Prepub Exploded: April 2010, Pt. 1

Featuring Books by Pearl Abraham, Ian McEwan, & Martha Grimes

By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 11/05/2009

Yes, we have thrillers—from the likes of Mary Higgins Clark and Martha Grimes—but with Pearl Abraham’s American Taliban and Ian McEwan’s Solar, fiction gets topical. In nonfiction, check out the good science titles and cheeky memoirs by Wendy Burden and Anna Fields.

Fiction | Nonfiction

Fiction

Abraham, Pearl. American Taliban. Random. Apr. 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6858-6. $25.
Drawing on the real-life story of John Walker Lindh, Abraham (The Romance Reader) considers how an upper-middle-class American lad could come to fight with the Taliban. Masha Hamilton’s recent 31 Hours is similarly themed. With a four-city tour to Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Berg, Elizabeth. The Last Time I Saw You. Random. Apr. 2010. 208p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6864-7. $25. lrg prnt.
After 45 years, a woman returns to her first high school reunion. Ripe for discussion (we all remember high school), so it’s good that there are giveaways at book club events. But why no reading group guide? With an eight-city tour to Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis, and Kansas City; should be big.

Box, C.J. Nowhere To Run: A Joe Pickett Novel. Putnam. Apr. 2010. 368p. ISBN 978-0-399-15645-8. $25.95.
Finishing a job as temporary game warden in Baggs, WY, Joe Pickett saddles up and rides out to investigate spooky doings in the hills. Soon he wishes he hadn’t. LJ has declared the Edgar Award–winning Pickett series “the gold standard,” so don’t run from this one. Just don’t read it at night. With a national tour.

Carrell, Jennifer Lee. Haunt Me Still. Dutton. Apr. 2010. 416p. ISBN 978-0-525-95077-6. $25.95. Digital Audiobook: Penguin Audio.
Kate Stanley, the Shakespeare scholar–turned–director who came to our attention in Carrell’s best-selling debut, Interred with Their Bones, is now involved in a production of the Scottish play—right at the bottom of Dunsinnan Hill. Soon bloody things start happening, and Kate is on a quest to recover a lost version of the play. Who knows whether Carrell can repeat the success of her first work, but stock up where Interred was popular.

Chiaverini, Jennifer. The Aloha Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-4165-3318-4. $24.
Winter having shut down the Elm Creek Quilt Camp, Bonnie finds herself in Hawaii tossing leis and helping set up a quilting retreat. Alas, her almost ex is causing trouble. Sixteenth in a series that has more than 1.5 copies in print, so you might want to pick up a couple. With a ten-city tour to Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Denver, Madison, Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, and Wichita.

Clark, Mary Higgins. The Shadow of Your Smile. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-43917-226-1. $25.95. CD/eAudio: S. & S. Audio.
When husband Jonathan’s twin brother Charles is murdered, Olivia shares his grief. But, wait, was it really Charles who was murdered, or Jonathan? This twin thing can get thin, but Clark has come up with an intriguing premise, and her last book was (as always) a No. 1 best seller. With an eight-city tour in the metropolitan New York area.

Crace, Jim. All That Follows. Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. Apr. 2010. 240p. ISBN 978-0-385-52076-8. $24.95.
A nutcase named Maxie is holding folks hostage somewhere in England, and jazz musician Leonard Lessing is sweating over whether he should rush to the crime scene; he knew Maxie back in Texas, 18 years ago. Crace in a concrete mood; catch an interview with him on the book.

Evans, Paul Richard. The Walk. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 224p. ISBN 978-1-4391-8731-9. $22.
Like so many protagonists before him, once thriving ad executive Alan Christoffersen has lost everything. Instead of drinking himself into a stupor, he decides to walk across the country. Will he make new friends and learn important lessons? Is this a Paul Richard Evans novel? First in a new series that will probably turn to gold.

Franklin, Ariana. A Murderous Procession: A Mistress of the Art of Death Novel. Putnam. Apr. 2010. 400p. ISBN 978-0-399-15628-1. $25.95.
Henry II’s daughter Joanna is in Palermo getting married to the king of Sicily when a number of people in the wedding procession are found murdered. Fortunately, Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, is there to help. Fourth in a series that is building nicely; with a reading group guide.

Grimes, Martha. The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery. Viking. Apr. 2010. 336p. ISNB 978-0-670-02160-4. $25.95.
Devastated after his lover dies in an auto accident, a reluctant Richard Jury heads to a remote village to investigate the murder of a woman identified as the local librarian—and a fancy city escort. Only a black cat knows what really happened. Despite the occasional fan gripe, Jury books—this is No. 21—are still New York Times best sellers. With a five-city tour.

Grushin, Olga. The Line. Putnam. Apr. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-399-15616-8. $25.95.
Winner of the NYPL’s Young Lions Fiction Award, in the running for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Orange Award for New Writers, an LJ Best Book, and one of my all-time favorites, The Dream Life of Sukhanov was an amazing debut. In Grushin’s second novel, rumors spread in Soviet-era Moscow that an exiled composer is returning to conduct his last symphony, and a line forms for tickets. The seasons pass, the ticket window remains closed, and strangers on the line become friends. Get it for sure!

Kellerman, Jesse. The Executor. Putnam. Apr. 2010. ISBN 978-0-399-15647-2. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Broke, homeless, and scorned by both his girlfriend and his graduate adviser, Joseph Geist spots an ad placed by a sharp, sophisticated older woman willing to pay for good conversation. This story could lead in a lot of interesting directions; the promotion’s not saying.

Lamott, Anne. Imperfect Birds. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-1-59448-751-4. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio.
Smart, beautiful, and a star athlete, 17-year-old Rosie is every proud parent’s dream. But it turns out that she’s been lying to her parents and is in danger of drifting into the darkness of drugs and alcohol. Lamott should do this well.

Lehrer, Jim. Super. Random. Apr. 2010. 2234p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6763-3. $25.
A stowaway, an ailing millionaire, a failing director, plus Clark Gable and Harry Truman—all are aboard the Super Chief train out of Chicago when murder occurs. Sounds like fun, as does the author tour aboard Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, stopping in Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles.

McCall Smith, Alexander. The Double Comfort Safari Club. Pantheon. Apr. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-375-42450-2. $23.95.
Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency aren’t visiting the breathtaking Okavango Delta to see the sights—a guest lies suspiciously dead at one of the safari lodges. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe is annoyed that Phuti Radiphuti has yet to set the date for their wedding. Of course mystery fans are cheering.

McEwan, Ian. Solar. Nan. A. Talese: Doubleday. Apr. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-385-53341-6. $26.95.
In McEwan’s latest, a Nobel prize–winning physicist gets slashed by the media after he says that physicists are mostly men not because of discrimination but because of differences between the male and female brains. Just as McEwan himself got slashed by the media when he said last summer that Islamism was out to create a society he found morally offensive. Bound to be controversial, which may attract new readers for the award-winning author.

Morton, Kate. The Distant Hours. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2010. 480. ISBN 978-1-4391-5278-2. $26.
During the Battle of Britain, an enemy plane crashes on the grounds of Millderhurst Castle, next to the tree in which 12-year-old Queenie sits perched. Nearly 20 years later, Queenie returns home to her dying father and a setting she hardly knows. Obviously, something important has happened in between. Morton continues to fulfill the promise of The House at Riverton. With a national tour and reading group guide.

Nunn, Malla. Let the Dead Lie. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-41658-622-7. $25.
In 1950s Durban, Det. Emmanuel Cooper has opted out of the force but is pulled back when a child is murdered—and then becomes the leading suspect as more deaths occur. This being South Africa, of course the murders are political. Is South Africa the next thriller hot spot? (See also the works of Deon Meyer.) A follow-up to an acclaimed debut, A Beautiful Place To Die; with a reading group guide.

Perry, Drew. This Is Just Exactly Like You. Viking. Apr. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-670-02154-3. $25.95.
When Jack Lang up and buys a second house across the street, his wife moves in with his best friend, his friend’s old girlfriend starts visiting Jack, and Jack’s autistic son starts chattering in Spanish. This quirky-sounding debut is getting some buzz; with a five-city tour and reading group guide.

Quick, Amanda. The Burning Lamp. Putnam. Apr. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-399-15646-5. $25.95.
Griffin Winters thinks that he has inherited the Winters Curse—the madness often visited upon male descendants of Nicholas Winters, who created the powerful and mysterious Burning Lamp. Adelaide Pyne has the lamp, and she and Griffin are about to meet. An "Arcane Society" novel and second in the "Dreamlight Trilogy"; just right for Quick readers.

Ross, Ann B. Miss Julia Renews Her Vows. Viking. Apr. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-670-02155-0. $24.95.
Sam, husband to Miss Julia, wants them both to attend a marriage enrichment class, but the psychologist leading the sessions is an unfortunate voice from Miss Julia’s past. Oh, and Francie Pitts has been knocked on the head. Dependable fun.

Shaw, Dash. BodyWorld. Pantheon. Apr. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-307-37842-2. $27.95.
In 2060, Professor Paulie Panther is excited to discover an odd plant behind the high school at the experimental forest town of Boney Borough; when smoked, the plant imparts telepathic powers. But the rigidly conformist townsfolk are horrified. This graphic novel was nominated for a 2009 Eisner Award. A Brave New World for our time; with a four-city tour to New York, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Francisco.

Silver, Marisa. Alone With You: Stories. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9029-3. $23.
The author of The God of War, finalist for a Los Angeles Times book prize, turns in a collection of stories whose settings range from American suburbia to the Sahara Desert. I leapt at this one; try it.

Sundaresan, Indu. Shadow Princess. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-1-41654-879-9. $25.
In this follow-up to The Twentieth Wife and The Feast of Roses, the daughters of the Emperor Jahangir vie for power. Good for the literary crowd; with a reading group guide.

Wayans, Damon. Red Hats. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2010. 192p. ISBN 978-1-43916-461-7. $19.99.
From film and TV star Wayans, a People’s Choice award winner for Favorite Male Performer, comes this debut novel starring the proud and unhappy Alma, now without a husband, who’s helped by the generous group called the red hat ladies. With a five-city tour; there will be interest.

Nonfiction

Barabási, Albert-László. Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do. Dutton. Apr. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-0-525-95160-5. $26.95.
Director of Northeastern University’s Center for Complex Network Research, Barabási shows that we don’t behave randomly but in predictable little bursts. Don’t shrug; the author’s Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means, was a best seller.

Burden, Wendy. Dead End Gene Pool. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-1-592-40526-8. $26.
Growing up superrich as the great-great-great granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Burden was raised by nannies and learned lots from her grandfather, who “may have been avant-garde in his views on culture, but…was strictly Edwardian when it came to his household.” A hot commodity, especially with Burden’s many connections and America’s fascination with the very wealthy.

Eig, Jonathan. Get Capone!: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-4165-8059-1. $28.
Drawing on everything from the memories of Capone relatives to the papers of the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the gangster, Eig (Luckiest Man) delivers the story of the man who, he argues, wasn’t behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. With a six-city tour to Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Not, I think, simply for true-crime fanatics.

Fields, Anna. Confessions of a Rebel Debutante. Putnam. Apr. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-399-15631-1. $24.95.
Having flopped as a debutante—she was even evicted from cotillion classes—North Carolina–born Fields went on to earn her keep in Hollywood. Could be loads of fun, so I took a chance on this one.

Gay, Timothy M. Satch, Dizzy, and Rapid Robert: The Wild Saga of Interracial Baseball Before Jackie Robinson. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-1-41654-798-3. $26.
Before the advent of Jackie Robinson, blacks and whites did come together on the diamond—with Negro Leaguers playing against white Major Leaguers in post-exhibition games nationwide that Major League Baseball tried to squelch. From a notable baseball historian; should be good.

Guiliano, Mireille. The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook. Atria: S. & S. Apr. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-1-43914-896-9. $26.99.
The cookbook you should buy this spring, given what a hit Guiliano had with French Women Don’t Get Fat.

Johnson, Simon & James Kwak. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown. Pantheon. Apr. 2010. 240p. ISBN 978-0-307-37905-4. $25.
Johnson is former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund and, with Kwak, writes a major economics blog called the Baseline Scenario. So you have to listen when they argue that the financial industry has taken over the U.S. government. With a 75,000-copy first printing and five-city tour.

Kurlansky, Mark. The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-1-59448-750-7. $25.95.
One in six Dominicans who have played in the Major League comes from the impoverished town of San Pedro in the Dominican Republic. Kurlansky uses the skills he honed in Cod and Salt to show how one small town can give us the bigger picture. With a national tour and Spanish-language media outreach. Can’t miss.

Miller, Norris Church. A Ticket to the Circus. Random. Apr. 2010. 336p. ISBN 978-1-4000-6794-7. $26.
From Little Miss Little Rock at age three to the wife of Norman Mailer and a novelist in her own right—that’s some ticket. With a national tour to New York, Atlanta, Washington, DC, Memphis, and Little Rock, of course.

McDermott, Terry. 101 Theory Drive: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for Memory. Pantheon. Apr. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-0-375-42538-7. $24.95.
Brilliant and uncompromising neuroscientist Gary Lynch stays out of the limelight and works obsessively to discover how memory functions. Along the way, he’s helping to discover drugs that could heal minds shattered by conditions like Alzheimer’s. As told by an award winning journalist; with a three-city tour. Love these science titles.

Morris, Roy, Jr. Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Became Mark Twain. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-1-41659-866-4. $26.
What happened to Samuel Clemens after he headed west by stagecoach in 1861; from a biographer of Walt Whitman. This is doubtless one in a long line of books on Twain that will come out in 2010, the 100th anniversary of his death. With a five-city tour.

Munson, Laura. This Is Not the Story You Think It Is: A Seasonal Unlikely Happiness. Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Apr. 2010. 256p. ISBN 978-0-399-15665-6. $24.95.
Munson expands on an essay published in the New York Times that generated so much response the paper had to shut down the comments section. Her story: when her husband declared that he wasn’t sure he loved her anymore and wanted to move out, she retorted “I don’t buy it” and worked through a lot to heal the marriage. Buy multiples.

Robinson, Craig. A Game of Character. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. NAp. ISBN 978-1-59240-548-0. $25.
Robinson doesn’t just coach men's basketball at Oregon State University. He’s Michelle Obama’s brother. So expect this book to appeal to more than just sports fans.

Santos, John Phillip. The Farthest Home Is in an Empire of Fire. Viking. Apr. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-670-02156-7. $25.95.
In Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, Santos told the story of Mexico through the story of his father’s family—and got a National Book Award nomination for his pains. A decade later, he tells the story of his mother’s family. Good for literary readers and beyond.

Shapiro, James. Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? S. & S. Apr. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-1-41654-162-2. $26.
Not just another argument about who wrote Shakespeare but an examination of the controversy itself over time. My nonfiction favorite; note the six-city tour to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Vincent, Fay. Untitled on Baseball, Vol. 3: Baseball Stars of the 1970’s and 1980’s Talk About the Game They Loved. S. & S. Apr. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-1-43915-921-7. $25.
Former baseball commissioner Vincent offers a third and final volume on the game he loves, interviewing players, managers, umpires, and even the founder of the players’ union to help readers relive a time gone by.

Zarin, Jill & others. Secrets of a Jewish Mother: Real Advice, Real Stories, Real Love. Dutton. Apr. 2010. 288p. ISBN 978-0-525-95179-7. $25.95.
You know Zarin as one of The Real Housewives of New York City, seen by two million viewers each week. Sister and coauthor Lisa Wexler is a lawyer and host of her own TV show in Connecticut. Here they’re joined by their mother, Gloria Kamen, who made a big splash in season two of Real Housewives and offers the good advice all mothers, Jewish or otherwise, just love to give. You know if this is for you.