Titles to Look For in July

I am headed out of town until July so this week, I am going to cram in as many books arriving in July as I can. First, let's briefly mention those by the MEGA authors which are coming us:

James Lee Burke - Creole Belle - on July 17th.
Catherine Coulter - Backfire - July 10th.
Andrew Gross - 15 Seconds - July 10th.
Iris & Roy Johansen - Close Your Eyes - on July 17th.
James Patters & Michael Ledwidge - I, Michael Bennett - July 9th.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips - The Great Escape - on July 10th.
Danielle Steel - Friends Forever - July 24th.

OK - now they are out of the way. If you want to read any of the above, you will probably not be first on the list but you will be alot higher now than you would if you waited. There are some other titles coming out this month, that are worth your perusal.

Chris Cleave, the author of Little Bee (a New York Times bestseller), has written another book that has a very timely subject. Gold is about 2 friends who are both battling to win a gold medal in cycling at the London Olympics. The reviews on this one range all over the place. The writing is good, the characterizations are good, but some people seem to have trouble with the plot line while others loved it. Zoe and Kate have been competing against each other for ages. Now, in their 30's, the London Olympics seem to be their last chance. Kate has a daughter who is suffering from leukemia. What would you give up for someone you loved?

Stephen L. Carter, the author of The Emperor of Ocean Park, has authored The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln. This is actually an alternative history where Lincoln survives the assassination attempt and is accused of violating the Constitution in his conduct of the war. His lawyers for his impeachment trial include a young black woman. Carter, a professor at Yale, has written this novel of history, mystery and political questions which comes out on July 10th.

If you liked The Discovery of Witches (and I did), Deborah Harkness comes out with the second book featuring Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genetist, and Diana Bishop, a witch in rebellion. I loved the first one and this time, in Shadow of Night, the time-travel back to Elizabethan London so Diana can learn more about how to handle the magic she can't seem to keep under control. This one also comes out on July 10th.

Francine Matthews has an interesting hsitorical thriller out on July 5th, Jack 1939. Preseident Roosevelt chooses John F. Kennedy, the son of America's ambassador to Britain, to go to Europe to investigate what Hitler is really planning and to stop German money designed to help derail Roosevelts re-election. Since Matthews worked for the CIA in the 90's, the atmosphere seems authentic and many of the facts she uses are true.

My next blog entry will be the week of July 9th. I hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th.

Suumer Reading New and Old

Looking for something to take on vacation? I've gleaned some titles for some sources as far away as Los Angeles as well as some of my own personal favorites. Some need no description but some do. See if any of these sound interesting to you.

The After Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer. The main character in this book, Hannah, experiences grief beyond compare. However, in the time that follows, she gets on with life with the help of her wacky, unique, loveable group of friends.

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Imperative by Eric Van Lustbader

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - King Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. Really good historical novel that makes you take a second look at these 2 major characters. If you have read this one, try Bring Up the Bodies, the second in this series.

Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series will be a good summer read for mystery and thriller lovers - #1 is In the Woods;  #2 is The Likeness; #3 is Faithful Place; and #4 coming out in July is Broken Harbor.

Capital by John Lanchester is a novel about London life. This is this is a novel of love and suspicion, of financial collapse and terrorist threat, of property values going up and fortunes going down, and of a city at a moment of extraordinary tension

A Conspiracy of Friends by Alexander McCall Smith is the 3rd in the Corduroy Mansions series. Smith is most known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series and this series is the same kind of gentle character study. The first two are Corduroy Mansions; and The Dog Who Came in From the Cold.

Cop to Corpse by Peter Lovesey. This is the 12th in the Peter Diamond series so if you like British police procedurals and you haven't read him before, you will have alot to read this summer.

The Family Corelone by Ed Falco. Falco was chosen to do a prequel of Mario Puzo's Godfather series. The critics say his efforts hit the mark. If you liked the series, see how Vito Corelone became the Godfather.

Little Night by Luanne Rice would be a good book to take to the beach. I blogged about this one before, it is about family and redemption.

The Nightmare  by Lars Kepler comes out in July. I actually met 'Lars Kepler' at a conference. It is actually written by a Swedish husband and wife team. They were delightfully funny at the conference but their books are highly suspenseful and extremely popular in Europe. this is the second in the series, following The Hypnotist, with the detective Joona Linna.

The Passage by Justin Cronin was very popular when it came out in June of 2010. If you haven't read it, you might want to get to it this summer before the 2nd in the series, The Twelve arrives in October. It is an account of a post-apocalyptic America when a secret project backfires and a virus leads to vampires.

These should give you some options to pick up some good books this summer. Enjoy!

This Summer's Best Nonfiction

5 nonfiction books this week – 3 serious, darker ones (Airlines, Iran and Afghanistan) and 2 which I hope will uplift you after the first 3.

Summer is starting, the big travel season where many of us will be getting in an airplane to go someplace for vacation. Make sure you don’t read the following book before you go – you will end up driving your car instead. William McGee, an award winning travel journalist for Consumer Reports and past editor of Consumer Reports Travel Newsletter, spent 7 years studying the airline industry today. He spoke with pilots, mechanics, passengers, executives and just about anyone who would talk to him. The result is Attention All Passengers: The Airlines' Dangerous Descent - and How to Reclaim our Skies which is out on June 26th. He discusses how the airlines need to turn a profit has affected the airlines and not in a good way.

The Twilight War: The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran by David Crist hits the shelf on July 17th. The US and Iran have been  squaring off against each other for over 30 years – ever since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the taking of American hostages in November of that year. The conflict has continually threatened to become an open war since then. Crist, a senior historian for the federal government, adds depth and understanding to this deeply disturbing problem that has faced 6 presidents.

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Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient, has authored an account of his actions on September 8, 2009 in the Kunar Province in Afghanistan with the help of Bing West. Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War will be published on August 12th. This title has some local interest. Meyer's unit was surrounded by the Taliban and was taking heavy fire. When air cover was late in being provided, he disobeyed orders, took charge of the company and saved 18 men.  4 men died in the attack, one of them, Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr., from Columbus, GA. Meyer made sure that the bodies of those killed in action were returned home. This should be an emotional and thought provoking title to read.

On a lighter note, Terrie M. Williams offers The Odyssey of KP2: An Orphan Seal, a Marine Biologist, and the Fight to Save a Species on July 5, 2012. This book has the cutest cover ever!!!! Williams is the director of the Marine Mammal Physiology Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the co-creator of the Center of Ocean Health. She is also the expert that environmental officials turned to when an orphaned monk seal turned up on the shore of Kauai. Monk seals are the most endangered marine mammal and the opportunity to study them and find a way to prevent their extinction overcame many objections. Williams’ story captures the bonds between humans and animals and reports on the ways we help each other.

Finally, Gretchen Rubin, the bestselling author of The Happiness Project, has another title coming on September 4th. Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson and My Other Experiment in the Practice of Everyday Life describes Rubin's efforts for part of one year to make her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love. She writes with a blend of science, philosophy, experimentation and memoir.  This book will inspire you to find the happiness you might be missing.

3 Thrillers

It is almost June and the weather has become quite warm. Perhaps it's time to turn up the suspense dial on our reading list. Below are 3 very different, very good titles from which to choose

Bellwether Rivivals is an entrancing debut by British novels Benjamin Wood that arrives on June 14th. The story opens with at least 2 bodies - one still alive and one dead. We are not sure who died as we follow the story of Oscar Lowe, a young working class Care Assistant in a nursing home and a wealthy, troubled brother and sister, Iris and Eden Bellwether. Iris is troubled by her extremely talented brother and asks for Oscar's help. Eden is eccentric, wildly brilliant and full of conceit. The story is compelling, the characters are real. It has been compared to a mix of The Secret History and Brideshead Revisited. This wonderful debut will leave you impatient for Wood's next entry.

Faye and Jonathan Kellerman have a son. Such two well known thriller writers had produce something special. Their son, Jesse Kellerman, is an award winning playwright and also an author of quirky thrillers. The definition of potboiler according to Merriam-Webster is  "a usually inferior work produced chiefly for profit." This is obviously NOT going to be your typical thriller. A middle-aged college professor decides to take some action when his friend, a best-selling thriller writer, is lost at sea. He searches out the widow and becomes involved in things much more complicated than he planned. It has been called a thrilling parody of the modern thriller that will make you shiver, think, and laugh. Try this title when it arrives on July 5th if you want a change of pace.

Lastly, there is The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty on June 14th. Ellen O’Farrell is an expert when it comes to human frailties. She’s a hypnotherapist who helps her clients deal with everything from addictions to life-long phobias. So when she falls in love with a man who is being stalked by his ex-girlfriend she’s more intrigued than frightened. What makes a supposedly smart, professional woman behave this way? She’d love to meet her! What she doesn’t know is that she already has. Saskia has been masquerading as a client, and their lives are set to collide in ways Ellen could never have predicted. In many ways, this title is about the grief we feel for things we 'thought' were going to happen. We picture our future in our minds and what would we do, to try to ensure that it happened the way we pictured. A slow starting book that quickly becomes a book that you can't put down. Perfect for the beach.

June Blockbusters

For all those who read and loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Mark Haddon is coming out with The Red House on June 12th. When a wealthy doctor tries to reconnect with his sister after their mother dies, he invites her whole family to come for a week to his vacation home. This account of a dysfunctional family is told from many different points of view. Haddon's prose lays resentments, desire, misunderstandings ands secrets bare. There is a wide range of opinions on this title - some love it and find it "a worthy addition to Haddon’s oeuvre of literary fiction" and some wish they had not taken the time to read it. What will your opinion be?

Janet Evanovich offers the 2nd in her new series focusing on Elizabeth Tucker, the cupcake baker from Salem, MA. She first appeared in the Plum series and expanded to her own title in Wicked Appetite. In Wicked Business, out on June 19th, the evil Grimoire Gerwulf is out find the second of the Seven Stones of Power and Diesel is out to protect Lizzy. This series is aimed at younger readers but the first title was very popular so if you read that one, here is the next.

For those who like suspense and action, Risk Agent from Ridley Pearson is getting rave reviews. This thriller will come out on June 19th. In this possible new series, a firm that specializes in recovery of hostages is called in when a Chinese National working for an American-owned construction company is grabbed off the streets of Shanghai in broad daylight. The security company recruits Grace Chu to follow the money and John Knox to use his muscle and use his muscle he does. Who is actually behind the kidnapping? Will they find the hostages? Ah - well if this is being touted as a series, you know that Grace and John survive.



Luanne Rice offers her 30th novel, Little Night, on  June 5th. When Clare tried to protect Anne from her abusive husband, she didn't know she would end up in prison for 2 years charged with assault. What made it worse was that Anne lied during her trial to defend her husband. After Clare is released, she is a changed person but one day she receives a note from Anne's daughter and things start to change. An engrossing story about family ties and what being a sister means.

For Nonfiction Readers

June has several very interesting nonfiction titles arriving particularly. Some are military related in many ways and one is a comment on our health system.

Colin Powell is quite the storyteller in his new title coming out on June 5th. It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership isn't really a memoir but a series of stories or parables that helped him develop his "13 Rules" of leadership. His warm, wise and ethical advice on succeeding at work and in life, is bound to inspire.

John A. Parrish is a doctor and Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School. He might seem to be the picture of having it made. His Autopsy of War: A Personal History which arrives on June 5th, gives you an entirely different picture. From 1967 to 1968, Parrish served as a Marine doctor on the ground in Vietnam. This experience traumatized him and left him suffering from PSTD for 40 years. This is a profound memoir of his wartime work and his struggle afterwards. He became recognized as one of the most innovative physicians in his field, yet he was tortured by PTSD, lived virtually homeless at times, visited veterans shelters and fled his family while reliving his Vietnam experience in a series of harrowing flashbacks. With treatment though, he has found a form of redemption. Definitely not a light read but one that is rewarding.

Anthony Swofford also pens a memoir on the difficulties of returning from war, Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails, which comes out on June 5th. Swofford was a Marine sniper during the Gulf War. On his return, he authored Jarhead, a New York Times bestseller recounting his experience. Jarhead was made into a movie and Anthony had all the time and all the money to live his life to excess. This title reports on a series of road trips that he took with his terminally ill father. Not having had a close relationship with his father, Swofford had some things to work out. He casts a courageous, insistent eye on both his father and himself in order to make sense of what his life was, is and could be.

Amanda Bennett, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and editor at Bloomberg and co chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, delivers The Cost of Hope on June 5. This memoir of her courtship and marriage asks the ultimate question, how much would you spend to extend the life of a loved one for just a possibly short amount of time. There is no answer to this question but when Bennett's husband develops terminal kidney cancer, they are on the path of discovery. After his passing, Bennett takes a look at the medical effort that was expended on his behalf and the amount of money that it cost. In the end, she believes she would not have changed anything but this does aid in our discovery of how medical costs are set.

Can't Miss Thrillers!

The author who wrote Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson, is coming out with a new title on 6/5 - Amped. Reviews are ranging from "WOW - one of the highlights of 2012" to "heard this story before ; no real substance". However, if you liked Robopocalypse, this will be a must read. In this title in a  frightening near-future world, people are implanted with a device that makes them capable of superhuman feats. Conservative society makes these individuals less than human and laws are passed restricting their rights. Owen, an 'amp', goes on the run looking for a place he might be safe. Some thought provoking dilemmas here. Often, a person's opinion on this type of book depends on their ability to take that leap with the author and to be transported into the future.



Gillian Flynn's new book, Gone Girl, is also coming out on June 5. Flynn writes deeply disturbing thrillers. Some people call them creepy. Her first title, Sharp Edges, was a Edgar finalist for best first novel and won 2 British Dagger awards. Her second title, Dark Places, was a USA Today's Top Summer Read; one of Publisher's Weekly top books of 2009 and one of the New Yorker's Reviewers Favorites from 2009. Obviously, great things are expected from this title. Nick and Amy are celebrating their 5th Wedding Anniversary when Amy suddenly disappears after an apparently violent struggle. The clues are there that Nick is at fault. Nick claims complete innocence. Deep inner secrets are revealed and nothing is the way it appears. Flynn develops the characters well and this is being compared to Tana French's In the Woods. Really quick read although you may not be able to go to bed until you finish. I have my name on the list for this one.



Peter Farris is the son of John Farris, another published author. Peter must have learned well because Last Call for the Living is getting excellent reviews for a debut author. It comes out May 22 but the reviews have been so glowing, I have to talk about it. It is also dark and pretty violent but grabs you from the start. Charlie, a young male bank teller, is taken as a hostage by a hardened criminal,  Hobe. Hobe had managed to get in trouble with the law and the Aryan Brotherhood. Both parties are after them when they escape into the North Georgia mountains. This is a thriller that is also an excellent character study of the good guys, the bad guys and the innocent.