The January/February 2002 Book Sense 76 Preview

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I know you can barely bear to think about 2002 right now, but I do hope you can take one moment in this hectic holiday season and get a little re-energized by the thought of a lot of gems coming first thing in the New Year! Great midlist for us to sell!

In fact, it's the highest number of books I can recall coming out in the first two weeks of the 76 time span in question, and I apologize in advance. I kept them to a minimum, AND a few publishers moved up shipping schedules for us to get them out earlier.

-Carl


1. THE PASSION OF ARTEMISIA, by Susan Vreeland (Viking, $24.95, 0670894494; in stores Jan. 14) Also a Penguin Audio (1565115252)

2. SHOOTING DR. JACK, by Norman Green (HarperCollins $25, 0060188227)

3. DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT: An African Childhood, by Alexandra Fuller (Random House, $24.95, 0375507507)

4. THE JAZZ BIRD, by Craig Holden (Simon & Schuster, $25, 0743212967) Also S&S Audio (0743520351)

5. HELL'S BOTTOM, COLORADO: Stories, by Laura Pritchett (Milkweed, $14.95 paper, 1571310363)

6. SERVANTS OF THE MAP: Stories, by Andrea Barrett, (Norton, $24.95, 0393043487; in stores early Jan.)

7. THE LAKE OF DEAD LANGUAGES, by Carol Goodman (Ballantine, $23.95, 0345450884; in stores Jan. 2)

8. BLACKWATER SOUND, by James Hall (St. Martin's/ Minotaur, $24.95, 0312203845) Also a Nova Audio (1587888947)

9. FAST FOOD NATION: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser (Perennial, $13.95 paper, 0060938455; in stores Jan. 8)

10. WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE: A Novel, by Tess Uriza Holthe (Crown, $24.95, 0609609521; in stores Jan. 9)

African-American

EVERY TONGUE GOT TO CONFESS: Negro Folktales from the Gulf States, by Zora Neale Hurston (HarperCollins, $25, 0060188936) Also a Harper Audio (0694526452)

Business

JUMP START YOUR BUSINESS BRAIN: Win More, Lose Less, and Make More Money, by Doug Hall (F&W, $24.99, 1558706070)

Children's Literature

BREAKING THROUGH, by Francisco Jimenez (Houghton Mifflin, $15, 0618011730)

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY, by Janet Tashjian (Holt, $16.95, 0805063781)

JOURNEY TO THE RIVER SEA, by Eva Ibbotson; illus. by Kevin Hawkes (Dutton, $17.99, 0525467394; in stores early Jan.) For ages 9-12.

Caring for Our Children

TERRORISM AND KIDS: Comforting Your Child, by Fern Reiss (Peanut Butter & Jelly Press, $14.95 paper, 1893290093)

Two Fiction Rediscoveries

AUNTIE MAME, by Patrick Dennis; intro. by Paul Rudnick (Broadway, $12.95 paper, 0767908198)

THE LAST CONVERTIBLE, by Anton Myrer (HarperCollins, $7.50 paper, 0380819597)

New Fiction in Paperback

AMONG THE MISSING, by Dan Chaon (Ballantine, $12.95 paper, 0345441613; in stores Jan. 29)

BLUE RIDGE, by T.R. Pearson (Penguin, $13 paper, 0141002166)

A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT, by Cynthia Thayer (Griffin, $12.95 paper, 0312275641)

THE DEATH OF VISHNU, by Manil Suri (Perennial, $13.95 paper, 006000438X)

A HEART OF STONE, by Renate Dorrestein (Penguin, $13, 014200023X; due in Jan.)

THE HIDING PLACE, by Trezza Azzopardi (Grove, $13 paper, 0802138594)

IN OUR STRANGE GARDENS, by Michel Quint (Riverheard, $12.95 paper, 1573229164)

LA CUCINA: A Novel of Rapture, by Lily Prior (Ecco, $13 paper, 0060953691)

MARTYR'S CROSSING, by Amy Wilentz (Ballantine, $14 paper, 0345449835; in stores Jan. 2)

THE LUCKY GOURD SHOP, by Joanna Catherine Scott (Washington Square Press, $13 paper, 0743437357)

THE MINERAL PALACE, by Heidi Julavits (Berkley, $14 paper, 0425179826)

MONEY, LOVE: A Novel, by Brad Barkley (Norton, $13 paper, 0393322181)

PRINCE OF THE CLOUDS, by Gianni Riotta (Picador, $13 paper, 0312420153)

SOMETIMES I DREAM IN ITALIAN, by Rita Ciresi (Delta, $ 12.95 paper, 038533494X)

SOUL MOUNTAIN, by Gao Xingjian (Perennial, $15 paper, 0060936231)

TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG, by Peter Carey (Vintage, $14 paper, 0375724672)

THE WHITE MAN IN THE TREE: And Other Stories, by Mark Kurlansky (Washington Square Press, $13 paper, 0671036068

Featured Authors

Two authors writing fiction that blurs the line between myth and history

Gregory Maguire

  • LOST (Regan Books, $26, 0060393823)
  • And those first two books? Both in paper and both building a VERY big following: CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER (Regan, $15 paper, 0060987529) and WICKED: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Regan, $15 paper, 0060987103).

Diana Gabaldon

  • THE OUTLANDER SAGA-Books 1-4, all $14.95 paperbacks from Delta: OUTLANDER (0385319959), DRAGONFLY IN AMBER (0385335970), VOYAGER (0385335997), DRUMS OF AUTUMN (0385335989). All available on cassette and CD from Random House Audiobooks
  • THE FIERY CROSS, by Diana Gabaldon (Delacorte, $27.95, 0385315279) Also Random House Audio (0553528610; CD, 0553714473)

New Fiction in Hardcover

CAPTAIN SATURDAY, by Robert Inman (Little Brown, $24.95, 0316415022; in stores Jan.)

CONFESSIONS OF A PAGAN NUN: A Novel, by Kate Horsley (Shambhala, $19.95, 1570627193)

THE DEVIL'S LARDER, Jim Crace (Farrar, $20, 0374138591)

ERASURE, by Percival Everett (University Press of New England, $24.95, 1584650907)

GOOD AS ANY: Stories, by Timothy Westmoreland (Harcourt, $24, 0151008523; in stores early Jan.)

HIGHWIRE MOON, by Susan Straight (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618056149)

HIMALAYAN DHABA, by Craig Joseph Danner (Crispin/Hammer Pub., $24, 0970640595)

LA TOUR DREAMS OF THE WOLF GIRL, by David Huddle (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618081739; in stores Jan. 4)

THE LAST CANYON, by John Vernon (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618109404)

A LIFE WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES, by Stephen Elliott (MacAdam/Cage, $25, 0967370175)

THE LOVE OF STONES, by Tobias Hill (Picador, $25, 0312287739; in stores Jan.)

PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DOES, by Alison Clement (MacAdam/Cage, $25, 0967370191)

THE SAVAGE GIRL, by Alex Shakar (HarperCollins, $26, 0066209870)

THE SIEGE, by Helen Dunmore (Grove, $24, 0802117007; in stores Jan. 9)

SILENT WOMEN, by Susan Dodd (Morrow, $25, 0688170005)

SPARROWHAWK: Book One: Jack Frake, by Edward Cline (MacAdam/Cage, $25, 1931561001)

SPILLING CLARENCE, by Anne Ursu (Theia, $22.95, 0786867787)

UNDRESSING THE MOON, by T. Greenwood (St. Martin's, $23.95, 031228473X)

A novel that independent booksellers are talking a lot about is due out Jan. 28: THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd.

Inspiration

BIRDBATHS AND PAPER CRANES: A Family Tale, by Sharon Randall (Sleeping Bear Press, $18.95, 1585360775)

Memoir and History

BRUNELLESCHI'S DOME, by Ross King (Penguin, $13 paper, 0142000159)

DEATH AT THE PRIORY: Sex, Love, and Murder in Victorian England, by James Ruddick (Atlantic Monthly, $24, 0871138328)

MRS. KENNEDY: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, by Barbara Leaming (Free Press, $25, 0684862093)

THE PEDDLER'S GRANDSON: Growing Up Jewish in Mississippi, by Edward Cohen (Delta, $12.95 paper, 0385335911; in stores Jan. 2)

SALT: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky (Walker, $28, 0802713734)

THE SECRET PARTS OF FORTUNE: Three Decades of Intense Investigations and Edgy Enthusiasms, by Ron Rosenbaum (Perennial, $18 paper, 0060934468)

SPREZZATURA: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World, by Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish (Anchor, $14 paper, 038572019X)

STILL WATERS, by Jennifer Lauck (Pocket, $24, 0743439651 Also an S&S audio (0743509951)

WITTGENSTEIN'S POKER: The Story of a 10-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers, by David Edmonds and John Eidinow (Ecco, $24, 0066212448)

Mysteries

THE FALLS: An Inspector Rebus Novel, by Ian Rankin (St. Martin's, $24.95, 0312206100

Science

E=Mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation, by David Bodanis (Berkley, $14 paper, 0425181642)

MEMOIRS: A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics, by Edward Teller (Perseus, $25, 073820532X)

THE NEPTUNE FILE: A Story of Astronomic Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting, by Tom Standage (Berkley, $14 paper, 0425181731)

Come travel with us, without leaving home

BROOKLYN: A State of Mind, ed. by Michael Robbins and Wendy Palitz

FOOD FOR THE DEAD: On the Trail of New England's Vampires, by Michael Bell (Carroll & Graf, $26, 0786708999)

HIPPOLYTE'S ISLAND, by Barbara Hodgson (Chronicle, $24.95, 0811828921)

LOOKING FOR ALASKA, by Peter Jenkins (St. Martin's, $25.95, 0312261780)

ROWING TO LATITUDE: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, by Jill Fredston (North Point, $24, 0374281807)