overbooked.com or overbooked.org

Featured Titles

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 frequently listed.

September 2007

Nonfiction

• Brother, I'm Dying
  Author: Danticat, Edwidge
  Publisher: Knopf $ 23.95 ISBN: 9781400041152 Date: 2007
  Booklist LJ PW
  From the best-selling author of The Dew Breaker comes a major work of nonfiction: a powerfully moving family story that centers around the men closest to her heart--her father, Mira, and his older brother, Joseph.
  Updated 7.11.07
  
• The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
  Author: Halberstam, David
  Publisher: Hyperion $ 35 ISBN: 9781401300524 Date: 2007
  Kirkus Booklist
  Halberstam uses his unrivaled research and formidable journalistic skills to shed light on another dark corner in history: the Korean War. He provides a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculation on both sides, culminating with the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, which catches Douglas MacArthurs forces by surprise.
  Updated 7.11.07
• Who Named the Knife: A Book of Murder and Memory
  Author: Spalding, Linda
  Publisher: Pantheon $ 23.95 ISBN: 9780375424762 Date: 2007
  PW
  Like the work of John Ruskin, Spalding's writing brilliantly combines autobiography with the examination of a sensational murder case, and, in doing so, offers readers profound insights into the vagaries of the human heart.
  Updated 6.4.07

Fiction

• Garden Spells
  Author: Allen, Sarah Addison
  Publisher: Bantam $ 20 ISBN: 9780553805482 Date: 2007
  Booklist LJ
  Debut author Allen delivers an enchanting novel that casts a spell called sisterhood on a small town and on every reader who encounters it.
  Updated 8.7.07
  
• Away
  Author: Bloom, Amy
  Publisher: Random $ 23.95 ISBN: 9781400063567 Date: 2007
  Kirkus PW
  In this brilliant new novel, which is at once heartbreaking, romantic, and completely unforgettable, Bloom pens the epic and intimate story of young Lillian Leyb, who after her family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom comes to America alone, determined to make her way in a new land.
  Updated 6.27.07
• An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England
  Author: Clarke, Brock
  Publisher: Algonquin $ 24.95 ISBN: 9781565125513 Date: 2007
  KirkusPW
  This is a sad, funny, absurd, and incredibly moving novel. Its comic mournfulness, its rigorous, breakneck narrative, delight. . . . Clarke [has] given us a wonderful book about life, literature, and the anxieties of their influence.
  Updated 5.11.07
• The Brief Wonderous LIfe of Oscar Wao
  Author: Diaz, Junot
  Publisher: Riverhead $ 24.95 ISBN: 9781594489587 Date: 2007
  Kirkus Booklist
  The long-awaited--and thrillingly satisfying, genuinely original--first novel from the unmistakable voice behind the story collection Drown.
  Updated 7.11.07
• Engleby
  Author: Faulks, Sebastian
  Publisher: Doubleday $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780385524056 Date: 2007
  PW
  Bestselling British author Faulks reinvents the unreliable narrator with his singular, haunting creation Mike Engleby, who leads the reader down an unclear and often darkly humorous path where one is never completely comfortable or confident about what is true.
  Updated 7.16.07
• Driven
  Author: Kenin, Eve
  Publisher: Shomi $ 6.99 ISBN: 9780505527097 Date: 2007
  PW
  Raina Bowen is in the race for her life, battling rival truckers, ice pirates, and a deadly maniac with a very personal vendetta. And the gorgeous guy whos hijacked her co-pilot's seat isn't helping by seducing her with every glance.
  Updated 8.7.07
  
• The Whale Road
  Author: Low, Robert
  Publisher: Thomas Dunne $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780312361945 Date: 2007
  LJ
  A band of brothers, committed only to each other, rides the waves, fighting for the highest bidder, treading the whale road in search of legendary relics.
  Robert Low has written a stunning epic, a remarkable debut novel. Not only a compelling narrative, The Whale Road also brings a new Viking landscape stretching from Scotland through the Baltic and on to Istanbul. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 8.7.07
  
• Baltimore: Or the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire
  Author: Mignola, Mike and Christopher Golden
  Publisher: Spectra $ 25 ISBN: 9780553804713 Date: 2007
  Booklist
  Reminiscent of the illustrated tales of old, here is a lyrical, atmospheric novel of the paranormal--and a chilling allegory for the nature of war. When Lord Henry Baltimore awakens the wrath of a vampire on the hellish battlefields of World War I, the world is forever changed.
  Updated 8.20.07
  

Crime Fiction

• Heartsick
  Author: Cain, Chelsea
  Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 9780312368463 Date: 2007
  Booklist PW LJ
  Cain's novel is completely entrancing and totally original--what a read. Between the humanity of Portland cop Archie Sheridan and the chilling and twisted design of his beautiful nemesis, Gretchen Lowell, Heartsick is utterly unforgettable.
  Updated 8.20.07
  
• Agnes and the Hitman
  Author: Crusie, Jennifer and Bob Mayer
  Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780312363048 Date: 2007
  Booklist LJ
  Take one food writer named Cranky Agnes, add a hitman named Shane, mix them together with a Southern mob wedding and a missing necklace, and the result is a sexy, hilarious adventure from the bestselling author team of Crusie and Mayer.
  Updated 8.1.07
  
• Snitch Jacket
  Author: Goffard, Christopher
  Publisher: Overlook $ 24.95 ISBN: 9781585679546 Date: 2007
  PW
  Combining elements of classic noir, dark comedy, and a misfits memoir reminiscent of Notes from the Underground, Goffard brings life to the darker side of West Coast counter-culture, in a literary crime novel that will delight readers.
  Updated 8.20.07
  
• The Shotgun Rule
  Author: Huston, Charlie
  Publisher: Ballantine $ 21.95 ISBN: 9780345481351 Date: 2007
  PW
  The first stand-alone thriller by critically acclaimed author Charlie Huston, The Shotgun Rule is a raw tale of four teenage friends who go looking for a little trouble– and find it. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 8.1.07
• Tree of Smoke
  Author: Johnson, Denis
  Publisher: FSG $ 27.50 ISBN: 9780374279127 Date: 2007
  PW Booklist LJ
  This book chronicles the story of Skip Sands--spy-in-training, whos engaged in psychological operations against the Vietcong--and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel.
  Updated 8.20.07
• False Fortune: Pinnacle Peaks
  Author: Phelan, Twist
  Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 9781590583630 Date: 2007
  Business attorney Hannah Dain is in such deep water not even her trusty kayak can keep her afloat. A trip to an abandoned uranium mine with her sister Shelby turns into a daring lake rescue. Then Hannah is appointed lead counsel in Shelby's pollution case on behalf of the local Indian tribe against the Fedsa case that some people will do anything to keep out of the courtroom. When things seem as if they cant get any stranger, a recently discovered family member shows up on Hannahs doorstep.
  Updated 8.20.07
  
• The Reincarnationist
  Author: Rose, M.J.
  Publisher: Mira $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780778324201 Date: 2007
  LJ PW
  A bomb erupts in Rome and photojournalist Josh Ryder's world will never be the same. As he recovers, his mind is invaded by emotionally intense and vivid memories--but they are not "his" memories.
  Updated 7.9.07

Books for Kids, Teens & Readers of All Ages

Age and grade designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used.

• The Land of Silver Apples
  Author: Farmer, Nancy
  Publisher: Atheneum $ 18.99 ISBN: 9781416907350 Date: 2007
  Kirkus SLJ
  In this long-awaited sequel to The Sea of Trolls, National Book Award winner and Newbery Honor author Farmer continues the story of Jack, a bard-in-training in 790 A.D. Britain. When he learns that his sister Lucy has been stolen by the Lady of the Lake, Jack must brave his worst nightmares.
  Ages: 10+
  Updated 7.31.2007
• The Entertainer and the Dybubuk
  Author: Fleishchman, Sid
  Publisher: Greenwillow $ 16.99 ISBN: 9780061344459 Date: 2007
  Kirkus SLJ
  The Newbery Medal-winning author of The Whipping Boy tells a moving and distinguished story set in post-World War II Europe about an American soldier possessed by the spirit of a dybbuk, who sets out to find the Nazi officer who murdered his family.
  Ages: 9-13
  Updated 7.31.2007
• Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity
  Author: Willems, Mo
  Publisher: Hyperion $ 16.99 ISBN: 9781423102991 Date: 2007
  Kirkus PW SLJ
  This stunning follow-up to the Caldecott Honor-winning Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale begins as Trixie excitedly takes her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to school to show her friends. However, an awful surprise awaits her.
  Ages: 4-8
  Updated 7.31.2007