Prepub Alert, April 15, 2011
Apr 15, 2011PREPUB ALERT NOW ONLINE
Barbara Hoffert’s Prepub Alert is now online (blog.libraryjournal.com/prepubalert). The online edition, which posts every Monday, previews more titles one month earlier than the print edition. Going forward, book reviews that reference Prepub Alert will cite the online edition. Sign up for free weekly alerts to the online edition at bit.ly/g2UqaT.
Fiction
Abu-Jaber, Diana. Birds of Paradise. Norton. Sept. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780393064612. $25.95.
Felice abandoned home when she was 13 to skateboard and live in a squat on the beach. Now almost 18, she dwells on the sad secret that drove her away from her parents and older brother, just as they anguish over her disappearance. Since Abu-Jaber has proved particularly adept at relaying the complex push-and-pull of human relationships in sharp, finely tuned language (see Origin and Arabian Jazz), I expect her rendering of a too-common family tragedy to be especially smart and affecting. Really looking forward to this one; with a five-city tour.
Barrie, J.M. The Annotated Peter Pan. Centennial Ed. Norton. Sept. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780393066005. $35.95.
Having just seen the New York Theatre Workshop production of Peter and the Starcatcher, an adaptation of the Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson children’s novel that prefigures the events in Peter Pan, I’m delighted to see that Barrie’s classic is the latest in Norton’s annotated fairy tale series—helmed by the redoubtable Maria Tatar, who chairs Harvard’s Program in Folklore and Mythology and has edited several volumes in the series. Buy, even if you don’t believe in magic.
Brown, Sandra. Lethal. Grand Central. Sept. 2011. 300p. ISBN 9781455501472. $27.99.
Told by her four-year-old that there’s a man in the yard who needs help, Honor rushes out to find Lee Coburn, who stands accused of murdering seven people the night before. He also says that Honor’s late husband has something that he wants—something so dangerous that she’ll be glad to dump it. Brown has not slowed down; buy multiples.
Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding. Little, Brown. Sept. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780316126694. $25.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
Having founded the estimable literary journal n + 1, Harbach was ready for the next challenge: his first novel. His hero, Henry Skrimshander, is a rising baseball star at Wetish College whose life goes off course when he throws a wayward ball. Henry starts to doubt himself, even as team captain Mike Schwartz pushes Henry’s career. Meanwhile, Henry’s gay roommate pursues a risky affair; college president Guert Affenlight falls hopelessly in love; and Guert’s daughter, Pella, returns to campus after ending a disastrous marriage. Harbach’s smart reputation and obvious sense of whimsy are pluses, and there’s that intriguing stack of relationships. Great publisher expectations, too. Check it out.
Khoury, Raymond. The Devil’s Elixir. Dutton. Sept. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780525952435. $26.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Stars of Khoury’s Templar thrillers, FBI agent Sean Reilly and girlfriend Tess Chaykin are now chasing after…an herb? But this isn’t just salad seasoning, it’s a plant now lost in the jungles of Central America that’s capable of inducing an experience so mind-blowing it could unsettle the world. So our protagonists are following old clues and fighting off new enemies—drug dealers and DEA agents among them—to locate it. Big-time fun.
Kleier, Michele & others. Hot Property. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780061127663. $24.99; eISBN 9780062092670.
Along with her daughters, Samantha Kleier-Forbes and Sabrina Kleier-Morgenstern, New York real estate mogul Kleier is seen weekly by 1.25 million viewers on HGTV’s highly popular Selling New York. Now they’ve crafted a novel about—surprise!—three high-flying real estate women in New York balancing work, love, and marriage. With a 75,000-copy first printing; for fans of how-the-rich-live novels.
Lawrenson, Deborah. The Lantern. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. 400p. ISBN 9780062049698. $25.95; eISBN 9780062049711.
Tearing a page from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, Lawrenson crafts a modern gothic featuring wide-eyed Eve, who marries older, alluringly sophisticated Dom and moves to Les Genevriers, his charming home in Provence. At first she’s delighted, but when the autumn winds blow in, she is alarmed by Dom’s sudden distance, his refusal to discuss his first marriage, and the strange presence she senses in the garden. The 100,000-copy first printing for British author Lawrenson’s U.S. debut suggests excitement.
Morris, Mary McGarry. Light from a Distant Star. Crown. Sept. 2011. 336p. ISBN 9780307451866. $25; eISBN 9780307451873.
With her father’s business in trouble and her mother now working, 13-year-old Nellie is the determined caretaker of her little brother. The adults she does encounter, like the stripper who rents an apartment at the back of the house, upend her life further. Then, a moment of violence lands Nellie in court as witness, where no one believes the awful truth she’s trying to relay. As evidenced by her many novels, e.g., National Book Award nominee Vanished, Morris excels at family dramas with dark and tingly psychological twists, so I’m betting that this will be absorbingly good.
Sapphire. The Kid. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Jul. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9781594203046. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
This just in: Sapphire’s latest, a sequel to Push coming 15 years after its publication and one year after Precious, the film based on Push, got Academy Award attention, will be appearing this summer. It’s the story of Precious’s son, Abdul, opening on the day of his mother’s funeral. Serious readers will want it for Sapphire, others because of the film. Don’t miss. With a national tour.
Shane, Trevor. Children of Paranoia. Dutton. Sept. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780525952374. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
The War has been going on forever, with the killings disguised as accidents; assassins follow orders without knowing why. Joseph, an assassin since age 18, has been sent off to a loathsome assignment for blowing his last task. Then he meets Maria, and suddenly he doesn’t want just to kill. Intriguing premise for this dystopian thriller; let’s see what debut author Shane, former counsel for a major international financial corporation, can do with it. Reasonably big publisher expectations.
Smith, Ali. There but for The. Pantheon. Sept. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780375424090. $25.
No, that’s not a typo; it’s the sort of title you would expect from brilliantly quirky Whitbread Award winner Smith. As is the premise: a friend of a friend brings a stranger to a dinner party as his guest. Halfway through the meal, the guest locks himself in a room and won’t leave. Ever. Just imagine the sense of despair and fatedness. Ambitious readers will definitely want to try.
Stephenson, Neal. Reamde. Morrow. Sept. 2011. 960p. ISBN 9780061977961. $35.
Having fled to British Columbia decades ago to avoid the draft, Richard Forthrast amassed a fortune transporting marijuana over the border to Idaho. Now he spends his time playing a power-wielding online fantasy game and his money buying viral gold and other necessaries from Chinese gold farmers. Alas, one of the gold farmers sets off a virtual war for dominance that could destroy Richard. The noted author of such speculative best sellers as 2008’s Anathem, Stephenson returns with another blockbuster (note the length) that might profitably be read with Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, coming in June, or Cory Doctorow’s 2010 YA crossover, For the Win.
Toyne, Simon. Sanctus. Morrow. Sept. 2011. 496p. ISBN 9780062038302. $25.99. lrg. prnt; eISBN 9780062038326.
Lots of excitement (and a 100,000-copy first printing) for this debut thriller by a former writer/producer/director for British television, in which an ancient conspiracy comes explosively to light. (Ah, the comfort of the familiar.) Watched by the world, a man hauls himself up a cliff face, intent on breaching the Citadel. The monks in this girded city-state are none too happy with this turn of events and would kill to keep things as they are. With rights sold to 27 countries, you know this has power.
White, Kate. The Sixes. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780061576621 $24.99.
Accused of plagiarizing her latest celeb bio and abandoned by her boyfriend, Phoebe Hall leaves New York for a small college in rural Pennsylvania, where she’s been invited by an old friend to teach some classes. Unfortunately, the peace and quiet she sought is shattered when the body of a junior girl is found in the nearby river. Cosmopolitan editor White did nicely with Hush, which made the extended New York Times best sellers list, and the 100,000-copy first printing here suggests high hopes. If you like thrillers.
Nonfiction
Bernstein, Gabrielle. Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Discovering Self-Love and Miracles. Harmony, dist. by Crown. Sept. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780307887405. $23.
Fresh out of college, Bernstein helped found the Women’s Entrepreneurial Network, a nonprofit linking female entrepreneurs. Then she published Add More ~Ing to Your Life, started showing up in media like the New York Times “Sunday Styles” section, got named one of 20 Best Branded Women on Twitter, and just keeps steamrolling her way to superstardom as a life coach for Generation Y. Here she shares her personal story (self-hate, drug abuse) to help push people toward happiness. Great if it works.
Ebert, Roger. Life Itself: A Memoir. Grand Central. Sept. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780446584975. $27.99.
The first film critic to win a Pulitzer, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Ebert has been reviewing films since 1967 and talked about them on TV for 30 years; his column is now syndicated in more than 200 newspapers worldwide. After treatment for thyroid cancer, he lost his voice and his ability to eat or drink—but he’s still writing. Here’s a memoir, ranging from his early newspaper days through marriage, alcoholism, and spiritual beliefs; for all film nuts.
Frankel, Valerie. It’s Hard Not To Hate You. St. Martin’s. Sept. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780312609788. $24.99.
his to me?”), and female friends best characterized as “Vex and the Shitty”? Wonder whether Thin Is the New Happy (the title of Frankel’s popular funny- tough memoir)? Then this new book is for you. Told to reduce stress, Frankel decides, “Doctor’s orders: The hate in me just has to come out.” Fortunately, it comes out fast and funny. For anyone who’s felt tense, fat, overmanaged, underloved, or just plain human.
Garfield, Simon. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts. Gotham Bks: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 356p. ISBN 9781592406524. $26.
Typefaces have been around since about 1450, but most of us remained oblivious to their specifics until computers let us play with them. Here, Garfield not only relates the history of typefaces but examines their aesthetic and psychological power, considering what, for instance, our favorite typefaces say about us and how Gotham helped Barack Obama win the presidency. A surprise best seller in the UK that’s been edited for U.S. consumption. Watch.
Greenblatt, Stephen. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. Norton. Sept. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780393064476. $26.95.
Harvard humanities professor Greenblatt shows how the discovery of the last existing manuscript of Lucretius’s On the Nature of Things—a radical book proclaiming that the world manages without gods and is made of small particles in constant motion—led to the Renaissance. The swerve? Lucretius allowed for the exis-tence of free will in his atom- bound universe by theorizing that those little particles swerve randomly. I bet this will be as absorbing and informative as Greenblatt’s Shakespeare study, Will in the World. With an eight-city tour.
Groopman, Jerome, M.D. & Pamela Hartzband, M.D. The Patient Decides: How To Make the Right Medical Choices. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9781594203114. $27.95.
Too much information, whether from doctors, friends, drug companies, online searches, or media reports: that’s the problem we face when making crucial medical decisions. The authors, who are on the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Cambridge, MA, and the faculty of Harvard Medical School, here aim to give patients the tools to sort through the mess. An urgent topic; that Groopman’s How Doctors Think was a New York Times best seller bodes well for this title.
Harper, Hill. The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place. Gotham Bks: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9781592406500. $26. CD: Penguin Audio.
Harper’s books sell around the 100,000 mark in hardcover or paperback; his Letters to a Young Brother won ALA’s Best Book for Young Adults Award. Here he wants to talk about wealth in all its forms and put money in perspective as a means and not an end. Good inspiration where Harper’s other books have been popular.
Kershaw, Ian. The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944–1945. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 576p. ISBN 9781594203145. $35.
A multiaward winner for his studies of Hitler’s Germany, particularly his two-volume study of the Führer himself, Kershaw returns with an intriguing question: Why and how did Germany hold out for so long before surrendering? Patriotism and officer loyalty to the monster who conferred authority seem to have been a part of it. Essential reading for anyone interested in history; I’m really anticipating this one.
King, David. Death in the City of Light. Crown. Sept. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307452894. $36; eISBN 9780307452917.
A mild-mannered physician by day, Marcel Petiot spent his nights hacking up at least 27 victims and possibly dozens more. He was finally brought to justice by the dedicated Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu of the Homicide Squad. What makes this story particularly unsettling is that Petiot committed his ugly crimes in Nazi-occupied Paris. Sounds like something Erik Larson would write—and like an entirely absorbing read.
Lagnado, Lucette. The Arrogant Years: One Girl’s Search for Her Lost Youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn. Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. 352p. ISBN 9780061803673. $25.99.
In The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, a memoir of her Jewish family’s flight from Cairo after Nasser came to power, award-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Lagnado focused on her boulevardier father, Leon. Here she compares her mother’s coming of age in sleepy, sunlit Cairo to her own youth in immigrant-packed Brooklyn, NY, where she tries to fit in and must fight cancer at age 16. Lagnado’s affecting first memoir took us far beyond the borders of standard ’fess-up memoirs, and I believe this one will, too. Really anticipating.
Menzies, Gavin. The Lost Empire of Atlantis: The Secrets of History’s Most Enduring Mystery Revealed. Morrow. Sept. 2011. 416p. ISBN 9780062049483. $26.99. lrg. prnt.
In 1421, Menzies argued that the Chinese discovered America in the early 1400s, though records were later destroyed as China descended into political chaos. Here he claims that Atlantis was actually located on the present Greek island of Santorini and traded with communities situated as far away as India and North America’s Great Lakes—3000 years before Columbus hoisted his sails. Then a volcano under Santorini blew up. For those who enjoy history at its most speculative, which, since 1421 sold over one million copies in 130 countries, must be a lot of people. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Priest, Dana & Bill Arkin. Top Secret America. Little, Brown. Sept. 2011. 384p. ISBN 9780316182218. $27.99.
“The government has built a national security and intelligence system so big, so complex and so hard to manage, no one really knows if it’s fulfilling its most important purpose: keeping its citizens safe.” As stated on the website of the Washington Post, that’s the thrust of this book, derived from a series that the Post published. Two years in the making, the series was written by multiple Pulitzer Prize winner Priest and Arkin, who has reported on national security for more than three decades. Appearing in July 2010, the series has so far received 11 million hits. Essential.
Randall, Lisa. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. Ecco: HarperCollins. 400p. ISBN 9780061723728. $26.99.
Renowned Harvard physics professor Randall is one of those rare people who can be proclaimed among Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” while also appearing in Rolling Stone’s 40th anniversary issue. Here she doesn’t just explain the latest ideas in science but also aims to clarify how scientists decide what to study, what they’re deciding to study now, and how they go about doing it. Heady stuff for all your smart readers; books on physics do surprisingly well, as indicated by the 75,000-copy first printing.
Reid, Anna. Leningrad: The Epic Siege of WorldWar II, 1941–1944. Walker. Sept. 2011. 512p. ISBN 9780802715944. $30.
Seventy years ago this September, Hitler’s armies surrounded Leningrad and laid down a siege that lasted for two and a half years. When it was over, three quarters of a million Leningraders had died. A former Ukraine correspondent for the Economist with a master’s in Russian history, Reid uses newly available diaries and other materials to get past Soviet mythology and ask pertinent questions, e.g., Was Stalin as much to blame as Hitler? A three-city tour to New York, Boston, and Washington, DC; big promotion tied to an anniversary that should be discussed.
Ryan, Tom. Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship. Morrow. Sept. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780061997105. $26.99.
After getting five-pound puppy Atticus M. Finch, newspaper editor Ryan carried him around for a month. But they really bonded when, to raise money for charity after a friend died of cancer, Ryan set out with his dog to climb all 48 peaks over 4000 feet in New Hampshire’s White Mountains—twice. Another heartwarming dog story (there can never be enough), with this one getting attention from national hiking clubs as well as Muttluks, which makes canine booties. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Schott, Ben. Schott’s Quintessential Miscellany. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Sept. 2011. 160p. ISBN 9781608190218. $16.
Part encyclopedia, part grab bag of facts you never knew you wanted to know, Schott’s Original Miscellany was published in 2003 and with its two sequels has sold close to three million volumes in multiple languages. Now here’s another odd box of gems. Ever wonder about the traditional method of counting sheep? For fun lovers everywhere.
Sharp, Kathleen. Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever. Dutton. Sept. 2011. 356p. ISBN 9780525952404. $27.95.
Appearing under various brand names, Johnson & Johnson’s Procrit is a blood booster that has racked up $11 billion in global sales and is Medicare’s most reimbursed drug. But it can work too well, causing such a sudden burst of blood-cell growth that patients die painful deaths, and it’s great food for cancer. Journalist Sharp tells the story of sales rep Mark Duxbury, who challenged the wisdom of selling Procrit and, after testifying in a closed court, was hounded from his job. The case against Johnson & Johnson is now back in court, with A Civil Action’s Jan Schlichtmann leading the charge. Even the briefest excerpt suggests that this will be queasy but worthwhile reading.
Soufan, Ali H. with Daniel Freedman. The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda. Norton. Sept. 2011. 448p. ISBN 9780393079425. $26.95.
In his years as an FBI agent specializing in counterterrorism, Soufan interrogated numerous al-Qaeda operatives and waylaid numerous plots worldwide. He even requested a report months before September 11, 2001, that could have helped avert the attacks but received it too late. Here he explains how terrorists think and how they can be stopped. For a true insider’s view.
Spitz, Marc. Jagger: Rebel, Rock Star, Rambler, Rogue. Gotham Bks: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9781592406555. $26.
Move over, Keith; it’s Mick’s turn. But the famously reticent Jagger won’t tell his own story. Instead, Vanity Fair’s music blogger, who’s already assayed David Bowie, talks to Jagger’s friends and enemies to get the full picture. Perhaps not as big as Richards’s Life, but there will be interest.
Yergin, Daniel. The Quest: The Global Race for Energy, Money, and Power. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. 704p. ISBN 9781594202834. $35. Downloadable: Penguin Audio.
Twenty years after Yergin made news—and best sellers lists—with The Prize, he returns to reexamine the energy crisis. With corporate mergers and the scramble to control the resources of the former Soviet Union, oil is a bigger headache than ever, while nuclear, coal, and natural gas pose problems of their own. Then there’s wind and solar energy. Given Yergin’s fluency with energy issues, their vast importance, and the success of the last book, consider multiples. With a national tour.
My Picks
Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Sept. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781608195220. $24. FICTION
As Ward’s novel opens, a pregnant 14-year-old in Bois Sauvage, MS, watches the family’s pit bull give birth while recalling her mother’s childbed death and her own early sexual experiences. That charged, vivid overlapping continues throughout (on a quick look), as Ward deploys language at once lyric and punch-sharp to portray the struggle, despair, and tenderness of one poor African American family—day by day for 12 days, up until Katrina storms forth and takes away everything. Stegner fellow Ward’s first novel, Where the Line Bleeds, won several prizes, including the American Library Association Black Caucus Honor Award. This looks both beautiful and heartbreaking and would be excellent for book clubs.
Scroggins, Deborah. Wanted Women: Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror; The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui. Harper: HarperCollins. Sept. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9780060898977. $25.99. NONFICTION
Two Muslim women, two different beliefs. Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former member of the Dutch Parliament and author of the highly regarded international best seller Infidel, is a scathing critic of Islam. Pakistani-born, American-educated Aafia Siddiqui is reputedly a radical Islamist aligned with al-Qaeda (her second husband’s uncle is said to have masterminded 9/11) who in 2010 was convicted by a U.S. federal court of assault with intent to kill her interrogators in Afghanistan. A winner of two Overseas Press Club Awards, among other honors, who moved her family to Amsterdam for four years while she reported on this story, Scroggins aims to illuminate the conflict between radical Islam and the West by studying these women (Siddiqui’s case is particularly murky). Inherently interesting, potentially revelatory, and written by a skilled journalist, this book should be riveting and informative.
