Annotated lists of books receiving at least one starred review from one of four major review sources: Booklist, Kirkus, LJ and PW. The review source assigns the star.
(lists of new and notable books - lists are sortable and can be downloaded)
All Stars
List - Fiction & Nonfiction
Try
something new - First Novels List
Have some fun - Humor List
Genre Fiction Lists: Romance
& Romantic Suspense , Speculative,
Inspirational,
Mystery & Suspense,
General Fiction
Book a Trip
- Travel Tales List
KirkusBooklistPW KirkusPWBooklist KirkusPWLJBooklist KirkusLJBooklistPW KirkusPWLJ Library JournalKirkusBooklist KirkusPWBooklist BooklistPWKirkusBooklistLibrary JournalPW All Star Nonfiction - titles with 3 or more stars from the following review sources:
Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly
- Double Bond: The Live of Primo Levi
Author: Angier, Carole
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux $ 40 ISBN: 0374113157
Perhaps the most important writer to emerge from the death camps, Primo Levi is known for Survival in Auschwitz, The Reawakening, and the classic The Periodic Table. Angier has spent nearly ten years writing this meticulously researched, vivid, and moving biography.
Primo Levi web site- Back Then: Two Lives in 1950's New York
Author: Bernays, Anne & Justin Kaplan
Publisher: Morrow $ 25.95 ISBN: 0060198559
This dual memoir by two prominent figures in American arts provides a candid, anecdotal account of two children of privilege who came of age in the transformative 1950s and faced the challenges of new careers, married life and parenting against growing sexual and social freedoms, and the shadows of McCarthyism and the Cold War.- Dont' Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by Fuller, Alexandra
Publisher: Random House $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375507507
Magnificently original and affecting, Fuller's memoir of a childhood dominated by the Rhodesian civil war of 1971-1979 captures the fascinating life of a white family living in one of the most remote regions of Africa.- Art Lover: A Biography of Peggy Guggenheim
Author: Gill, Anton
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 29.95 ISBN: 0060196971
Insightful and comprehensive, Anton Gill's work reveals Peggy Guggenheim as never before, including new information about her relationship with her daughter. It is a book that will appeal to serious art lovers, art history buffs, and anyone who wants to read an engrossing tell-all biography of a fascinating woman.
Peggy Guggenheim collection- The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton
Author: Klein, Joe
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385506198
- Beyond the Mountains of the Damned: The War Inside Kosovo
Author: McAllester, Matthew
Publisher: New York Univ $ 24.95 ISBN: 0814756603First Novels
- Queenmaker: A Novel of David's Queen
Author: Edgehill, India
Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312289189
For more than 40 years, Michal lived and reigned in David's court. Speaking as a sister, a wife, a mother, a lover, a woman both scorned and worshipped, and above all, as a friend to David's other women, Queen Michal reveals her hopes and pains, as the fire of God burns and war, passion, murder, and prophecy fill the Promised Land.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars- The Love of Stones
Author: Hill, Tobias
Publisher: Picador $ 25 ISBN: 0312287739
The Love of Stones follows three lives all linked by one precious jewel. An epic story spanning two continents and six centuries, at the heart of their quests is the Three Brethren, a legendary jewel that binds them together in an irresistible narrative.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Wavemaker 2
Author: Hughes, Mary-Beth
Publisher: Atlantic $ 24 ISBN: 0871138352
An exhilarating debut, Wavemaker II is a heart-stopping story of what happens when one man takes a fall for another, leaving his family in disarray. Combining poetic intensity with a gritty realism, Mary-Beth Hughes has delivered a masterpiece of page-turning suspense.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction- Crow Lake
Author: Lawson, Mary
Publisher: Dial $ 23.95 ISBN: 038533611x
For the farming Pye family of northern Ontario, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur offstage. In this universal drama of family love and misunderstandings, Lawson ratchets up the tension with heartbreaking humor and consummate control.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction- Burning Marguerite
Author: Inness-Brown, Elizabeth
Publisher: Knopf $ 23 ISBN: 0375411968
Waking to the chill of a snow-cloaked morning, carpenter James Jack finds his 94-year-old "Tante, " Marguerite Deo, lying dead outside his cabin. As he confronts the mystery of her death, an emotionally intricate and unexpected tale unfolds in a narrative that moves from the present back to a windswept New England island at the turn of the century, and to New Orleans during the Depression and World War II.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars- Lying, Crying, Dying
Author: Martell, Dominic
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 24 ISBN: 0786709553
A debut thriller features the elite counterterrorist operative Pascual in a treacherous race from the past he betrayed. The lying has again begun; the crying--and the dying--are yet to come.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Simon Silber: Works for Solo Piano
Author: Miller, Christopher
Publisher: Houghton $ 23 ISBN: 061814336x
Miller's darkly hilarious first novel takes the form of liner notes to a recording of the complete works of a prodigiously cranky composer, who haunts the borderland between genius and mediocrity.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction- Prague
Author: Philips, Arthur
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375507876
It is 1990 and the Berlin Wall has come down. Young Westerners flood into the atmospheric decay of post-Cold War Eastern Europe seeking the legendary Paris of the 1920s. Prague follows four Americans and one Canadian, flush with irony and striving for success in a place they often fail to understand.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction- The Patient's Eyes
Author: Pirie, David
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290950
This compelling new Victorian mystery reveals the untold story behind the creation of the world's most celebrated detective: Sherlock Holmes.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Precenct Puerto Rico: Book One
Author: Torres, Steven
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312285809
In a small Puerto Rican beachfront town of Santa Domingo, arrangements are being made to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S. Soon, however, the bodies of those same immigrants wash up on a beach, and Sheriff Luis Gonzalo sets out to investigate.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Angel Rock
Author: Williams, Darren
Publisher: Knopf $ 23 ISBN: 0375414517
From a young Australian writer whose first novel received the Australian/ Vogel Literary Award comes a new story about the disappearance of a four-year-old boy in the Australian Outback. Menacing and mesmerizing, dazzling in its evocation of terrain--both physical and psychological--Angel Rock is a brilliant combination of the literary and the entertaining.
Suggested Reading: First FictionRomance & Romantic Suspense
- Summertime
Author: Barker, Raffaella
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375503870
In this delicious romantic comedy, a charming heroine offers hilarious and touching commentary on relationships, divorce, fashion, pets, and children as she copes with her chaotic family and fractured love life in rural England.- The Trials of Angela
Author: Criswell, Millie
Publisher: Ivy $ 6.99 (paper) ISBN: 0804119937
Angela DeNero's life is a mess. She's just broken up with her cheating fianc; her law practice is gasping for air; and her parents are planning to move back to Baltimore. To make matters worse, Angela finds she has to argue her biggest case against arrogant John Franco, a man she believes would send his own grandmother to jail. Instead, he sends Angela's heart soaring.- Lady Sophia's Lover
Author: Kleypas, Lisa
Publisher: Avon $ 7.50 (paper) ISBN: 0380811065
Hoping to snare the unattainable Sir Ross Cannon, Lady Sophia Sydney will do anything--even ruin his reputation to cause a scandal in London. She insinuates herself into his life and even lives in his house. Her presence tempts him beyond all reason. She knows Ross in falling in love with her. But she never counts on falling in love with him.A Debt to Delia
Author: Metzger, Barbara
Publisher: Signet $ 4.99 (paper) ISBN: 0451205863
While battling Napoleon, Major Lord Tyverne is wounded and trapped behind enemy lines. A fellow redcoat comes to his aid, insisting Ty ride his horse to safety. Horrified to learn of his rescuer's death, Ty vows to repay his debt of honor. Ty offers marriage to the dead man's sister, Delia Croft. But Delia longs for love--not obligation.
- Step-Ball-Change
Also: Brenda Joyce's Francesca Cahill series, Elizabeth Adler's Summer in Tuscany, Savanah Blues, Dream Island by Josie Litton, Suzanne Brockman's series, Summer in Eclipse Bay by Jayne Ann Krentz, The Bride by Julie Garwood, The Pursuit by JohannaLindsay, The Last Chance Cafe by Linda Lael Miller, Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick.
Author: Ray, Jeanne
Publisher: Crown $ 22.95 ISBN: 0609610031
Caroline has it all: a successful dance studio in Raleigh, a long-term marriage, and four adult children, all of whom are lawyers. All it takes, though, are two back-to-back phone calls to change everything. After her sparkling, bestselling debut, Julie and Romeo, Jeanne Ray returns with this second story of love and family in all their complicated, infuriating, mystifying splendor.
Updated 4/1/02Speculative Fiction
- Diplomatic Immunity
Author: Bujold, Lois McMaster
Publisher: Baen $ 25 ISBN: 0743435338
A rich Komarran merchant fleet has been impounded at Graf Station, after a bloody incident on the station docks. Commanded by his Emperor to intervene diplomatically, Lord Miles Vorkosigan--a special high-level troubleshooter--has no choice but to comply. However, the downside of being a troubleshooter becomes apparent when trouble starts shooting back.- The Watch
Author: Danvers, Dennis
Publisher: Eos $ 24.95 ISBN: 0380977621
In 1921 Russia, a mysterious visitor from the far future appears at the deathbed of Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin, and offers him and extraordinary opportunity: the chance to be reborn. But as the former prince-turned-anarchist begins a new life in 1999 America, he finds his new home a difficult Eden.- Knight Life
Author: David, Peter
Publisher: Ace $ 22.95 ISBN: 0441009360
Fifteen years ago, the paperback publication of Knight Life heralded the debut of a new talent on the science fiction scene. Now, armed with more wit and wisdom than ever before, Peter David has reworked the story of New York City's most surprising candidate for mayor: Arthur Pendragon, Once and Future King.- The Eyre Affair
Author: Fforde, Jasper
Publisher: Viking $ 23.95 ISBN: 0670030643
Based on an imaginary world where time and reality bend in the most convincing and original way since Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Eyre Affair is a an endlessly inventive caper unlike any other.- Fallen Dragon
Author: Hamilton, Peter F.
Publisher: Aspect $ 25.95 ISBN: 0446527084
When his platoon is sent to a distant colony, it seems like a stroke of amazing fortune, and Lawrence plans to rob the colony of their fabled gemstone, the Fallen Dragon. However, he soon discovers that the Fallen Dragon is not a gemstone at all, but an alien life form that the local colonists have been protecting since it crashed in their area.- Everything's Eventual
Author: King, Stephen
Publisher: Scribner $ 28 ISBN: 0743235150
Writing about encounters with the dead, about near death, or about the plain dread of mundane life, King is in top form in this collection of dark tales--his first in nine years. Includes three never-before-printed stories and four pieces previously published in The New Yorker.- Whole Wide World
Author: McAuley, Paul
Publisher: Tor $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765303922
Winner of both the Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick Awards, McAuley now presents a gripping thriller of the day after tomorrow--when the world and the Web are one.- Chasm City
Author: Reynolds, Alastair
Publisher: Ace $ 23.95 ISBN: 0441009123
The once utopian Chasm City has been overrun by a virus known as the Melding Plague, and it is through this city that Tanner Mirabel must pursue a lowlife postmortal, only to be taken far beyond the mere settling of a score to come face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that history would rather forget.- The Years of Rice and Salt
Author: Robinson, Kim Stanley
Publisher: Bantam $ 25.95 ISBN: 0553109200
With the same visionary scope that brought his now-classic Mars trilogy to life, award-winning author Kim Stanley Robinson constructs an alternative history of the last 600 years--a history where the Black Death kills nearly everyone in Europe and where China, India and the nations of Islam control the world.
Inspirational Fiction
- True Valor
Author: Henderson, Dee
Publisher: Multnomah $ 11.99 (trade paper) ISBN: 1576738876
In this second book in the Uncommon Heroes series, Air Force pararescueman Bruce "Striker" Stanton must save his love, a pilot, when she crash lands in Turkey after a deadly air battle.- The Justice
Author: Hunt, Angela Elwell
Publisher: W $ 15.99 (trade paper) ISBN: 0849916313
A gripping political mystery about the first woman president of the United States examines the corrupt side of government and the intense impact produced when Christ changes a life.- In This Mountain
Author: Karon, Jan
Publisher: Viking $ 25.95 ISBN: 0670031046
In her seventh novel in the bestselling Mitford Years series, Jan Karon delivers surprises of every kind, including the return of the man in the attic and an ending that no one in Mitford will ever forget.Mystery & Suspense
- Savage Run: Joe Pickett
Author: Box, C.J.
Publisher: Putnam $ 23.95 ISBN: 0399148876
C.J. Box's debut novel, Open Season, hit the mystery-book world with the force of a speeding rifle bullet. Now Box returns with a gripping and suspenseful new novel, as dramatic and brutal as its Wyoming wilderness setting.- Money Wanders
Author: Dezenhall, Eric
Publisher: Dunne $ 24.95 ISBN: 031228753
Get Shorty brought the mob to Hollywood. In this hilarious debut, Dezenhall brings a wiseguy mentality to Washington spin, media, and image as a Beltway pollster is "persuaded" by a mob boss to launch a PR campaign to help improve his image.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Code 61
Author: Harstad, Donald
Publisher: Doubleday $ 23.95 ISBN: 0385501188
In Code Sixty-One, Harstad brings the offbeat, Fargo-esque style of his previous books to a stunning tale about modern-day vampires. Investigating the apparent suicide of a colleague's niece, Iowa deputy sheriff Carl Houseman comes to the chilling conclusion that the young woman was the victim of a 21st-century Dracula.- Learning to Fly
Author: Henry, April
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290527
The chaotic scene of a huge chain-reaction car accident leaves Free Meeker in possession of a bag of money and a dead hitchhiker in the passenger seat. But when the owner of the money realizes that it didn't burn up in the fire, things get complicated.- Absolute Zero
Author: Logan, Chuck
Publisher: HarperCollins $24.95 ISBN: 0060185724
Absolute Zero is Chuck Logan's breakout thriller, a page-turning tour de force that begins with a white-knuckle rescue of a canoeing expedition, and comes to a stunning conclusion on the coldest night in Minnesota history. It's a story of love, manipulation, and revenge that puts Logan in the elite company of fictional-series-heavyweights.- Resolution
Author: Mina, Denise
Publisher: Carrol & Graf $ 25 ISBN: 0786710101
Blending suspense, compassion, raw instinct, and grim wit, this powerful conclusion to the Garnethill trilogy returns to the seamy side of downtown Glasgow and the untidy world of Maureen O'Donnell.- Open and Shut
Author: Rosenfelt, David
Publisher: Warner $ 23.95 ISBN: 089296748x
Defense attorney Andy Carpenter manages to sail through any tough situation, whether inside the courtroom or in his personal life. But this all changes when his marriage breaks up and his father suddenly dies, leaving him distraught--and 22 million dollars richer.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction - Mystery- Bad Seed: Alex Bernier
Author: Saulnier, Beth
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967498
Journalist Alex Bernier has her hands full investigating a breaking story for the Gabriel Monitor. A legion of activists has besieged Benson University to protest research on genetically engineered food. When Kate Barnett, a charismatic plant science professor and avid proponent of genetic engineering, is found beaten to death in her lab, the activists are the number one suspects. But is it really such an open-and-shut case?- In the Bleak Midwinter
Author: Spencer-Fleming, Julia
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312288476
It's a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill. When a newborn baby is abandoned and a young mother is brutally murdered, newly-ordained Clare Fergusson has to pick her way through the secrets and silence that shadow the town like the ever-present Adirondack mountains.- Funny Money: Tony Valentine
Also: You've Got Murder by Donna Andrews, Gone for Good by Harlan Coben, and books by Andy Straka
Author: Swain, James
Publisher: Pocket $ 24 ISBN: 0743436865
After making the mystery scene in a big way with the acclaimed Grift Sense, the author serves up a crackling new Tony Valentine caper. This time around, it's personal: Valentine's ex-partner Doyle Flanagan has been blown to pieces by a car bomb and Tony is on the case.More Mystery & Suspense Stars ~ More Mystery & Suspense Best Bets: Hardcover or Paperback
General Fiction
- Big If
Author: Costello, Mark
Publisher: Norton $ 24.95 ISBN: 0393051161
It's winter in New Hampshire, the economy is booming, the vice president is running for president, and his Secret Service people are very, very tense in this scary, funny novel--a riff on recent history and the American obsession with assassination.
Suggested Reading: Political Fiction- Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa
Author: Estrin, Marc
Publisher: Blue Hen $ 26.95 ISBN: 0399148361
In this delightfully original work of imagination, compassion, and good reason, readers follow the trajectory of Kafka's salesman-turned-cockroach across two continents and 30 years as he touches the most significant flash points of his time.- The Jazz Bird
Author: Holden, Craig
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0743212967
Based on a true story, The Jazz Bird is at once a love story, a crime novel, and the tale of the courtroom battle between two powerful men whose respective futures hang in the balance, set at the apex of that time of glitz and innocence known as the Jazz Age.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars
Information and excerpt- Five Boys
Author: Jackson, Mick
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 00601394x
Evacuated from London during World War II to a remote English village filled with eccentrics, young Bobby is the victim of horrible mistreatment by five boys who accuse him of being a Nazi spy. At the center of these villagers is the enigmatic Bee King, a mysterious figure who exercises a powerful, hypnotic influence on the village and especially the boys.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars & World Wars- Billie's Kiss
Author: Knox, Elizabeth
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24 ISBN: 0345450523
In the tradition of Drowning Ruth and The Dress Lodger comes a beautifully written, darkly romantic mystery set in the stark landscape of the Scottish islands at the beginning of the 20th century.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars- Martin Sloane
Author: Redhill, Michael
Publisher: Little Brown $ 13.95 (trade paper) ISBN: 0316739367
The story of a relationship across two decades, of Jolene's search for Martin Sloane when one day he disappears from their home without warning or explanation, is told in a novel that brilliantly and movingly explores the vagaries of love and friendship, the burdens of personal history, and the enigmatic power of art.- Henderson's Spear
Author: Wright, Ronald
Publisher: Holt $25 ISBN: 0805069968
Through unforgettable characters and a mesmerizing story, Wright traces two tales of obsession, intrigue, and loss--from the 1890s and the 1990s. With a deep understanding of the landscape and culture of the South Sea Islands, Henderson's Spear explores the patterns of history and the accidents of love.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction StarsHumor
- Miss America Family
Author: Baggott, Julianna
Publisher: Pocket $ 24 ISBN: 0743422961
A soulful, mordantly funny follow-up to the bestselling Girl Talk stars a fading beauty queen and her 16-year-old son as the delightfully nimble co-chroniclers of Baggott's inspired new take on suburban dissolution.- Beautiful Bodies
Author: Cunningham, Laura Shaine
Publisher: Washington Sq Press $ 24 ISBN: 0743434013
From the celebrated memoirist comes a hilarious and insightful new novel--a comedy of manners featuring six 30-something women navigating the perilous currents of single life in New York City.- The Sisters Mallone
Author: Ermelino, Louisa
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0743223330
From the acclaimed author of The Black Madonna: A sinfully fun dark comedy about the power of sisterhood and the American dream. Through irrepressible characters, and infectious and suspenseful writing, The Sisters Mallone captures and fulfills the Italian immigrantUs dream--with a twist.- Moral Hazzard
Author: Jennings, Kate
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 21.95 ISBN: 0007141084
Jennings pens a darkly witty novel, taut as a wire, that pits love and loyalty against Wall Street.- It's My F***ing Birthday
Author: Markoe, Merrill
Publisher: Villard $21.95 ISBN: 0375507124
Legendary comedy writer Merrill Markoe makes her fiction debut in this scathingly funny tale of an L.A. woman's ongoing quest to find happiness.
Suggested Reading: First Fiction- The Cadence of Grass
Author: McGuane, Thomas
Publisher: Knopf $ 24 ISBN: 0679446745
In a masterpiece of savage comedy, the author of the bestselling Nothing But Blue Skies writes of the perverse Whitelaw patriarch, a man who exerts his control, even in death, by means of a will that binds the family fortune to a failing marriage.- Burden
Author: Walters, Tony
Publisher: St Martins $23.95 ISBN: 0312287054
In this lyrical and funny novel, a young man named Burden tries to get himself killed by sleeping with as many married women as possible in his home town of Walterboro, South Carolina.
Suggested Reading: First FictionBook a Trip - Travel Tales
- West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Reflects on Islam and the West
Author: Ansary, Tamim
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux $ 22 ISBN: 0374287570
Shortly after militant Islamic terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, Tamim Ansary of San Francisco sent an e-mail to 20 friends, telling how the threatened U.S. reprisals against Afghanistan looked to him as an Afghan American. He has now emerged as one of the most eloquent voices on the conflict between Islam and the West and this is his deeply personal account.- I'll Know It When I See It: A Daughter's Search for a Home in Ireland
Author: Carey, Alice
Publisher: Clarkson $ 22 ISBN: 060960984x
By turns bittersweet and laugh-aloud funny, I'll Know It When I See It tells an Irish-American woman's story of restoring a cottage in Ireland and reclaiming her roots.- Land's End: A Walk Through Provincetown
Author: Cunningham, Michael
Publisher: Crown $ 16 ISBN: 0609609076
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours explores one of America's oldest towns--Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod. Known as a summer mecca of beautiful beaches and quirky stores, the town has attracted an impressive array of artists and writers.- Trouser People
Author: Marshall, Andrew
Publisher: Counterpoint $ 26 ISBN: 1582431205
Part travelogue, part history, part reportage, The Trouser People is an enormously appealing and vivid account of Sir George Scott, the unsung Victorian adventurer who hacked, bullied, and charmed his way through uncharted jungle to help establish British colonial rule in Burma.
- French Revolutions
Author: Moore, Tim
Publisher: St Martins $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290454
Determined to tackle the most fearsome physical challenge outside of classical mythology, Moore, the ultimate amateur, resolves to complete all 2,256 miles of the Tour de France in the weeks before the professionals set off in this epic comic depiction of how to hilariously exceed one's limits.Also: Route 66 A.D by Tony Perrottet: Tracing a Mediterranean itinerary modeled on that of the world's first tourists, this witty well researched memoir investigates ancient Roman history and culture as compared with our own.
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