EDITOR’SCHOICE
American Cream by Catherine Tudish, $24
Tudish returns to the rural Pennsylvania depicted in her debut story collection, “Tenney’s Landing,” in this restrained novel about a woman reconnecting with her past. Readers who enjoyed the story collection will appreciate this return journey.|Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Dizzy City by Nicholas Griffin, $24.95|Traumatized by his experiences on the Western front, small-time grifter Ben Cramb deserts the British army in 1916 and stows away on a ship headed who knows where. He lands in dirty, sprawling, booming New York City.|Library Journal
The Assassin’s Song by M.J. Vassanji, $25|The tension between India’s centuries-old spiritual traditions and contemporary religious militancy drives this memorable, melancholy family saga by two-time Canadian Giller Prize-winner Vassanji (“The Book of Secrets” and “The In-Between World of Vikram Lall”).|Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America, $24.95 by author|In a dazzling new biography, noted historian Fernández-Armesto (Columbus) captures the exploits of the now mostly forgotten adventurer for whom the New World was named.|Publishers Weekly
In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce, $26|Here is an introspective study of the realities of modern India, the world’s largest democracy and a country arguably poised to rival China and America as a global player. |Library Journal
Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T. E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the Seeds of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Ronald Florence, $27.95|In this dual biography of two key figures in Middle Eastern history, Florence (“Blood Libel”) grounds the clash of Arab and Jewish nationalisms in the Ottoman Empire’s collapse during WWI.|Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
The Ruins by Scott Smith, $7.99|Once again, Smith (“A Simple Plan”) deftly explores psychological tension and insidious fears. Fans of Alex Garland’s “The Beach” and Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” won’t be able to put this one down.|Library Journal
The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens, $13.95|Behrens’ impressive, swiftly paced saga tracks the life of an Irish boy after his family dies during the Great Potato Famine. |The New Yorker
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (further updated) by Thomas L. Friedman, $16|Friedman nicely sums up the explosion of digital-technology advances during the past 15 years and places the phenomenon in its global context. He never shrinks from the biggest problems and the thorniest issues.|Business Week
Coming up
NOVEMBER
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin, $23|The acclaimed writer and stand-up comedian tells his own story … as only he can.
SEPTEMBER
Songs Without Words by Ann Packer, $24.95|From the author of “The Dive From Clausen’s Pier” comes a story of a lifelong friendship that is greatly tested by a harrowing crisis.
DECEMBER
Hand of Evil by J.A. Jance, $25.95|Newswoman Ali Reynolds flees L.A. for emotional reasons and finds herself all wrapped up in the grisly death of a real estate tycoon in her old Arizona hometown.
