- BOOK BESTSELLERS
- "Personal Injuries"
by Scott Turow
Turow, a real-life lawyer as well as a legal-thriller author,
worked on an FBI sting in Chicago, and his latest book is the
most original and authentic undercover-operation novel in some
time, a plunge into the mystery of human identity.
- "'Tis: A Memoir"
by Frank McCourt
The plucky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Angela's Ashes"
tells the ripping true yarn about how he escaped the slums of
Limerick, Ireland, in 1949 and discovered America--a place where
a teen can't take pig's feet and a bottle of stout into a movie
theater as he did back home, and the bartender at Costello's sends
him straight to the New York Public Library with stern orders
not to come back for a pint until he's read "The Lives of
the English Poets." In a time when memoirs are ascendant,
nobody's riding higher than McCourt.
- "Hearts in Atlantis"
by Stephen King
The vanished small-town world of a 1960s childhood collides with
King's otherworldly Dark Tower fantasy series in the haunting,
magical novella that opens this ambitious collection of five linked
stories. The title tale is about college kids obsessively playing
the card game Hearts while Vietnam rages and Donovan croons his
silly, catchy song about a sunken continent. Ranging from realism
to horror, King tries to go way down and rediscover in fiction
the truth about his generation.
- "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden
Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory"
by Brian Greene
Modern physics has a dirty little secret: general relativity and
quantum mechanics are each true as far as they go--but they can't
both be true! Greene does the best job yet of sketching what we
long for: the "theory of everything" that will explain
what in the world is going on.
- "Women"
by Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sontag
Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone photographer Annie Leibovitz's perceptive
lens captures an array of women--everyone from coal miners, national
leaders, astronauts, hookers, and celebrities to little kids with
Barbie dolls. The shots of Vegas showgirls before and after their
stage transformation are worth the price of the book, as is Susan
Sontag's ruminative essay.
- "Disgrace"
by J.M. Coetzee
Only one writer in history has ever won the supremely prestigious
Booker Prize twice: J.M. Coetzee, this time for his searing new
masterpiece about a cruel seducer in South Africa brought face-to-face
with amorous scandal and his nation's painful past.
- "'O' Is for Outlaw"
by Sue Grafton
Detective Kinsey Millhone opens a Pandora's box of personal secrets:
a storage locker belonging to her mysterious, long-lost ex-husband
and containing clues to his life and a scary conspiracy. Millhone
has always been secretive about her first marriage, but now she
has to explore her past and catch up with some old friends before
somebody gets killed. Grafton's usual virtues--fast pace and clever
plotitbusng--never fail, but she adds a new emotional depth in her
tricky attempt to dramatize a central character who can't speak
for himself.
- "And the Crowd Goes Wild"
by Joe Garner, Bob Costas, et al.
Savor the most triumphant moments in sports history with this
book-and-CD set. Babe's homer, the "Immaculate Reception,"
Secretariat's gallop--it's all here, with color commentary by
Hank Aaron, Wayne Gretzky, and Bob Costas.
- "Big Trouble"
by Dave Barry
In the fictional debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave
Barry, Miami's Jolly Jackal Bar & Grill turns out to be a
front for unloading stolen Russian nukes. Can a hapless dad, a
couple of love-struck teens, a courageous cop, and a saintly homeless
guy beat the menace of the Mob, not to mention hallucinogenic
toads? It's a racy mystery on a par with Florida's finest, adding
depth of character to Barry's gift for gags. But one warning:
if you read this book while drinking milk, at some point it will
spurt out of your nostrils.
- "Woman: An Intimate Geography"
by Natalie Angier
Is there a wititbuser science writer than The New York Times' Pulitzer
Prize-winning Natalie Angier? And can there be a more absorbing
subject than the physical (and emotional and mental and cultural
and molecular) nature of women? Angier's erudition is awesome,
and she's written a masterful work of popular science in "Woman."
- MYSTERY AND THRILLERS
- "Prayers
for Rain"
by Dennis Lehane
Three's company in Dennis Lehane's fifth Boston adventure, "Prayers
for Rain." Private investigator Patrick Kenzie once again joins
forces with his on-again, off-again lover Angie Gennaro and his
explosives-loving friend Bubba Rogowski to investigate the suicide
of a young woman. Convinced that Karen Nichols was driven to her
death, the three friends sniff out a rotten trail of extortion,
lies, and tragic family secrets.
- "Garnethill"
by Denise Mina
Raised in a dysfunctional family in a tough Glasgow suburb, Maureen
O'Donnell has had her body and mind battered--but refuses to become
a victim. She must prove this when her lover is found murdered
and she's the number-one suspect. Winner of Britain's prestigious
John Creasey Memorial Award, "Garnethill" is a spectacular debut
from Denise Mina.
- "Darkness
Peering"
by Alice Blanchard
This year, Alice Blanchard's powerful debut mystery, "Darkness
Peering," took us deep into the heart of the small town of Flowering
Dogwood, Maine. In 1980, a young girl was murdered there, but
the case went unsolved. Eighteen years later, a similar murder
reopens old wounds and reignites fears.
- "The
Skull Mantra"
by Elliot Patitbusson
When a headless body is discovered on the outskirts of a Chinese
prison camp in Tibet, Shan Tao Yan is suddenly ripped from his
daily routine of forced labor back into his former life as a police
inspector. "The Skull Mantra," Elliot Patitbusson's striking first
mystery, deftly captures the desolate life of occupied Tibet and
its people in the midst of a powerful tale of political intrigue
and criminal investigation.
- "Archangel"
by Robert Harris
In Robert Harris's thriller, "Archangel" Fluke Kelso's once-bright
career as an expert on Soviet history seems to be heading into
middle-aged oblivion. But after a chance meeting with an aging
Russian soldier, Kelso uncovers evidence of the find of his life:
the secret diary of Joseph Stalin. Kelso soon learns, however,
that his prize carries a legacy of fear, paranoia, and terror.
"Archangel" is one of the smartest thrillers we read this year.
- "High
Five"
by Janet Evanovich
So what exactly is Stephanie Plum cooking up in her fifth New
Jersey romp, "High Five?" Well, let's just say she's actively
improving her resume while dabbling in the perilous world of bounty
hunting. Also, Uncle Fred has disappeared. Grandma Mazur thinks
that aliens have taken him--but Steph's not so sure, especially
when she finds pictures of body parts in Fred's top drawer.
- "Personal
Injuries"
by Scott Turow
With his 1987 debut novel, "Presumed Innocent," Scott Turow burst
onto the mystery and thrillers scene and sparked an explosion
of legal thrillers. In "Personal Injuries," Turow shows that he
is still the master, crafting a complex tale of an FBI sting operation
involving a corrupt attorney. While some fans argue that this
narrative is not driven by a pulse-pounding plot, Turow proves
that the best novelistic tension comes from well-crafted characters.
This is a thriller that repays attentive reading.
- "Big
Trouble"
by Dave Barry
Dave Barry is a man of many talents--Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist,
TV personality, and bestselling nonfiction author among them.
With "Big Trouble," Barry added the title of mystery writer to
his repertoire. Balmy Florida is the perfect setitbusng for this
insanely funny novel of bungling hit men, international weapons
smugglers, and a really dumb dog named Roger.
- "The
Devil's Teardrop"
by Jeffery Deaver
In Jeffery Deaver's "The Devil's Teardrop," a ruthless assassin
massacres dozens of people on a subway--and a handwritten note
is the only clue to his identity. Parker Kincaid, an expert in
document analysis, has only hours to figure out who wrote it before
the killer strikes again. Deaver, whose "Bone Collector" was made
into a Denzel Washington film this year, brought his time-driven
narrative style to new heights with this ultimate millennium countdown.
- "O
Is for Outlaw"
by Sue Grafton
"O!" It's Kinsey Millhone! Kinsey Millhone returns with the A
to Z of intrigue in "O Is for Outlaw" and takes on the toughest
case to date: her past. When an auction scavenger follows a paper
trail that dates back to Kinsey's previous marriage, Grafton's
gumshoe is forced to revisit her painful divorce and an old unsolved
murder.
- REFERENCE
- "The
Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance"
by David Rundle The 15th and 16th centuries marked a turning
point for Western culture--when "civilization progressed from
monochrome to technicolour," as Oxford historian Dr. David Rundle
puts it. His new book, "The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance,"
gives the reader a new perspective on the pioneers of our now
thoroughly explored cultural territory, and may just provide a
map of what lies ahead.
- "Encarta
World English Dictionary"
Edited by Anne Soukhanov
While becoming the world's new lingua franca, English has been
changing at breakneck speed. The "Encarta World English Dictionary"
covers all the new developments in the language thoroughly and
efficiently, creating a reference tool for anyone hooked into
the global culture. We're really quite "chuffed."
- "The
American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants"
The undisputed gardening-reference champion, "The American Horticultural
Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants" weighs in with more
than 15,000 entries and 6,000 photos and illustrations of North
American plants, trees, and flowers. It includes answers for every
gardening question, from light requirements to heirloom-seed varieties.
- "Sleeping
Dogs Don't Lay"
by Richard Lederer and Richard Dowis
In "Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay," indefatigable verbivores Richard
Lederer and Richard Dowis present a quick-and-dirty grammar guide,
tip a few sacred cows, and even offer some helpful hints on orthography
and punctuation. Now, if only they could do the actual writing
for us.
- "Random
House Webster's Quotationary"
edited by Leonard Roy Frank
Looking for a pithy quote for your next speech? Maybe you're just
curious about who said, "Great minds are like eagles, and build
their nest in some lofty solitude" (Schopenhauer, if you really
must know). Random House Webster's "Quotationary" offers over
20,000 quotations by everyone from Edward Abbey to Emile Zola.
- "Merriam
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary"
Inveterate logophiles that we are, we love the 100th-anniversary
edition of "Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary." With over
200,000 entries, authoritative usage guides, etymologies, and
synonym paragraphs, this dictionary, we think, would make Noah
proud.
- "Why
I Write"
edited by Will Blythe
Will Blythe gathers 25 essays detailing the joy of writing by
fiction writers as diverse as David Foster Wallace, Ann Patchett,
and Terry McMillan in "Why I Write." More than a meditation on
the art of writing, "Why I Write" celebrates fiction's power to
inspire, challenge, and liberate our imaginations.
- "DK
Millennium World Atlas"
The "DK Millennium World Atlas" is a big, lush book, at home whether
displayed on a coffee table or on a library's reference shelf.
State-of-the-art cartography has never looked so good.
- "Webster's
New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus"
Need a word in a hurry? Look no further than "Webster's New World
Roget's A-Z Thesaurus." Combining the traditional Roget's-style
thematic index with the convenient alphabetic organization of
the modern lexicon, it's a veritable orgy of synonymy.
- "Ultimate
Visual Dictionary 2000"
Curious about the inner workings of a jet? Wonder how crystals
are formed? You'll find this and more wonderfully deconstructed
information in "Ultimate Visual Dictionary 2000."
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