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August 14, 2012

August 14, 2012

The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of August 13th and August 20th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.

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On Sale the Week of August 13th in Hardcover


August 14th

AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD by Laura Lippman
Heloise is a suburban madam who lives the life of “every mom” with soccer games and homework in between the hours where she runs her business and has her own customers, who spend time with her for a price. Life seems safe for her until another suburban madam is found dead, and suddenly the life she has built starts to feel a lot less secure.
William Morrow * 9780061706875

THE HEADMASTER’S WAGER by Vincent Lam
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English school in Saigon. He is also a bon vivant, a compulsive gambler, and an incorrigible womanizer. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, choosing instead to read the faces of his opponents at high-stakes mah-jongg tables. But when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth.
Hogarth * 9780307986467

THE INN AT ROSE HARBOR by Debbie Macomber
Jo Marie Rose arrives in the Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove seeking peace and a fresh start after the death of her husband. She purchases a local bed-and-breakfast, yet the inn holds more surprises than Jo Marie can imagine. Joshua Weaver, who has come to care for his ailing stepfather, and Abby Kincaid, who is back in town for her brother's wedding, are among the cast of characters who find love, forgiveness and renewal behind the doors of the Rose Harbor Inn.
Ballantine Books * 9780345528926

THE KINGMAKER’S DAUGHTER by Philippa Gregory
THE KINGMAKER'S DAUGHTER is the gripping story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker,” Richard, Earl of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in 15th-century England. Without a son and heir, he uses his two daughters as pawns in the political games, and they grow up to be influential players in their own right.
Touchstone * 9781451626070

MOTHERLAND by Amy Sohn
It’s just before Labor Day, and five mothers and fathers in Cape Cod, Park Slope and Greenwich Village find themselves adrift professionally and personally. As their stories intersect in surprising ways and their deceptions spiral out of control, they begin to question their beliefs about family, happiness and themselves.
Simon & Schuster * 9781439158494

THE SECOND EMPRESS: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by Michelle Moran
In THE SECOND EMPRESS, Michelle Moran brings us into the lives of the women who knew Napoleon best: Hortense Beauharnais, his stepdaughter from wife Joséphine's previous marriage; Pauline Bonaparte, his infamous and promiscuous sister with whom he likely had an affair; and Marie-Louise, the Austrian wife who cannot wait to be free of him.
Crown * 9780307953032

SHAKE OFF by Mischa Hiller
Intelligence operative Michel Khoury has one mission: the peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict that upended his life. As his relationship with Helen, a pretty English girl, develops, he is unable to tell her about his past --- or the collection of passports and unmarked bills he's concealed in the bathroom they share. When Michel's secrets turn deadly, they find themselves on the run from the very people they thought they could trust.
Mulholland Books * 9780316204200

THE ST. ZITA SOCIETY by Ruth Rendell
Life for the residents and servants of Hexam Place appears placid and orderly on the outside: drivers take their employers to and from work, dogs are walked, flowers are planted in gardens, and Christmas candles lit uniformly in windows. But beneath this tranquil veneer, the upstairs-downstairs relationships are set to combust.
Scribner * 9781451666687

WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE by Maria Semple
Bernadette Fox has disappeared. It began when her daughter, Bee, aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle --- and people in general --- has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents and secret correspondence.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316204279

On Sale the Week of August 13th in Paperback

August 14th

CLOSE YOUR EYES by Amanda Eyre Ward
For most of her life, Lauren Mahdian has been certain of two things: that her mother is dead, and that her father is a murderer. But startling revelations now force her to peek under the floorboards of her carefully constructed memories, put aside the version of history that she has clung to so fiercely, and search for the truth of what really happened that fateful night long ago.
Ballantine Books * 9780345494498

FOR A TIME SUCH AS THIS: A Women of Hope Novel by Ginny Aiken
When drought has forced farmers in Bountiful, Oregon, to mortgage their property, wealthy families decide to buy farmland cheap, then sell to the railroad for a profit. Eli Whitman is one of those people. But when Olivia Moore --- who works for, then marries Eli --- is told her family must move according to Eli's terms, she fears for their safety. Will Olivia be able to convince her husband otherwise and save her family?
FaithWords * 9780892968480

THE GOOD MUSLIM by Tahmima Anam
In her compelling second novel (following A GOLDEN AGE), rising young Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam goes deep within the heart of a family torn between practical religion and ritualistic isolation by a brother and sister’s differing views on how best to live by the teachings of Islam.
Harper Perennial * 9780061478864

TRIPLE CROSSING by Sebastian Rotella
Valentine Pescatore, a volatile rookie Border Patrol agent, is trying to survive the trenches of The Line in San Diego. He gets in trouble and finds himself recruited as an informant by Isabel Puente, a beautiful U.S. agent investigating a powerful Mexican crime family. Politically-charged violence escalates, plunging Pescatore into the lawless "triple border" region of South America and a showdown full of bloodshed and betrayal.
Mulholland Books * 9780316105224
On Sale the Week of August 20th in Hardcover


August 20th

YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE by Susan Richards Shreve
It is 1973, and Lucy Painter is a children's book illustrator and a single mother of two. She leaves New York and the married father of her children to live in a tightly knit Washington neighborhood in the house where she grew up and where she discovered her father’s suicide. Lucy hopes for a fresh start, but her life is full of secrets. As the new neighbors enter their lives, her family’s safety and stability become threatened.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393082807


August 21st

THE ABSENT ONE by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Detective Carl Mørck is intrigued when a closed case lands on his desk: A brother and sister were brutally murdered two decades earlier, and one of the suspects --- part of a group of privileged boarding-school students --- confessed and was convicted. But once Mørck reopens the files, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems.
Dutton Adult * 9780525952893

THE BARTENDER’S TALE by Ivan Doig
Tom Harry and his son, Rusty, make an odd kind of family, with Tom’s venerable bar their true home, but they manage just fine. That is, until the summer of 1960, when Rusty turns 12. Change arrives with gale force, in the person of Proxy, a taxi dancer Tom previously knew, and her beatnik daughter, Francine. Is Francine, as Proxy claims, the unsuspected legacy of her and Tom’s past?
Riverhead Hardcover * 9781594487354

THE DEVIL IN SILVER by Victor LaValle
On his first night at the New Hyde Hospital's mental ward, Pepper witnesses an impossible vision: the Devil appears in the guise of an old man with a bison's head and murderous intent. It’s no delusion --- the Devil roams the halls of New Hyde, terrorizing its patients when the sun goes down. Pepper teams with three other strangely loveable patients to try to kill the monster that's been stalking them. But can the Devil die?

Spiegel & Grau * 9781400069866

HOSTAGE by Elie Wiesel
It’s 1975, and Shaltiel Feigenberg --- professional storyteller, writer and beloved husband --- has been taken hostage. His captors, an Arab and an Italian, explain that his life will be bartered for the freedom of three Palestinian prisoners. As his days of waiting commence, Shaltiel resorts to what he does best: telling stories --- to himself and to the men who hold his fate in their hands.

Knopf * 9780307599582

A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Julia Keller
Three elderly men are gunned down at a local diner. One of the witnesses to the brutal incident was Carla Elkins, the prosecuting attorney’s daughter, who believes she might be uniquely placed to help her mother do her job. But could Carla also end up doing more harm than good --- in fact, putting her own life in danger?
Minotaur Books * 9781250003485

LIONEL ASBO: The State of England by Martin Amis
Just as the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, his uncle Lionel --- once again in a London prison --- wins £140 million in the lottery. Upon his release, Lionel hires a public relations firm and begins dating a topless model and “poet.” Strangely, however, Lionel's true nature remains uncompromised, while his problems --- and therefore also Desmond's --- seem only to multiply.
Knopf * 9780307958082

THE MAP OF LOST MEMORIES by Kim Fay
Skilled at acquiring priceless, often illicitly trafficked artifacts, Irene Blum is given a rare map believed to lead to a set of copper scrolls that chronicle the lost history of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer civilization. Such a find would not only restore her reputation, it would be the greatest archaeological discovery of the century. As she and her fellow adventurers sweep across borders and make startling discoveries, their quest becomes increasingly dangerous.

Ballantine Books * 9780345531346

MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks
Budo is the imaginary friend of eight-year-old Max Delaney. He loves Max and is charged with protecting him from the class bully, from awkward situations in the cafeteria, and even in the bathroom stalls. But he can’t protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, who kidnaps him. It is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save him --- and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max’s happiness or Budo's very existence.

St. Martin's Press * 9781250006219

ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO by Jonathan Tropper
When Drew Silver, the former drummer for a one-hit wonder rock band, learns that his heart requires emergency, lifesaving surgery, he makes the radical decision to refuse the operation. He would rather use what little time he has left to repair his relationship with his daughter, become a better man, and live in the moment, even if that moment isn't destined to last very long.

Dutton Adult * 9780525952367

THE ORCHARDIST by Amanda Coplin
At the turn of the 20th century, reclusive orchardist William Talmadge tends to apples and apricots as if they were loved ones. One day, two teenage girls appear and steal his fruit from the market; they later return to see the man who gave them no chase and end up indulging in his deep reservoir of compassion. But just as they begin to trust him, men arrive in the orchard with guns, leading to a shattering tragedy.
Harper * 9780062188502

THE ROOTS OF THE OLIVE TREE by Courtney Miller Santo
Meet the Keller family, five generations of firstborn women --- a line of daughters unbroken --- living together in the same house on a secluded olive grove in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. Told from varying viewpoints, Courtney Miller Santo’s debut novel captures the joys and sorrows of family --- the love, secrets, disappointments, jealousies and forgiveness that tie generations to one other.

William Morrow * 9780062130518

SHARP: A Memoir by David Fitzpatrick
SHARP is the story of a young man who began his life with a loving family and great promise for the future. But in his early 20s, David Fitzpatrick became so consumed by mental illness it sent him into a frenzy of cutting himself with razor blades. In this shocking and often moving book, he vividly describes the rush this act gave him, the fleeting euphoric high that seemed to fill the spaces in the rest of his life.

William Morrow * 9780062064028

THE SURVIVOR by Gregg Hurwitz
Nate Overbay --- a divorced former solider suffering from PTSD and slowly dying from ALS --- is about to commit suicide when a crew of robbers bursts into a bank. With nothing to lose, Nate confronts the robbers, taking them out one-by-one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning. Soon he is kidnapped by the mastermind of the failed heist and is given an ultimatum that could lead to the murder of his ex-wife and teenage daughter.

St. Martin's Press * 9780312625511

TRICKSTER’S POINT by William Kent Krueger
The unsinkable Cork O’Connor is sitting in the shadow of a towering monolith known as Trickster’s Point, deep in the Minnesota wilderness. Beside him is the first Native American governor-elect, Jubal Little, who is slowly dying with an arrow through his heart. Although the men have been bow hunting, this is no accident. The arrow in the governor’s heart belongs to Cork, who becomes the primary suspect in the murder.

Atria Books * 9781451645675

THE TWELVE ROOMS OF THE NILE by Enid Shomer

Florence Nightingale is 29, and well on her way to spinsterhood. Gustave Flaubert is 28, and known for his womanizing lifestyle. These unlikely soulmates come together to share their darkest torments and most fervent hopes, and begin a passionate friendship marked by intelligence, humor and a ravishing tenderness that will alter both their destinies.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451642964

VISITING TOM: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace by Michael Perry
Tom Hartwig makes gag shovel handles, parts for quarter-million-dollar farm equipment, and the occasional batch of potentially "extralegal" explosives. As he approaches his 60th wedding anniversary, Tom has an endless reservoir of stories dating back to days of his prize Model A, and an anti-authoritarian streak refreshed daily by the four-lane interstate that was shoved through his front yard in 1965 and now dumps over eight million vehicles past his kitchen window every year.
Harper * 9780061894442

WARDS OF FAERIE: The Dark Legacy of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Four Lands hang in the balance between science and magic as subversive elements take up arms against the Druid Council. Humans and their allies have developed dangerous weapons using the forbidden secrets of science that long ago destroyed the world. Then a clue to four sets of precious Elfstones is discovered. Their magic has been missing for thousands of years. If it can be regained, the balance of power may shift once again....
Del Rey * 9780345523471

WE SINNERS by Hanna Pylväinen
The Rovaniemis and their nine children belong to a deeply traditional church in modern-day Michigan. A normal family in many ways, the Rovaniemis struggle with sibling rivalry, parental expectations, and forming their own unique identities in such a large family. But when two of the children venture from the faith, the family fragments and a haunting question emerges: Do we believe for ourselves, or for each other?
Henry Holt and Company * 9780805095333

WINTER JOURNAL by Paul Auster
Facing his 63rd winter, Paul Auster sits down to write a history of his body and its sensations --- both pleasurable and painful. Thirty years after the publication of THE INVENTION OF SOLITUDE, in which he wrote so movingly about fatherhood, Auster gives us a second unconventional memoir in which he writes about his mother's life and death.

Henry Holt and Company * 9780805095531

On Sale the Week of August 20th in Paperback


August 21st

ACCEPTABLE LOSS: A William Monk Novel by Anne Perry
This latest installment in Anne Perry’s Victorian crime series finds Commander William Monk returning to a dangerous case that he thought he had left behind. High-stakes murder, conspiracy and dark secrets abound, and no one involved will escape unharmed.

Ballantine Books * 9780345510617

THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY: A Ballad Novel by Sharyn McCrumb
What began as a fictional re-telling of the historical account of one of the most famous mountain ballads of all time became an astonishing revelation of the real culprit responsible for the murder of Laura Foster. Bringing to life the star-crossed lovers of this mountain tragedy, Sharyn McCrumb gifts understanding and compassion to her compelling tales of Appalachia.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250007452

GHOST HERO: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel by S. J. Rozan
What starts as a rumor about new paintings by a dead artist quickly becomes something far more desperate. Private investigator Lydia Chin and her partner, Bill Smith, soon learn that someone else --- Jack Lee: PI, art expert, and, like Lydia, American Born Chinese --- is also on the case. Lydia and Bill soon find themselves in a high-stakes crisis that they will risk everything to resolve.

Minotaur Books * 9781250006936

GOING HOME: Finding Peace When Pets Die by Jon Katz
Drawing on personal experiences, stories from fellow pet owners, and philosophical reflections, Jon Katz provides guidance and support for those in mourning. With great compassion, he compels us to consider if we gave our pets good lives, if we were their advocates in times of need, and if we used our best judgments in the end.
Random House Trade Paperbacks * 9780345502704

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SEVEN: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith

After seven years and five books, Bertie is --- finally! --- about to turn seven. But one afternoon he mislays his meddling mother Irene, and learns a valuable lesson: wish-fulfillment can be a dangerous business. Angus and Domenica contemplate whether to give in to romance on holiday in Italy, and even usually down-to-earth Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery.
Anchor * 9780307739360

IN OTHER WORLDS: SF and the Human Imagination by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is internationally celebrated for memorable novels and speculative fiction such as THE HANDMAID’S TALE, ORYX AND CRAKE, THE BLIND ASSASSIN, and her latest bestseller, THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD. Now she adds to her equally respected stature as literary critic in writing about science fiction, the genre that she elevated almost singlehandedly to high art.
Anchor * 9780307741769

A PARTIAL HISTORY OF LOST CAUSES by Jennifer duBois
In Jennifer duBois’s mesmerizing and exquisitely rendered debut novel, a long-lost letter links two disparate characters, each searching for meaning against seemingly insurmountable odds. Spanning two continents and the dramatic sweep of history, A PARTIAL HISTORY OF LOST CAUSES reveals the stubbornness and splendor of the human will even in the most trying times.
Dial Press Trade Paperback * 9780812982176

THE SHOEMAKER’S WIFE by Adriana Trigiani
Divine Providence intervenes in the lives of Ciro Lazzari and Enza Ravanelli. The two Italian peasants meet under sad circumstances in their native land. Years later, their paths cross again after Ciro becomes a shoemaker in New York City’s Little Italy, while Enza finds work as a seamstress in New Jersey.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780061257100

THE TALK-FUNNY GIRL by Roland Merullo
In one of the poorest parts of rural New Hampshire, teenage girls have been disappearing, snatched from back country roads. For Marjorie Richards, the fear raised by these abductions is the backdrop to what she lives with in her own home. Marjorie is also tormented by classmates, who call her “The Talk-funny girl.” But as the nearby factory town sinks deeper into economic ruin and as her parents fall under the influence of a sadistic cult leader, her options for escape dwindle.
Broadway * 9780307452931

UNMEASURED STRENGTH by Lauren Manning
She had a big job on Wall Street, a loving husband and an infant son, and a confidence born of intelligence and beauty. But on 9/11, good fortune was no match for catastrophe. When a wall of flame at the World Trade Center burned more than 80 percent of her body, Lauren Manning began a 10-year journey of survival and rebirth that tested her almost beyond human endurance.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250012142

VULTURE PEAK: A Bangkok Novel by John Burdett
Nobody knows Bangkok like Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. But for his newest assignment, everything he knows will be a mere starting point. He’s put in charge of the highest-profile case in Thailand --- an attempt to bring an end to trafficking in human organs.
Vintage * 9780307474292


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