Editor’s Choice
Ghost, by Alan Lightman, $23. In this smartly paced novel from the author of “Einstein’s Dreams,” a divorced, former banker witnesses a supernatural event, inspiring him to continue the “search for something” that has hovered in the back of his mind throughout his life.
Publishers Weekly
FICTION
Book of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell, $26.95. Soon after relocating to Charleston, S.C., to launch a private forensics lab, Kay Scarpetta is asked to consult on the murder of U.S. tennis star Drew Martin, whose mutilated body was found in Rome.
Publishers Weekly
Awake in the Dark, by Shira Nayman, $24. Nayman’s debut collection sees the children of Holocaust victims and participants coming to terms with family secrets. Her edifying lessons will appeal to readers looking for insight on the tortured choices imposed by Nazism.
Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible’s Harlot Queen, by Lesley Hazleton, $24.95. Replete with apt comparisons to modern Middle Eastern conflicts, this revisionist portrait is equal parts fun and sobering – a colorful history lesson that’s sorely needed.
Publishers Weekly
Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu, by Laurence Bergreen, $28.95. Drawing on original writings and walking in the footsteps of Marco Polo himself, Bergreen’s book is the most definitive biography of the legendary traveler to date, separating the man from his considerable myth.
Publishers Weekly
Vanishing America: In Pursuit of Our Elusive Landscapes, by James Conaway, $24.95. In these perceptive essays, Conaway (“The Far Side of Eden”) shows how development and tourism are laying waste to America’s natural and cultural landscapes.
Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACKS
The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly, $15. Thriller writer Connolly (“Every Dead Thing”) turns from criminal fears to primal fears in this enchanting novel about a 12- year-old English boy, David, who is thrust into a realm where eternal stories and fairy tales assume an often gruesome reality.
Publishers Weekly
Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945, by Evan Thomas, $15. Thomas, Newsweek’s assistant managing editor, turns his considerable narrative and research talents to Leyte Gulf, history’s largest and most complex naval battle. He addresses the subject from the perspectives of four officers.
Publishers Weekly
The American West, Second Edition: A Modern History, 1900 to the Present, by Richard Etulain and Michael P. Malone. A fair and far-reaching synthesis. It is clearly the best single volume available on its subject. Malone and Etulain treat difficult topics in evenhanded and often insightful fashion.
Publishers Weekly
COMING UP
His Illegal Self, by Peter Carey, $25. The story of Che – raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, he is the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late ’60s. (February)
Doomsday Men: The Real Dr. Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon, by Peter D. Smith, $27.95. Smith discusses how scientists responsible for the 20th century’s most destructive bombs grew up in a culture dreaming of superweapons. (December)
The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz, $27. Amy is a dog rescuer who is unprepared for the bond that forms between her and Nickie, a female golden retriever. When the stakes are life and death, Amy and Nickie realize just how far each will go for the other. (November)
