Prepub Alert, November 1, 2010
Nov 1, 2010fiction
Allen, Sarah Addison. The Peach Keeper. Bantam. Mar. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780553807226. $25; eISBN 9780553908138.
Her marriage a shambles, Willa Jackson returns home to Walls of Water, the town where she grew up, and tries to fit in. There she discovers an extraordinary feud that has divided two sisters for decades. Hmm, Allen’s standard small-town charm, maybe not the usual flights of fantasy—but then I haven’t read it yet. Lots of promotion, including to libraries and cooking/foodie websites.
Baldacci, David. The Sixth Man. Grand Central. Apr. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780446573108. $27.99. lrg. prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
Not much information here—all I can say is that it’s another King and Maxwell book—but it’s coming, and it will be big. Buy multiples.
Bayard, Louis. The School of Night. Holt. Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780805090697. $25.
Why has outcast Elizabethan scholar Henry Cavendish been hired by antiquities collector Bernard Styles to find a 1600s letter stolen from Styles by Henry’s friend Alonzo Wax, now dead? Because the letter could establish that in Elizabethan times there really was a group of men called the School of Night (a term taken from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost) who met to discuss God, politics, and the black arts. Bayard, who’s successfully looked to the past in his last few novels, here adds a neat supernatural touch; good for all historical fiction collections.
Berg, Elizabeth. Once Upon a Time, There Was You. Random. Apr. 2011. 208p. ISBN 9781400068654. $25; eISBN 9781588368935. lrg. prnt. CD: Random Audio.
Divorced couple John and Irene barely speak—until something awful happens to their beloved 16-year-old daughter, Sadie. Classic Berg, who’s always beloved if not always tip-top best seller; with an eight-city tour.
Brockmann, Suzanne. Breaking the Rules. Ballantine. Apr. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780345521224. $26; eISBN 9780345521248. CD/MP3-CD: Random Audio.
Navy SEAL Izzy Zanella and wife Eden Gillman are estranged and barely civil, but they agree to reconcile so that they can obtain custody of Eden’s little brother. Two-time RITA Award winner Brockmann has nearly six million books in print, lots of New York Times best sellers, and two more books under contract with Ballantine. Can’t miss; consider multiples.
Conlon, Edward. Red on Red. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2011. 464p. ISBN 9780385519175. $26; eISBN 9780679604419. CD: Random Audio.
NYPD detective Conlon has published in The New Yorker and is author of the best-selling memoir Blue Blood , a National Book Critics Circle finalist. So he can write. This debut novel, which limns the bond between two very different detectives (rough’n’ready vs. slightly mystic), should ring true. With a six-city tour.
DeWoskin, Rachel. Big Girl Small. Farrar. Apr. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780374112578. $25.
DeWoskin first came to our attention with her memoir, Foreign Babes in Beijing , about her mid-Nineties stint as the star of a Chinese soap opera. What caught my attention was her sharp-eyed debut novel, Repeat After Me , about the relationship between an ESL teacher and a Chinese student. Here she leaves China behind to tell the story of Judy Lohden, potential star at the local performing arts high school except for a scandal she’s caused, possibly related to her being under four feet tall. The old high school ache from a very different perspective and from a good writer, too. Watch.
Kellerman, Jonathan. Mystery: An Alex Delaware Novel.Ballantine. Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780345505699. $28; eISBN 9780345524386. CD: Random Audio.
Mystery turns out to be the nickname of a young woman found mutilated to death, but before he learns that, Alex Delaware realizes that he’s seen her before—two nights ago at a restaurant that was just closing. So much for easy leads. Kellerman is a powerhouse; buy multiples.
Leon, Donna. Drawing Conclusions. Atlantic Monthly. Apr. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780802119797. $24.
Hard to believe—but let’s be grateful—that Commissario Guido Brunetti is on his 20th case. Here, an old woman is found dead, and those bruises could have been sustained as she collapsed to the ground after a heart attack. But Brunetti is suspicious, especially when he hears about the old woman’s “terrible honesty.” Essential for mystery collections.
Moran, Michelle. Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution. Crown. Apr. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780307588654. $25; eISBN 9780307588678.
Having racked up some national best sellers (and LJ stars) with fiction about ancient Egypt (e.g., Nefertiti), Moran leaps to 18th-century France with this book about Madame Marie Tussaud—yes, the Madame Tussaud of wax museum fame. Here, Marie is asked to teach the art of wax sculpting to the sister of Louis XVI—an association that nearly costs her her head when the revolution comes. A possible breakout?
Packer, Ann. Swim Back to Me. Knopf. Apr. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781400044047. $24.95; eISBN 9780307595393. CD: Random Audio.
Before triumphing with her best-selling debut novel, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier , Packer had a first collection called Mendocino and Other Stories that included an O. Henry Award winner. Now she’s back with another collection, bookended by two novellas, that features men and women, young and old, struggling with loss. Good for your smart readers.
Parris, S.J. Prophecy. Doubleday. Apr. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780385531306. $25.95; eISBN 9780385531313. CD: Random Audio.
When one of Queen Elizabeth’s maids of honor turns up dead, everyone starts whispering about the black arts—it is, after all, the time of the Great Conjunction, when Jupiter and Saturn are aligned, as occurs about once every 1000 years. An understandably alarmed queen calls in her personal astrologer, John Dee, and Dominican monk/philosopher Giordano Bruno, who shone in Parris’s recent debut, Heresy. Parris looks to be an up-and-comer in the historical fiction/mystery arena; buy accordingly.
Perry, Anne. Treason at Lisson Grove: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel. Ballantine. Apr. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780345510587. $26; eISBN 9780345524416.
Missing Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, last seen in 2008’s Buckingham Palace Gardens? They’re back, tracking an informer’s murderer to France and helping the head of the London Special Branches, who’s discovered that a shadow from his past is about to rise again and strike. Since Buckingham sold more than 100,000 copies, expect demand.
Shin, Kyung-sook. Please Look After Mom. Knopf. Apr. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780307593917. $24.95; eISBN 9780307595492. CD: Random Audio.
In Shin’s first book translated into English, a million-copy best seller in South Korea that has been sold to 18 countries, a woman in from the countryside is separated from her husband in the Seoul train station, and the family spends the rest of the novel hunting for her. At first look, this would appear to be one of those quietly blunt-spoken books that keeps gathering strength, and Shin has the credentials to back great expectations: she’s won numerous awards in Korea, plus France’s Prix de l’Inaperçu. Could go big; grab the reading group guide.
Stevens, Taylor. The Informationist. Crown Pub. Group. Mar. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307717092. $23; eISBN 9780307717115. CD: Random Audio.
Born in Africa of missionary parents and a gunrunner at age 14, Vanessa Monroe now trades in information for CEOs, heads of state, and the like. Then a Texas oil billionaire asks her to return to Africa and find his lost daughter. This thriller is an in-house favorite at Crown, which has signed the author for a two-book deal and is highlighting her unusual background: she was raised in a religious cult whose members scorned education and burned her writings. Lots of foreign rights sales and a reading group guide.
Wallace, Carol. Leaving Van Gogh. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9781400068791. $25; eISBN 9781588369437.
Wallace made her name as coauthor of The Official Preppy Handbook, but her debut novel backtracks to Vincent van Gogh’s final days, told from the perspective of his dedicated psychiatric doctor, Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. Note that Wallace just received a master’s in art history from Columbia. For readers who love Susan Vreeland’s works and van Gogh generally.
Wallner, Michael. The Russian Affair. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780385532396. $25.95; eISBN 9780385532402.
German author Wallner, who scored an international hit a few years back with April in Paris (which LJ ’s own Bette-Lee Fox recommended for all fiction collections), moves on from the World War II era to Cold War Moscow. Her father a disgraced poet and her soldier husband assigned seven time zones away, Anna Viktorovna falls for Soviet bigwig Alexey Bulgyakov. Then she’s asked to spy on him. Good for the literary thriller crowd; with a reading group guide.
Wolitzer, Meg. The Uncoupling. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9781594487880. $25.95.
I love Aristophanes’s Lysistrata —the women refuse to have sex with their men until the men cease waging war. In Wolitzer’s fantasia, when the Stellar Plains High School decides to stage the play, female students and teachers alike are oddly influenced by the scenario and lose interest in “coupling” of any sort. Wolitzer did nicely with her latest, The Ten-Year Nap, a New York Times best seller, so look out for this one.
Nonfiction
Blum, Howard. The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the American West and the Yukon Gold Rush. Crown Pub. Group.Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780307461728. $26; eISBN 9780307461742.
As a history instructor, Blum does a good job—his American Lightning, about the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times offices, was a best seller and an Edgar Award winner. This work focuses on George Carmack, who set off the 1898 Alaska gold rush after discovering a promising lode; Soapy Smith, who aimed to con Carmack out of his riches; and Charlie Siringo, the Pinkerton detective Carmack hired for protection. One of those historical narratives that reads like fiction; a likely choice for discussion groups looking for nonfiction.
Christensen, Randy, M.D. Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them. Broadway. Apr. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780307718990. $24.99; eISBN 9780307719027.
He’s been declared a “CNN Hero” and a “Hero Among Us” by People magazine. Why? Phoenix pediatrician Christensen roams the streets in his Crews’n Healthmobile, providing free mobile health care to thousands of the city’s homeless and at-risk adolescents each year. Not just inspiration but a wake-up call for our entire health system; expect some buzz.
Dubois, Laurent. Haiti: The Aftershocks of History. Metropolitan: Holt. Apr. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780805093353. $25.
The Caribbean figures largely in April nonfiction (see also Jim Rasenberger’s The Brilliant Disaster and Alex von Tunzelmann’s Red Heat). Duke University French and history professor Dubois, who’s already won kudos for his work on Haiti in Avengers of the New World, here aims for a comprehensive history that grounds the country’s troubles in international revulsion at its having managed the world’s first and only successful slave revolt. Especially relevant postearthquake.
Figes, Orlando. The Crimean War: A History. Metropolitan: Holt. Apr. 2011. 608p. ISBN 9780805074604. $35.
Essentially a three-way clash among the British, Turkish, and Russian empires, the Crimean War was famed for military incompetence (think the Charge of the Light Brigade), heroism (think Florence Nightingale), and extraordinary ferocity (nearly a million soldiers and an untold number of civilians died). Wolfson History Prize winner Figes, an expert in Russian history noted for sprightly gems like Natasha’s Dance, should do well here. With a national tour.
Flannery, Tim. Here on Earth. Atlantic Monthly. Apr. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780802119766. $25.
Outstanding paleontologist/environmentalist Flannery (Now or Never )—Australian of the Year in 2007 (I love that)—here elucidates two ways of viewing Earth’s fate. The Medea hypothesis argues that, left untrammeled, species will exploit their ecosystems to the point of collapse. But James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis counters that Earth knows how to adjust. Flannery favors the latter view, urging us to bond better with self-regulating nature. Good green reading.
Fukuyama, Francis. The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution. Farrar. Apr. 2011. 688p. ISBN 9780374227340. $35.
The man who gave us The End of History and the Last Man now goes back to the beginning of human society in this first of a two-parter. Fukuyama shows how central government and subsequently the concept of accountability evolved, then argues that these two factors are absent or just not functioning in some developing countries—with disastrous consequences. Should stir plenty of debate.
Johnson, Mary. An Unquenchable Thirst: One Woman’s Extraordinary Journey of Faith, Hope, and Clarity. Spiegel & Grau. Apr. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780385527477. $26; eISBN 9781588369864. CD: Random Audio.
As Sister Donata, Johnson served for 20 years as a Missionary of Charity, a nun in Mother Teresa’s order; then she left the order and, eventually, the church. Billed as perfect for readers of Karen Armstrong, Kathleen Norris, and Thomas Moore, this should capture the struggle between spiritual and secular and is being given a big, excited push: book club outreach, a seven-city tour. and praise for the “heavenly” writing.
Judd, Ashley with Maryanne Vollers. All Things Bitter and Sweet. Ballantine. Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780345523617. $25; eISBN 9780345524829.
Actress Judd is also a committed activist who received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (pretty cool). Here, she draws on journals she kept while attending to human rights issues worldwide, using what she experienced to help rethink her own life. Should get some attention.
Kennedy, Miranda. Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India. Random. Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9781400067862. $26; eISBN 9780679604556.
An interesting complement to Lisa Napoli’s forthcoming Radio Shangri-La, this book details the author’s five years in Delhi, where she worked for National Public Radio. Kennedy profiles six women she knew to show how much (and how mistakenly) the West takes for granted both its own values and the easy modernization of the subcontinent. Great for book clubs that liked Deborah Rodriguez’s Kabul Beauty School —or anything about India.
Logelin, Matt. Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love. Grand Central. Apr. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780446564304. $23.99. lrg. prnt. CD: Hachette Audio.
What a happy day when little Madeleine was born—and how awful that 27 hours later her mom died of a pulmonary embolism. Logelin here relates how he wrested with his grief and single-handed responsibilities, quitting his job as a project manager at Yahoo! to focus on Maddy and to write this book. A little different; should attract interest.
Lovins, L. Hunter & Boyd Cohen. Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change. Hill & Wang: Farrar. Apr. 2011. 272p. ISBN 9780809034734. $26.
Remember Natural Capitalism? That book, released in 1999, argued that environmentally sound decisions can make for good business. Here, the authors—Time 2000 Hero of the Planet Lovins and CO2IMPACT founder Cohen—offer case studies of corporations (GE, Zipcar), startups (Harbec Plastics), and cities (London, Greensburg, KS) that have shown the green approach to be profitable. Take a good look.
Michaels, Jillian. Unlimited: How To Build an Exceptional Life. Crown Archetype. Apr. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780307588302. $26; eISBN 9780307588326. CD: Random Audio.
Strength trainer and life coach for NBC’s The Biggest Loser (seen by eight million couch potatoes weekly), Michaels is also the author of the best-selling Making the Cut and Master Your Metabolism. Now she goes spiritual in a book that aims to help readers build inner strength. Such a built-in audience; should be big.
Montville, Leigh. Evel Knievel. Doubleday. Apr. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780385527453. $26.95; eISBN 9780385533676. CD: Random Audio.
We all know Evel Knievel (d. 2007) the death-defying stuntman and extreme sportsman before there was any such thing. Now, best-selling author Montville, a former columnist for the Boston Globe and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated, shows us the real Evel. It seems that lots of people want to know; there’s a 100,000-copy first printing.
Rasenberger, Jim. The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America’s Doomed Invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. Scribner. Apr. 2011. 480p. ISBN 9781416596509. $32.
Theodore Draper called the Bay of Pigs invasion “a perfect failure”; 50 years later, Rasenberger (America, 1908) goes one step further. This focused account of the invasion and America’s involvement draws new insights from material recently released by the CIA. Bound to be of interest, given the anniversary and current events in Cuba.
Robison, John Elder. Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian, with Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, and Their Parents. Crown Pub. Group. Apr. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307884817. $24; eISBN 9780307884831.
We first met Robison in brother Augusten Burroughs’s eye-popping Running with Scissors. Then Robison himself spoke up, detailing his life with Asperger’s syndrome in the best-selling Look Me in the Eye. Here he uses examples from his own life to advise Aspergians and their parents—including his “Mom Army” of over 10,000 online followers—and also shares recent scientific research. There’s an audience; this syndrome is increasingly in the news.
Safina, Carl. Blowout. Crown Pub. Group. Apr. 2011. NAp. ISBN 9780307887351. $23.99.
President and cofounder of the Blue Ocean Institute and a renowned conservationist, Safina blogged extensively about the BP oil spill. Here, he focuses on three working families to show how the spill has affected life in the Gulf. Likely one of the first books on the spill and certainly important; note, by the way, that Safina is a MacArthur “Genius Award” recipient.
Shipler, David K. The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades Our Liberties. Knopf. Apr. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9781400043620. $26.95; eISBN 9780307595508.
Author of best sellers like The Working Poor and the Pulitzer Prize winner Arab and Jew, former New York Times journalist Shipler should effectively address a pressing issue of our time: the escalating violation of civil liberties in the last decade. Important and one of the nonfiction titles I most want to see; with a seven-city tour.
Stewart, James B. Tangled Webs: How False Statements Are Undermining America; From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9781594202698. $27.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author Stewart considers the perjury epidemic (think Martha Stewart, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and Barry Bonds) and how it reflects a deeper corrosion of ethics in business, government, academia, and more. With a five- to eight-city tour.
Strawberry, Shirley with Lyah Beth LeFlore. The Strawberry Letter: Real Talk, Real Advice, Because Bitterness Isn’t Sexy. One World: Ballantine. Apr. 2011. 192p. ISBN 9780345525505. $22; eISBN 9780345525529. CD: Random Audio.
If you have readers who follow the Steve Harvey Morning Show (as do eight million folks nationwide), you’ll want this inspirational title from Harvey’s cohost, Strawberry. Lots of tie-ins to events where the show has a presence, including the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. Holt. Apr. 2011. 432p. ISBN 9780805090673. $30.
In the Fifties and Sixties, both U.S. Presidents and Soviet strongmen thought they could use the Caribbean for their own purposes. But they were proved wrong by Cuba’s Fidel and Raúl Castro, Haiti’s “Papa Doc” Duvalier, and the Dominican Republic’s Rafael Trujillo—with a little help from Che Guevara. British historian von Tunzelmann made a name for herself with 2007’s Indian Summer; watch this one.
White, Bill with Gordon Dillow. Uppity: A Black Man, a White Ball, and the Games People Play. Grand Central. Apr. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780446555258. $26.99.
Former All-Star first baseman and hotshot sportscaster White is finally ready to tell his story; as the title suggests, expect him to be pretty brash and up front.
Willrich, Michael. Pox: An American History. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9781594202865. $27.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
This is not just a book about the smallpox epidemic that swept this country at the dawn of the 20th century. Multi-award-winning historian Willrich shows that resistance to the federal government’s efforts to halt the epidemic by enforcing quarantine and vaccination programs sparked a civil liberties debate that’s with us today.
My Picks
Davis-Gardner, Angela. Butterfly’s Child. Dial. Apr. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780385340946; eISBN 9780679604587. $25.
After the death of Butterfly, what happened to her son, Benji? According to this gloss on Puccini’s much-loved opera Madame Butterfly, he went to America with his father, Lt. Frank Pinkerton, and encountered shocked intolerance. Since Davis-Gardner is the author of Plum Wine, a top-50 Book Sense best seller, Kiriyama Prize Notable Book, and (here’s a twist) People “Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Hot Beach Read,” this second novel looks promising indeed. It’s already received a North Carolina Council Writing Fellowship, based on the opening chapters, and NPR interviews are assured—good news, because NPR sells books. Not just for the musically astute; the story has broad appeal.
Ackerman, Diane. One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing. Norton. Apr. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780393072419. $26.95.
Since Ackerman is a master of both poetry and the scientific essay, she would seem well suited to telling this story. More urgently, she’s an integral part of it. After suffering a severe stroke, her smart, literate husband, Paul West, could utter only the syllable mem. Traditional therapy didn’t help. What did help was Ackerman’s determination, as she applied her knowledge of the brain, appreciation of language, and intimate understanding of her husband to the task of healing him; together, they hammered out the path that led West back to words. A book about love and caring and the magic of communication; perfect for book clubs.
