering and heartfelt account of life in Tibet today.
Ramachandran, V.S. The Tell-Tale Brain. Norton. Jan. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780393077827. $26.95.
Richard Dawkins calls him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience," so you know Ramachandran's discussion about the distinctive aspects of the human brain will be an adventure. Calling all science lovers.
Reagan, Michael with Jim Denney. The New Reagan Revolution: How Ronald Reagan's Principles Can Restore America's Greatness. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Jan. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780312644543. $25.99.
Ronald Reagan's older, adopted son returns to his father's administration to offer prescriptions for what ails us today, arguing against big government, calling liberal ideas late-show reruns, and recommending how to survive economic meltdown. There's an audience, for sure. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Reagan, Ron. My Father at 100. Viking. Jan. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780670022595. $27.95.
Just in time for the centenary of Ronald Reagan's birth on February 6, 2011, here's a tribute from his younger son that evokes touch football games while exploring aspects of his father's life that he never knew before. More personal than brother Michael's book and said to be written with Nancy Reagan's cooperation, which is...a good thing? I dunno, let the guy speak for himself. With a four-city tour.
Rhodes-Pitts, Sharifa. Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America. Little, Brown. Jan. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780316017237. $24.99.
Nowhere? Harlem is in fact in upper Manhattan, and it's indeed a mecca for black America. Rhodes-Pitts, winner of a Lannan Foundation fellowship and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, considers myths, meaning, and legacy and gives us her personal Harlem, too. Get the story now, as gentrification and Columbia University's hunger for real estate threaten to change the neighborhood forever.
Robison, Margaret. The Long Journey Home. Spiegel & Grau. Feb. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9781400068692. $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 we're told that the writing glows.
Rosenbaum, Ron. How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III. S. & S. Jan. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9781416594215. $28.
Slate.com columnist Rosenbaum, whose interests are broad—his best-known books are Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars—here urgently warns us that we could be in the run-up to World War III. So why isn't anyone paying attention? Sobering.
Sandbrook, Dominic. Mad as Hell: The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of the Populist Right. Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9781400042623. $30.
Opening with Watergate and plowing through several weak administrations, the Seventies was a time when many Americans felt gypped, 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.
Schlessinger, Laura. Surviving a Shark Attack (on Land): Overcoming Betrayal and Dealing with Revenge. Harper: HarperCollins. Jan. 2011. 208p. ISBN 9780061992124. $25.99. CD: HarperAudio.
Revenge might be sweet, but Schlessinger wants us to drop the desire to get even (something we really never can do) and instead get beyond duplicitous behavior by friends, relatives, colleagues, and spouses. A tall order but admirable, and Schlessinger's self-help always sells; with a one-day laydown on January 18 and a 150,000-copy first printing.
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 9780805091304. $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.
Simmons, Russell with Chris Morrow. Rich Inside and Out: A Guide to Money and Happiness. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Jan. 2011. 192p. ISBN 9781592405879. $22.50.
"Happy can make you money, but money can't make you happy." That's Simmons's mantra, and here he explains how it works, showing how he's focused on spirituality and acts of generosity as he rose to the top of the entrepreneurial heap. Reasonable audience out there.
Szuchman, Paula & Jenny Anderson. Spousonomics: Using Economics To Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes. Random. Feb. 2011. 224p. ISBN 9780385343947. $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 wise; one needs to consider comparative advantage. Lots of inhouse enthusiasm for this one; it could help smart readers.
MY PICKS
Russell, Karen. Swamplandia! Knopf. Feb. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307263995. $24.95.
One of Granta's Best Young American Novelists, the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35, and New York magazine's 25 People To Watch Under 25. And a featured author in The New Yorker's coveted debut fiction issue. 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 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. This work sounds so shivery and enchanting; with a four-city tour to Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
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 9780385528924. $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 my pick 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.
