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Featured Titles 2004

New titles - selected on the basis of good reviews. Nonfiction, fiction and mystery titles are included on these lists. Books for kids and teens (fiction and nonfiction) are also listed.

November 2004

Nonfiction

• The Heart of the World: A Journey To the Last Great Place
  Author: Baker, Ian
  Publisher: Penguin $ 27.95 ISBN: 1594200270 Date: 2004
  PW
  One of the most captivating stories of exploration and discovery in recent memory, The Heart of the World is an extraordinary journey to one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on Earth--and a pilgrimage to the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist faith.
  Suggested Reading: Travel Tales
  Updated 10.19.04
• Cutty, One Rock: Low Characters and Strange Places, Gently Explained
  Author: Kleinzahler, August
  Publisher: FSG $ 18 ISBN: 0374133778 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  Readers are taken on a wild journey by from childhood to early manhood in the company of a New Jersey family in equal measures cultivated and deranged. These individual pieces, most of which first appeared in "The London Review of Books," make up an intellectual and emotional autobiography on the run.
  Updated 8.25.04
• Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater
  Author: Richman, Alan
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 006058629x Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  From the ten-time James Beard Award winner and "GQ's" food critic comes a witty, globe-trotting smorgasbord of culinary escapades.
  Suggested Reading: Cooked Books
  Updated 8.25.04
• Dream State: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and Other Florida Wildlife
  Author: Roberts, Diane
  Publisher: Free Pr $ 25 ISBN: 0743252063 Date: 2004
  PW
  Part family memoir, part political commentary, part apologia, Dream State is all Floridian, telling the grand story of one of America's most bustling, dynamic, and controversial states, through the eyes of one of its native daughters.
  Updated 10.25.04

 

Fiction

• Case Histories
  Author: Atkinson, Kate
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 23.95 ISBN: 0316740403 Date: 2004
  KirkusBooklist
  This new novel from award-winner Kate Atkinson is a breathtaking story of families divided, love lost and found and the mysteries of fate. As Private Detective Jackson Brodie investigates three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge.
  Updated 8.12.04
• Banishing Verona
  Author: Livesey, Margot
  Publisher: Holt $ 24 ISBN: 0805074627 Date: 2004
  PWKirkusLJ
  Deftly plotted and filled with unexpected twists, Banishing Verona marks the arrival of another lyrical and wise novel from a writer whose work "radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery" (Alice Sebold).
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
  Updated 10.7.04
• The Boy Who Would Live Forever: A Novel of Gateway
  Author: Pohl, Frederik
  Publisher: Tor $ 25.95 ISBN: 076531049x Date: 2004
  PWKirkus
  Returning to his bestselling Gateway universe for the first time in nearly 20 years, Pohl has written a science fiction novel to captivate the readers who helped Gateway and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon win the Hugo Award for Best Novel.
  Updated 8.9.04
• Gilead
  Author: Robinson, Marilynne
  Publisher: FSG $ 23 ISBN: 0374153892 Date: 2004
  KirkusBooklistPW
  In 1956, toward the end of Rev. John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. This is also the tale of wisdom forged during his solitary life and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
  Updated 8.12.04

Mystery & Suspense

• Druperman Tapes
  Author: Goodger, John
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312321996 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  A fascinating guide to the underbelly of Las Vegas, The Druperman Tapes is a fast, twisty, fun thriller in the spirit of Ocean's Eleven.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts | Take a Gamble
  Updated 10.23.04

 

• Skinny-Dipping
  Author: Matturro, Claire
  Publisher: Morrow $ 23 ISBN: 0060567058 Date: 2004
  After representing a client in a kayak whiplash case, Lilly almost suffers a case of her own when she's ambushed at her office. Who would want to attack a tofu-eating attorney? And why? Lilly has an unorthodox--and hilarious--way of finding out.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts | Legal Stars
  Updated 10.25.04

 

• False Profits
  Author: Smiley, Patricia
  Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967900 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Featuring a fresh new voice and cast of characters, False Profits will appeal to fans of the novels by Janet Evanovich.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts | If You Like Janet Evanovich
  Updated 9.7.04

 

• Wolves Eat Dogs
  Author: Smith, Martin Cruz
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25.95 ISBN: 0684872544 Date: 2004
  PWBooklistLJ
  With Arkady Renko, Smith created one of the iconic sleuths of contemporary fiction. Renko returns to investigate international plots that drive one of Russia's billionaire businessmen to jump to his death.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
  Updated 10.19.04

 

Books for Kids, Teens & Readers of All Ages

• Mr. Maxwell's Mouse
  Author: Asch, Frank
  Publisher: Kids Can $ 15.95 ISBN: 155337486x Date: 2004
  KirkusSLJ
  Mr. Maxwell is one contented cat. He has just been promoted. And what better way to celebrate than by going to his favorite restaurant, the Paw and Claw? He decides to live a little and order the house specialty--a live mouse. When the headwaiter asks if they should kill the mouse, Mr. Maxwell says that isn't necessary. He knows the Paw and Claw's mice are bred for politeness! But this particular live mouse can't keep quiet--would Mr. Maxwell like to add a little salt? Or order a glass of wine? Would he mind saving a little prayer before eating? My, what a bold and wordy mouse! Mr. Maxwell hopes the mouse doesn't give him indigestion ... Richly illustrated and full of surprises, Mr. Maxwell's Mouse is a David-and-Goliath story with claws, whiskers and tails. - Publisher Marketing
  Grades: k-4 Category: Fiction
  
• Whispering to Witches
  Author: Dale, Anna
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 16.95 ISBN: 1582348901 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  Joe is on a train to visit his mother when he gets off at the wrong stop and his life takes a very unexpected turn. With the help of a bewitched broomstick, he is whisked to the home of the Dead-nettle Coven, where he befriends a young witch-in-training.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction | Speculative
  
• The Schwa Was Here
  Author: Shusterman, Neal
  Publisher: Dutton $ 15.99 ISBN: 0525471820 Date: 2004
  SLJ
  From the award-winning author of Full Tilt and The Shadow Club novels comes this tongue-in-cheek tale of a boy so unremarkable, he just might disappear completely.
  Grades: 4-7 Category: Fiction