Laura Lee Smith

Heart of Palm

Grove Press; ISBN: 978-080212102-8; Pub: 4/2/13; $25.00

"It's easy to fall in love with the very dysfunctional Bravo family in their very small dysfunctional Florida town.  As the town is transforming so is the family, and Smith's lyrical prose makes the reader hang on to the good, bad, and whatever else is thrown into the mix."

--Reviewed by Margo

Miriam Karmel

Being Esther

Milkweed Editions; ISBN: 978-157131096-5; Pub: 4/2/13; $22.00

"Esther and her friend take turns calling each other every morning to make sure they have lived through the night.  At 85, Esther is struggling to stay independent.  Karmel puts us inside Esther's head and lets us in on the uncertainty, memories, foibles, and even the fun of being Esther--the incident at the grocery store is not to be missed."

--Reviewed by Percy

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Jill McCorkle

Life After Life

Algonquin Books; ISBN: 978-156512255-0; Pub: 3/26/13; $24.95

"Jill McCorkle brings the residents of Pine Haven, a retirement facility in North Carolina, vibrantly to life in this charming and colorful novel.  The residents and their caretakers, as well as some of their neighbors, are given voice in this moving and revelatory tale.  Their past and present lives are told with such depth and feeling that I found myself wishing I could inhabit their world for a little longer.  Each character is beautifully drawn, and while sad and sometimes shocking, this engaging novel is a delight."

--Reviewed by Tova

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Matthew Specktor

American Dream Machine

Tin House Books; ISBN: 978-193563944-2; Pub: 3/26/13; $25.95

"Nate and his friends live the privileged lives as sons of Hollywood talent agents.  This fascinating peek into the back room dealings of Hollywood and how it changes throughout the years is told through the character of Beau as seen through the eyes of Nate.  Half the fun while reading was picturing who would portray each character in a film."

--Reviewed by Percy

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Jonathan Dee

A Thousand Pardons

Random House; ISBN: 978-081299321-9; Pub: 3/12/13; $26.00

"Dee is adept at meshing the complexities of marriage and family life with the paradoxes of the zeitgeist.  In his sixth meticulously lathed and magnetizing novel, he riffs on the practice of crisis management...[and] nets the absurdities of a society geared to communicate in a thousand electronic modes while those closest to each other can barely make eye connect."

--Booklist

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John Joseph Adams, ed.

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination:

All Original, All Nefarious, All Conquering Tales from the Megalomaniacal Pens of...Evil Geniuses

Tor Books; ISBN: 978-076532645-4; Pub: 2/19/13; Paperback; $14.99

"Mwuahahahahahah!!!  These twenty-two tales from as many authors run a plethora of interpretations on the classic science fiction/horror image of the obsessed genius.  With contributions from Laird Barron, Naomi Novik, Daniel H. Wilson, and Diana Gabaldon, it's a welcome anthology for anyone looking for dark tales of questionable experiments and diabolical aspirations.  It is, indeed, alive!"

--Reviewed by Barry

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Caitlín Kiernan as Kathleen Tierney

Blood Oranges

Roc; ISBN: 978-045146501-6; Pub: 2/5/13; Paperback Original; $16.00

"''Flawed protagonist' doesn't begin to cover the story of Quinn, the foul-mouthed demon hunter (and junkie) who has found herself in over her head when a vampire and a werewolf bite her on the same night.  A major departure from Caitlín R. Kiernan's dark tales (hence the pen name), Blood Oranges is a hoot of a genre-mashing, trope-trumping read."

--Reviewed by Barry

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Herman Koch

The Dinner

Hogarth; ISBN: 978-077043785-5; Pub: 2/12/13; $24.00

"In talking about a book that is divided up, not into chapters, but into various 'courses,' it seems fitting to keep the food metaphor going.  The opening pages, then, might be best thought of as uninspired if tasty cuisine, the sort of appetizer that you've sampled countless times before.  Come to the main course, though, and you find that the chef has been playing a trick on you, using that first course to put you off your guard.  Suddenly,you realize the food is no longer bland, the spices and flavors no longer familiar.  And you will find that you cannot stop eating, not even after the unexpected flavors and the spice have become nearly overwhelming.  A wiser patron might ask the chef to stop.  Be bold, instead; you'll find a finale that leaves a long, slow burn in your mind for hours after you've finished."

--Reviewed by Constantine

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Roger Hobbs

Ghostman

Knopf; ISBN: 978-030795996-6; Pub: 2/12/13; $24.95

"This watertight debut [is] at once slick and gritty…Straight out of the gate, Hobbs has mastered the essentials of a contemporary thriller: a noirlike tone, no-nonsense prose and a hero with just enough personality to ensure he doesn't come off as an amoral death machine [as well as] heart-stopping scenes that illustrate how small mistakes can turn catastrophic."

--Kirkus, starred review

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Amity Gaige '95

Schroder

Twelve; ISBN: 978-145551213-3; Pub: 2/5/13; $21.99

"Making and adhering to bad, self-destructive decisions seems to be a hallmark of Erik Schroder, an east German immigrant, eager to fit in with his American peers, who in his youth, sheds his identity and reinvents himself, unofficially, as Eric Kennedy.  This fateful decision, underscoring his inability for honest self-reflection and interaction, sets him on a course that leaves him ultimately adrift.  Told as an explanatory letter to his estranged wife recounting the events after he absconds with his young daughter to New England, this is a richly nuanced and rewarding novel with a protagonist who is both reprehensible and sympathetic.  A powerful and thought-provoking work that begs to be shared, pondered and discussed."

--Reviewed by Tova

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Charles Dubow

Indiscretion

Wm. Morrow; ISBN: 978-006220105-8; Pub: 2/5/13; $25.99

"Indiscretion richly delves into the complex permutations of love.  Charles Dubow writes with nuanced precision, and his characters are captivatingly real.  This is a fine, supple, riveting first novel."

--Kate Christensen, author of The Great Man and the Astral

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Annapurna Potluri

The Grammarian

Counterpoint; ISBN: 978-161902102-0; Pub: 2/12/13; $24.00

"This cerebral story drew me in.  Alexander Lautens, a French philologist in the early 1900s, travels to India to learn and record the Telugu language.  His stay with a local family leads to an intellectual pas de deux with the older, unmarried, disfigured daughter.  One cultural misstep, a small act of compassion, or is it passion, redefines the rest of their lives."

--Reviewed by Percy

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John Kenney

Truth in Advertising

Touchstone; ISBN; 978-145167554-2; Pub: 1/22/13; $24.99

"This funny first novel is an accomplished mix of snark and pathos.  Finbar Dolan is nearly 40 and has little to show for it.  He is ambivalent about his Madison Avenue advertising job, has a failed engagement behind him, and is emotionally distant from his fragmented and dysfunctional family.  What he does have, however, are loyal friends, a good heart, and a razor-sharp wit."

--Reviewed by Tova

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Gerald Shea

Song Without Words:

Discovering My Deafness Halfway Through Life

Da Capo Press; ISBN: 978-030682193-6; Pub: 2/26/12; $25.99

"It's hard to believe Gerald Shea went through half his life without knowing that he was partially deaf after an illness at the age of six.  He just thought everyone heard as he did, that others were better at interpreting and understanding than he was.  His life is a daily struggle to understand, yet he carries on.  I would have liked to hear more about his life outside work, but his amazing story reminded me how everyone perceives and understands the world around them differently, hard of hearing or not.  The moments of joy that transcend the overwhelming stress of constantly trying to hear and translate make you cheer him on, hoping for more."

--Reviewed by Percy

Jonathan Grotenstein & Storms Reback

Ship It Holla Ballas!

St. Martin's Press; ISBN: 978-125000665-3; Pub: 1/15/12; $25.99

"This fast-paced, fun read takes you into the lives of a group of underage kids learning the ropes of poker through the internet.  Not only do they learn the ropes, they take internet poker by the reigns, and by the time they are old enough to enter a casino they've dropped out of college, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars living it up, and have the skills to take over the [actual] gambling world.  As someone who knows next to nothing about the gambling world, I really enjoyed this book. "

--Reviewed by Margo

Indie Bound Description

John R. Gillis

The Human Shore

Chicago University Press; ISBN: 978-022692223-2; Pub: 10/17/12; $27.50

"In The Human Shore, historian John Gillis offers a history of shorelines around the globe and in the process shows us how coastal exploration occurred much sooner than previously anticipated (thanks to the emergence of 'wet archaeology'), and that such exploration accomplished much more than the ballyhooed crossings of the oceans by the Portuguese, Spanish, French, and British explorers.  Gillis explores the evolution of the coastlines to our modern preoccupation with waterfront property, and the legions who go to the ocean to bathe, or merely 'gaze at the sea.'  This is a fascinating history, and one that will resound deeply for any beachcomber this summer..."

--Reviewed by Bob

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Jon Meacham

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

Princeton University Press; ISBN: 978-069115399-5; Pub: 10/7/12; $27.95

"[A]ccomplishes something more impressive than dissecting Jefferson’s political skills by explaining his greatness, a different task from chronicling a life, though he does that too--and handsomely.  Even though I know quite a lot about Jefferson, I was repeatedly surprised by the fresh information Meacham brings to his work.  Surely there is not a significant detail out there, in any pertinent archive, that he has missed."

--Joyce Appleby, Washington Post

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Mike Mullin

Ashen Winter

Tanglewood Press; ISBN: 978-193371875-0; Pub: 10/16/12; $17.95

"The second in a trilogy (after Ashfall), Ashen Winter continues the adventures of Alex and Darla after the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano.  Life is harsh and getting colder, but they are eking out a life on Alex's aunt and uncle's farm.  After a botched robbery gives a clue to Alex's parents whereabouts, Alex and Darla go off to search for Alex's parents while getting into scrapes and possible capture along the way in this non-stop, action-packed adventure."

--Reviewed by Percy

Indie Bound Description & Reviews

S.S. Taylor; Katherine Roy, Ill.

The Expeditioners

And the Treasure of Dead Man's Canyon

McSweeney's McMullens; ISBN: 978-193807306-9; Pub: 12/11/12; $22.00

"The Expeditioners is a new series from McSweeney's McMullen. Set in a steampunk future where there is no electricity or electronic devices, the West children set out on an adventure after receiving a message from their missing Explorer of the Realm father.  Full of coded messages and secret maps that seem to be leading them to a lost treasure, with lots of inventive gadgets that help the Expeditioners along, this is a fun and entertaining tale that also asks some thought-provoking questions about the true meaning of treasure.--Be sure to take off the book jacket for an extra treat."

--Reviewed by Percy

Indie Bound Description & Reviews

Eva Moore; Nancy Carpenter, Ill.

Lucky Ducklings

Orchard Books; ISBN: 978-043944861-1; Pub: 2/1/13; $16.99

"Carpenter’s warm, retro spreads salute McCloskey in what might turn out to be this generation’s duckling rescue story. Seeing public officials put civic machinery to work to save baby animals is every bit as charming today as it was 70 years ago…The rescue depicted actually took place on Long Island in 2000; Moore enlivens the account with engaging narrative devices, repeating the duckling’s rhyming names and punctuating the story with 'Oh, dear! That could have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t.'  It’s worthy of its predecessor, and a welcome sequel of sorts."

--Publishers Weekly