June 2004

Nonfiction

• The Secret Life of Lobsters
  Author: Corson, Trevor
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060555580
  LJ
  In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, Corson escorts the reader onto slippery fishing boats and on treacherous scuba dives to learn about lobsters--who prove to be a masters of the boudoir, lethal boxers, snoopy socialites and underwater bloodhounds.
  Updated 4.20.04
• Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath
  Author: Cummins, Jeanine
  Publisher: New American Library $ 12.95 (paper) ISBN: 0451210530
  PW
  This intimate memoir tells of one family's immediate and widely publicized story of surviving a shocking crime and suffering in the aftermath.
  Updated 4.19.04
• Acquainted With the Night: An Intimate Journey Through the World After Dark
  Author: Dewdney, Christopher
  Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 24.95 ISBN: 1582343969
  KirkusPW
  Dewdney takes readers on a fascinating, hour-by-hour journey through the nocturnal realm, covering bedtime stories, festivals of the night, fireworks, nightclubs, astronomy, sleep and dreams, the graveyard shift, ladies of the night, the art of night, and more.
  Updated 4.26.04
• Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
  Author: Sedaris, David
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316143464 Date: 2004
  PW
  Sedaris returns to his deliriously twisted domain: hilarious childhood dramas infused with melancholy; the gulf of misunderstanding that exists between people of different nations or members of the same family; and the poignant divide between one's best hopes and most common deeds.
  Updated 5.24.04
• The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
  Author: Troost, J. Maarten
  Publisher: Broadway $ 12.95 (paper) ISBN: 0767915305
  KirkusPW
  After racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs, author Troost decided the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the Earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better. This is his hilarious story.
  Suggested Reading: Travel Tales
  Updated 4.8.04

Fiction

• Natasha: And Other Stories
  Author: Bezmozgis, David
  Publisher: FSG $ 18 ISBN: 0374281416 Date: 2004
  LJKirkusPW
  The stories in this collection capture the immigrant experience with serious wit, while evoking boyhood and youth, and the battle for selfhood in a passionately loving Jewish family.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars
  Updated 4.19.04
• Something Borrowed
  Author: Griffin, Emily
  Publisher: St Martins $ 21.95 ISBN: 031232118x Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Griffin presents her first novel about falling in love with the one guy you shouldn't.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts | Chicklit
  Updated 6.1.04
• Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys
  Author: Garcia, Eric
  Publisher: ReganBooks $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060730315 Date: 2004
  Sex and the City meets Misery in this shockingly funny, original, dead-on satire of the dating scene in Los Angeles.
  Suggested Reading: Chicklit | Funny Fiction
  Updated 6.14.04
• The Tyrant's Novel
  Author: Keneally, Thomas
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 25 ISBN: 0385511469 Date: 2004
  KirkusPW
  In a work that evokes the classic cautionary tale Fahrenheit 451, Keneally masters the gripping perspective of a man caught between the unconscionable demands of his government and the meager prospect of running for his life.
  Updated 5.24.04
• Crossing California
  Author: Langer, Adam
  Publisher: Riverhead $ 24.95 ISBN: 1573222747 Date: 2004
  KirkusPWBooklist
  Poignant, ambitious, and tremendously fun, this fiction discovery of the season is a novel about two generations of family and friendship in Chicago from November 1979 through January 1981.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars | Debuts
  Updated 6.1.04
• Firethorn
  Author: Micklem, Sarah
  Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0743247949
  PW
  A fantasy in the tradition of The Mists of Avalon, Firethorn is an extraordinary tale--at once magical and violent, beautiful and frightening--about a bold young woman and her journey to the brink of war.
  Suggested Reading: Debuts
  Updated 4.5.04
• Between Two Rivers
  Author: Rinaldi, Nicholas
  Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060578769 Date: 2004
  KirkusBooklist
  Rumanian refugee and concierge Farro Fescu observes the exotic cross-section of the world's population represented in his New York City condominium. This lush tapestry demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit even in the face of tragedy.
  Updated 4.21.04
• The Master
  Author: Toibin, Colm
  Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0743250400 Date: 2004
  KirkusBooklistPWLJ
  "A deep, lovely, and enthralling book that engages with the disquiet and drama of a famous writing life: splendidly conceived and composed by a writer who is himself a master of his art."--Shirley Hazzard ( The Great Fire).
  Suggested Reading: All Stars | Biographical Fiction | Author Author
  Updated 5.4.04

Mystery & Suspense

• Walking Money
  Author: Born, James O.
  Publisher: Putnam $ 23.95 ISBN: 0399151699 Date: 2004
  Booklist
  Filled with a rich array of characters, a constantly twisting plot, and an astonishing authenticity, this novel is indeed proof that "Jim Born is the real thing" (Elmore Leonard).
  Suggested Reading: Debuts
  Updated 5.7.04
• Full Dark House
  Author: Fowler, Christopher
  Publisher: Bantam $ 24 ISBN: 0553803875 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  When a bomb claims the life of his partner of over 50 years, Detective Arthur Bryant must revisit their first case to uncover the killer's identity. Fowler combines dark drama and black comedy in this deliciously sinister crime novel.
  Updated 3.25.04
• I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason: A Cece Caruso Mystery
  Author: Kandel, Susan
  Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060581050 Date: 2004
  Kirkus
  Susan Kandel has written an adventurous, humorous debut novel that takes us on a well-researched romp through California's past and present, complete with turn-of-the-century robber barons and the haute couture of the '40s."--Barbara Seranella ( Unpaid Dues and Unwilling Accomplice).
  Suggested Reading: Debuts
  Updated 3.25.04
• The Hundredth Man
  Author: Kerley, Jack
  Publisher: Dutton $ 23.95 ISBN: 052594821x Date: 2004
  BooklistKirkusLJ
  Recalling Michael Connelly's taut storytelling and James Patterson's searing narrative twists, Kerley creates a world where heroes can't succeed without madmen, and the dead are the most dangerous of all.
  Link: The Hundredth Man web site
  Suggested Reading: Psycho Killers | Serial Killers | Debuts
  Updated 4.20.04

Books for Kids, Teens & Readers of All Ages

• B for Buster
  Author: Lawrence, Iain
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: 0385730861 Date: 2004
  KirkusKliatt
  In this gripping story, 16-year-old Kak dreams of flying with the Allied bombers in World War II. Underage but desperate to escape his abusive parents, he enlists in the Canadian Air Force and is soon sent to a squadron in England. But he does not expect the experience to be as harrowing as it becomes.
  Grades: 7-9 Category: Fiction | Historical
  
• Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady
  Author: Meyer, L.A.
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 17 ISBN: 0152051155
  BooklistKirkus
  In this follow up to Bloody Jack, May "Jacky" Faber is forced to leave the "Dolphin" after being exposed and attend an elite school for girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a lady.
  Grades: 7-12 Category: Fiction | Historical | Action & Adventure