Prepub Exploded: May 2010, Pt. 1
Featuring Isabel Allende, Scott Turow & Laura Bush
By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 12/03/2009
| Head back to BookSmack! for more stories |
Prepub expands online to give you more titles and more details. In this column, hotly anticipated new fiction from Isabel Allende, Brunonia Barry, and Scott Turow, and in nonfiction, memoirs from Bruce Feiler and Laura Bush.
Fiction | Nonfiction
Fiction
Allende, Isabel. Island Beneath the Sea. Harper: HarperCollins. May 2010. 464p. ISBN 978-0-06-198824-0. $26.99. CD: HarperAudio.
Born of an African woman and one of the white sailors who brought her to the New World in chains, teenaged slave Zarité (called Tété) is purchased by young Toulouse Valmorain, just sent from France to manage the family plantation on Saint-Domingue. Then fate (and the revolution instigated by Touissant L’Ouverture) intervenes. Allende fans will be greatly anticipating her first novel in four years; interesting resonances here with works by Maryse Condé and Madison Smartt Bell and Marlon James’s The Book of Night Women, an LJ Best Book of 2009. With a one-day laydown on April 27 and a 250,000-copy first printing; ten-city tour to Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), Portsmith (NH), San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
Barry, Brunonia. The Map of True Places. Morrow. May 2010. 432p. ISBN 978-0-06-162478-0. $25.99. lrg. prnt.
A wild child after her mother takes her own life, Zee Finch grows up to become a highly regarded psychotherapist. Then a particularly difficult patient commits suicide. Barry’s The Lace Reader was of course a huge hit last year, but this book feels quite different (though no less intriguing), so let’s see what happens. With a one-day laydown on May 4; 250,000-copy first printing, reading group guide, and seven-city tour to Boston, Charleston, New Canaan, Portland (ME), Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, and Salem.
Blum, Jenna. The Stormchasers. Dutton. May 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-525-95155-1. $25.95.
When Karena’s bipolar twin, Charles, started chasing storms as a teenager, she started chasing him—until one venture ended tragically. Twenty years later, he’s disappeared from a psychiatric ward, and Karena is chasing him again. Blum’s first novel, Those Who Save Us, was a prize winner and did time on various best sellers list, so check this out. With a five-city author tour and reading group guide.
Brown, Dale. Executive Intent. Morrow. May 2010. 432p. ISBN 978-0-06-156085-9. $26.99.
In Brown’s latest, America and China are in an escalating arms-in-space race. For all technonuts; with a one-day laydown on April 27 and a 200,000-copy first printing.
Child, Lee. 61 Hours: A Reacher Novel. Delacorte. May 2010. 400p. ISBN 978-0-385-34058-8. $28. CD: Random Audio.
Trapped in a South Dakota town by a bus accident, Jack Reacher is asked by a local cop to protect the only witness who can help put away a brutal crime ring. And the clock starts ticking. A second Reacher novel, linked to this one, is promised in fall 2010. With a ten- to 15-city tour by request; buy multiples.
Cleage, Pearl. Till You Hear from Me. One World: Ballantine. May 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-345-50637-5. $25.
Cleage has some following; her books have been Oprah, Essence, and Go On Girl! book club picks. Her latest, featuring an Obama campaign worker who already feels sidelined and must return home to help her father, takes place in the fictional West End, Atlanta, community that has served as setting for most of Cleage’s novels. Fans will cozy up.
Eastland, Sam. Eye of the Red Tsar. Bantam. May 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-553-80781-3. $25. CD: Random Audio.
Once a trusted adviser to Tsar Nicholas II, Pekkala has been exiled to the far reaches of Siberia. Now he’s promised his freedom if he will investigate exactly how the tsar and his family met their fate. Given the success of Soviet/Russia-based fiction like Child 44, the publisher is feeling a rush of enthusiasm for this first novel.
Gael, Juliet. Romancing Miss Brontë. Ballantine. May 2010. 432p. ISBN 978-0-345-52004-3. $25.
Following close on the heels of Denise Giardina’s Emily's Ghost, which imagined an attraction between Emily Brontë and her father’s curate, William Weightman, here’s a tale of Charlotte Brontë and her relationships with (and eventual marriage to) her father’s subsequent curate, Arthur Bell Nichols. Austen, the Brontës, who’s next? For historical fiction fans.
George, Elizabeth. This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel. Harper: HarperCollins. May 2010. 640p. ISBN 978-0-06-116088-2. $28.99. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio.
Fans have been hotly divided by the recent Inspector Lynley novels, with some put off by the murder of Lynley’s wife and his subsequent minor-key investigations and others enthralled by the emotional layering now evident. This latest might make everyone happy; the grieving Lynley is still on leave from Scotland Yard but is called in to investigate a murder in a remote cemetery. Seems that his old team doesn’t trust the new boss. With a one-day laydown on April 20 and a 300,000-copy first printing; six-city tour to Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. Someone’s betting big.
Hobb, Robin. Rain Wilds Chronicles. Vol. 2: Dragon Haven. Morrow. May 2010. 624p. ISBN 978-0-06-193141-3. $26.99.
In this second of a two-parter, some unfortunate dragon keepers are sent with their just-hatched charges on a risky mission to rediscover the long-lost city of Kelsingra. Alas, the worst danger comes from within. LJ’s reviewer called the first volume (out in February 2010) “an inventive saga marked by its vivid detail and keen insight into human (and draconic) nature” (LJ 11/15/09). With a 75,000-copy first printing.
Kagen, Lesley. Tomorrow River. Dutton. May 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-525-95154-4. $25.95.
Her mother has disappeared, her twin sister has stopped talking, and her father is drinking hard and threatening to remarry, so Shenandoah Carmody had better do something fast. Paperback best-selling author Kagen breaks into hardcover; with a reading group guide.
King, Laurie R. The God of the Hive. Bantam. May 2010. 543p. ISBN 978-0-553-80554-3. $25.
Multiple award winner King wraps up the story she began in The Language of Bees, with Holmes protecting his wounded son, wife Mary Russell slipping back to London, and the villains intent on finishing them all off. With a five-city tour to San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, and one more lucky place; important for mystery collections.
Perry, Thomas. Strip. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-15-101522-1. $26.
Strip club owner Manco Kapak has been robbed. His minions are fingering the wrong guy. Meanwhile, the thief and his girlfriend, too dumb to know not to rob a gangster type, are thinking that the crime life is fun. Wacked-out mystery for wacked-out mystery fans.
Pickard, Nancy. The Scent of Rain and Lightning. Ballantine. May 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-0-345-47101-7. $25.
She’s a Macavity, Anthony, and Agatha award winner and a four-time Edgar nominee, but Pickard seems to have moved beyond the mystery genre to general suspense with recent books like The Virgin of Small Plains. In her new work, which recalls Virgin, English teacher Jody Linder discovers that the man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and is returning to town with his attorney son to establish his innocence. Suddenly, Jody is facing some question marks in her past. Expect interest.
Preston, Douglas & Lincoln Child. Fever Dream. Grand Central. May 2010. 400p. ISBN 978-0-4465-5496-1. $26.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
This is a tough case for Agent Pendergast; his wife has been murdered. How will he fare compared with Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley (see above)? For now, buy lots.
Sharratt, Mary. Daughters of the Witching Hill. Houghton Harcourt. Apr. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-547-06967-8. $24.
An American living in Lancashire, England, Sharratt (The Vanishing Point) drew from contemporary accounts of the 1612 Lancashire witch trials to write this historical. Skilled in folk magic, Bess Southerns and her granddaughter, Alizon, attract the kind of attention that eventually leads to a witch hunt. My sense is that this is less like Kathleen Kent’s The Heretic's Daughter than a darker early Alice Hoffman. With a reading group guide.
Turow, Scott. Innocent. Grand Central. May 2010. 448p. ISBN 978-0-4465-6242-3. $27.99. CD: Hachette Audio.
Turow virtually invented the legal thriller genre with Presumed Innocent. It took him awhile, but now he’s back with a sequel. Rusty Sabich’s wife has met a questionable death, which (once more) puts Rusty up against prosecutor Tommy Molto. Turow hasn’t faded in 20 years, so this should be big.
Underwood, Blair & others. From Cape Town with Love: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel. Atria: S. & S. May 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-1-43915-912-5. $25.
Tennyson Hardwick is acting as bodyguard at a birthday party for the adopted daughter of an American actress and a South African billionaire when the child is kidnapped. Bad news. Third in a series that isn’t breaking records but is doing nicely, thank you. The “other” authors? Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes.
Weisberger, Lauren. Untitled. S. & S. May 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4391-3661-4. $25.95. CD/eAudio: S. & S. Audio.
Girl meets boy, girl supports boy as he struggles to make it as a rock star, then girl gets dumped for a supermodel. A revenge story from the author of The Devil Wears Prada; buy multiples. With a ten-city tour to Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Washington, DC, and somewhere in Connecticut.
Alter, Jonathan. President Obama: Inside the Early Days. S. & S. May 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4391-0119-3. $27. CD/eAudio: S. & S. Audio.
Alter is a Newsweek/NBC political reporter, author of The Defining Moment (on FDR’s first 100 days), a Chicago native, and an Obama acquaintance for nearly a decade. So he seems like the right guy to offer an account of Obama’s first moves in office. Look carefully for this one; the title may change.
Bradlee, Ben & Quinn Bradlee. A Life’s Work: Fathers and Sons. S. & S. May 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-6848-0895-6. $19.99.
The longtime editor of the Washington Post holds a dialog with his son on fathering. I’m often skeptical of such works, but Bradlee senior is a sharp guy—and a best-selling author. Take a look.
Bryant, Howard. The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron. Pantheon. May 2010. 608p. ISBN 978-0-375-42485-4. $29.95. CD: S. & S. Audio.
Regularly featured on ESPN.com and NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, Bryant slams us a comprehensive biography of heavy-hitter Aaron. With a 75,000-copy first printing; solid sports work.
Bush, Laura. Spoken from the Heart. Scribner. May 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4391-5520-2. $30. CD/eAudio: S. & S.
The publicity says this memoir by Laura Bush is intimate and startling. We’ll see. Especially important in Red States.
Charleson, Susannah. Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog. Houghton Harcourt. Apr. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-547-15244-8. $26.
When she caught sight of the photo of a search-and-rescue dog at work after the Oklahoma bombing, Charleson—a pilot with search experience who raises dogs herself—decided she wanted to volunteer. Here’s her story of teaming up with strong-willed Golden Retriever Puzzle. Temple Grandin says that this is for all dog lovers, and I concur. With an 11-city tour to New York, Washington, DC, Birmingham, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Davies, Paul. The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence. Houghton Harcourt. Apr. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-547-13324-9. $27.
Fifty years after the founding of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), physicist/astrobiologist Davies, who also heads up SETI’s post-Detection Taskgroup, argues that we have to rethink our mission. Alien intelligence is likely to be much different, and much less like us, than we have imagined. With a strictly earthbound tour to New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Davis, Kenneth C. A Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History. Smithsonian: HarperCollins. May 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-111820-3. $26.99.
In this follow-up to the best-selling America’s Hidden History, Davis uses six narratives, e.g., Aaron Burr’s trial, an 1841 slave ship rebellion, and the 1844 riots in Philadelphia directed against immigrants and Catholics, to track America’s growth in the early 1800s. Good popular history; with a 75,000-copy first printing.
Feiler, Bruce. The Council of Dads: My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me. Morrow. May 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-06-177876-6. $22.99.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2008, Feiler put together a “council” of six men whom he believed would be good surrogate dads to guide his young daughters were he to die. Yes, it sounds as if it might be treacly, but Feiler effectively managed intimacy and insight in his Bible books (e.g., Walking the Bible). With a 200,000-copy first printing; six-city author tour to Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah, and Washington, DC.
Gutfeld, Greg. The Bible of Unspeakable Truths. Grand Central. May 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-4465-5230-1. $24.99.
If you’ve watched Fox News’s Red Eye, you’ll know exactly what to expect from opinionated host Gutfeld. Buy for the right audience.
Isay, Dave. Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from the StoryCorps Project. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2010. 208p. 978-1-59420-261-2. $21.95.
Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected oral histories from more than 50,000 Americans in all 50 states. Here Isay focuses on the stories of moms. Inspirational; with a five- to seven-city tour.
Johnson, Ian. A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA, and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-15-101418-7. $27.
Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for the Wall Street Journal, here investigates the roots of radical Islam in the West. He starts with a group of Soviet Muslims who defected to Germany during World War II and the postwar efforts of both U.S. and West German intelligence to exploit them for propaganda purposes. Decidedly interesting and, it would seem, original; I haven’t seen anything else on this topic.
Kirkpatrick, Sidney D. Hitler’s Holy Relics: A True Story of Nazi Plunder and the Race To Recover the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. S. & S. 352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9062-0. $27.
In an effort to legitimize the Third Reich, the Nazis stole the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. When they disappeared at war’s end, U.S. Army lieutenant Walter Horn was ordered to hunt them down. A filmmaker and best-selling author of books like A Cast of Killers, Kirkpatrick is more likely to turn in a rollicking adventure story than a studious tale like Lynn Nichols’s The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War. With a four-city tour to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
LaPorte, Nicole. The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called Dreamworks. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. 448p. ISBN 978-0-547-13470-3. $28.
A former reporter for Variety, LaPorte profiles three men—Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg—to tell the story of a cinema empire called Dreamworks. Broad appeal for cinephiles and business types.
Madden, Bill. Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. Harper: HarperCollins. May 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-169031-0. $26.99. lrg. prnt.
Having spent 30 years covering baseball for the New York Daily News, Madden is well placed to write this biography of irrepressible Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Indeed, the ailing Steinbrenner chose him for the final interview he plans to give. Likely a standout among the spring baseball titles; with a 100,000-copy first printing.
Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, 1920–1933. Scribner. May 2010. 512p. ISBN 978-0-7432-7702-0. $35. CD/eAudio: S. & S. Audio.
The first public editor of the New York Times explains why Prohibition happened and what its consequences were. This is the basis for a Ken Burns PBS documentary, so it will get lots of attention; buy accordingly. With a five-city tour to Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Washington, DC.
Parker-Pope, Tara. For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage. Dutton. May 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-525-95138-4. $25.95.
Parker-Pope’s Well generates more comments than any other New York Times blog and often makes the list of the paper’s top ten most popular features. So her reflections on staying happily married—backed with statistics, e.g., the correlation of divorce and the frequency of eye rolling is 70 percent—should be a hit.
Queen Latifah. Put Your Crown On: Life Lessons from the Queen. Grand Central. May 2010. 100p. ISBN 978-0-4465-5589-0. $18. CD: Hachette Audio.
Yes, self-help is always best—or at least it sells best—when it comes from a star. Help yourself if you have the right audience for this.
Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. 448p. ISBN 978-0-618-26746-0. $30.
Putlizer Prize–winning Stanford historian Rakove does not give us the iconic Founding Fathers. Instead, he aims to catch them prerevolution as they begin formulating the beliefs that would lead to America’s independence. Important history; with a four-city tour to New York, Boston, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.
Richards, Susan. Saddled: How a Spirited Horse Reined Me In and Set Me Free. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-0-547-24172-2. $24.
Richards’s Chosen by a Horse, an account of her relationship with an abused mare she nursed back to health, was a Discover Great New Writers and BookSense Pick. This new work is even more intimate, explaining how at age 31 Richards—freed by her new-found bond with a powerful Morgan named Georgia—finally admitted to herself that she was an alcoholic. Not just for horse lovers.
Roubini, Nouriel & Stephen Mihm. Crisis Economics. A Crash Course in the Future of Finance. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2010. 288p. 978-1-59420-250-6. $27.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
In 2005, NYU economics professor Roubini warned that housing prices would soon collapse, bringing down the economy. In 2006, he told the International Monetary Fund that a deep recession was coming our way. No one believed him then (he was called Dr. Doom), but perhaps now we’ll want to learn how he managed to predict our current crisis and what he has to say about the predictability of financial collapse. Important.
Sanford, Jenny. Staying True. Ballantine. May 2010. 240p. ISBN 978-0-345-52239-9. $25. CD: Random Audio.
Given all the media hoopla, Sanford’s tale of staying true to herself after the public disclosure of the infidelity of her husband, South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, should attract a big readership. Billed as inspirational advice about not just taking it on the chin.
Schor, Juliet B. Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-1-59420-254-4. $25.95.
Having pushed the planet to the edge ecologically, we’re in no position during this economic turndown to buy our way back with a big debt-financed consumer boom. So argues noted economist and best-selling author Schor, who shows us that with things like green technologies, urban farming, and do-it-yourself projects, we’re already engaging in the alternative. Definitely for your smart readers.
Sheehy, Gail. Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence. Morrow. May 2010. 978-0-06-166120-4. $27.99. lrg. prnt.
Sheehy’s Passages was a New York Times best seller for three full years. That was back in the late Seventies, of course, so though she’s written plenty since then she won’t be a household name to everyone. On the other hand, in one in four of those households, someone is caring for an adult over 50, which makes this book particularly relevant. With a 150,000-copy first printing; Sheehy is AARP’s caregiving ambassador.
Swanson, James L. Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse. Morrow. May 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-06-123378-4. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio
When Lincoln was assassinated, it was assumed that Confederate president Jefferson Davis (already on the run) was the mastermind. Swanson recounts the hunt for Davis even as Lincoln’s body was borne on its 14-day train journey to its resting place. Manhunt, Swanson’s account of the assassination itself, was a huge best seller—and it’s slated for an eight-part HBO miniseries. This will be big, too. With a one-day laydown on April 4 and a 250,000-copy first printing; seven-city tour to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Richmond, San Francisco, Savannah, and Washington, DC.
Syed, Mathew. Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Tiger, and the Science of Success. Harper: HarperCollins. May 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-06-172375-9. $25.99. lrg prnt.
BBC commentator and former Olympian Syed considers what sports tell us about ourselves—he says they tap into some pretty primal instincts—and how they mirror societal conflict. Even a nonathlete like me would read this book; in fact, I’m betting it’s not for the beer-swilling fans. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Williams, Thomas Chatterton. Losing My Cool: Growing Up with—and out of—Hip-hop Culture. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). May 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-1-59420-263-6. $25.95.
Williams’s dad, who grew up in the segregated South reading Plato on the sly, stood guard to make sure his son studied hard for the SATs. Williams himself reveled in hip-hop culture. Here’s how he finally made the choice between the two cultures. His Washington Post op-ed piece, “Yes, Blame Hip-Hop,” written while he was obtaining an advanced degree in cultural reporting and criticism at NYU, bagged a record-breaking number of comments. But even if you didn’t know that, you could bet that this book has great potential. To be promoted with a Penguin iPhone app excerpt—clearly aiming to draw in a young audience, though I want to read this, too.
Wright, Chely. Like Me. Pantheon. May 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-3073-7886-6. $25.95.
Okay, not Taylor Swift, but a memoir from country music star Wright should go over big with some readers; 60,000-copy first printing.
