Publishers Weekly articles from July 2011

Publishers Weekly archives from July 2011

Thumb's up.(Publishers Weekly: Pick of the Week)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Life Itself: A Memoir Roger Ebert. Grand Central, $27.99 (436p) ISBN 978-0-4465-8497-5 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's hardly surprising that Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, begins this...

Selling after borders: where will book sales from the nation's #3 go?(News)(the impact of Borders' bankruptcy on book sales)
July 25, 2011... It's no secret that Borders was hemorrhaging money long before it sought chapter bankruptcy protection five months ago. Because of the company's shaky finances, most publishers began transitioning sales to other outlets long before the...

Scholastic earnings up 1% in 4Q.(Scholastic Inc.)(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... Scholastic reported fourth-quarter earnings of $545.8 million, up 1% from 2010, and overall annual revenue for the fiscal year that ended May 31 of $1.91 billion, roughly level with last year. Results for 2011 reflected lower sales of...

AAP monthly sales report: digital climbs 147%.(Association of American Publishers)(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... All major adult print segments--hardcover, paperback, and mass market--showed a decline in sales in May, according to the AAP's monthly sales report. While ebooks showed a steep uptick of 146.9% for the month, bringing in $73.4 million in sales,...

Concern over Google settlement negotiations.(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... Lawyers for the parties in the Google Book Settlement asked U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin for more time to negotiate a revised deal, but in contrast to the last meeting in Chin's courtroom, the judge expressed concern about the lack of progress...

Dubai publisher makes U.S. debut.(International)(Awakened Press)
July 25, 2011... Awakened Press, in Boston, the U.S. publishing division of Dubai's Dar-El Shams Books, just published its first book in the U.S., and the company's first book in English, Rise Up and Salute the Sun. This collection of writings by U.S.-Egyptian...

New Louvre book looks at all the pretty paintings.(High-End)(The Louvre: All the Paintings)
July 25, 2011... Museum art books are common staples in any exhibition's gift store and on coffee tables around the world, but The Louvre: All the Paintings (Black Dog & Leventhal) has one thing that no other art book can claim: every single painting from...

Pottermore inks deal with Google.(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... When J.K. Rowling's new Web site, Pottermore .com, goes live in October, U.S. visitors will be able to store their Harry Potter e-books in their Google Books libraries. Pottermore will be the exclusive place to buy Harry Potter e-books and...

Greenwillow takes McQuein debut.(Deals)(Josin L. McQuein signs with Greenwillow Books)(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... Josin L. McQuein sold her first novel, Arclight, to Martha Mihalick at HarperCollins's Greenwillow Books imprint. Mihalick pre-empted North American rights to the YA novel in a two-book deal--a sequel is planned from agent Suzie Townsend at...

Vardalos goes on record at Da Capo.(Deals)(Nia Vardalos)(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... Nia Vardalos, who shot to fame as the star (and screenwriter) of the 2002 romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, sold a memoir to Katie McHugh at Da Capo, working with agent Laura Nolan at Paradigm. McHugh took world rights to the currently...

Just closes for Heilbroner, Baron.(Deals)(Julie Just sells works by Joan Heilbroner and Jeff Baron)(Brief article)
July 25, 2011... Julie Just, at Janklow & Nesbit, sold world rights to Joan Heilbroner's A Pet Named Sneaker. Mice Jonaitis at Random House acquired the early reader title for the BeginnerBooks series. Heilbroner, 82, is something of a legend in children's...

Carol Schneck, Schuler Books & Music, Okemos, Mich.(GALLEY TALK)(The Family Fang)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... In The Family Fang (Ecco, Aug.), Kevin Wilson presents a slyly hilarious novel that's part social satire, part detective story, and part just plain good storytelling. Wilson's debut novels tells of two performance artists, Caleb and Camille...

Agate grows through diversification.(Expanding)(Agate Publishing)
July 25, 2011... A gate Publishing, founded in 2003 with the release of a single novel, Sexual Healing by Jill Nelson, has found success in a volatile industry by publishing nonfiction and fiction for a variety of distinct niche markets. The Chicagoland press...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's hard to recall a novel that's been as eagerly anticipated as the fifth book in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series--especially given the fact that the preceding installment, A Feast for Crows, was published back...

Hardcover bestseller/nonfiction.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From the introduction to our # 1 bestseller: "My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I was kid napped by a stranger at age eleven. For eighteen years I was kept in a backyard and not allowed to say my own name." How strongly has...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Thanks to HBO's Emmy-nominated Game of Thrones, based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, all four of the series's titles have appeared in our top 15 since June 27. Only three titles, however, made the cut in the...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Movie Update. It's really more of an alert, since two eagerly awaited film adaptations--both from widely praised books--are checking into multiplexes next month. Stockett's The Help, which ran for 97 weeks on our...

Audio bestsellers/fiction.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Thus begins a dangerous quest for fabled treasure. Like all Cussler thrillers, there are the requisite beautiful, brilliant, wealthy, athletic, expert protagonists, and the greedy, evil, cruel, conniving foes--and...

Audio bestsellers/nonfiction.
July 25, 2011... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In Davis's in-depth examination of the Civil War, listeners will get a second chance to learn their American history and a variety of surprising facts and historical tidbits. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln won 40% of...

Children's series and tie-ins bestsellers.
July 25, 2011... The Hunger Games was already hot, and it's still getting hotter. "Weekly retail sales for the trilogy have doubled in the last two months," says Alan Smagler, v-p, Scholastic trade sales. "Movie buzz, summer reading lists across the country, and...

A world without borders: independent booksellers weigh in on losing what had once been one of their most formidable competitors.(Retail Nation)
July 25, 2011... It might seem only reasonable for independents to gloat, at least a little, now that one of their biggest competitors, Borders Book Group, which had 1,249 stores in 2003, has begun closing its remaining 399 stores. But the response from indies...

Crafting the future: weaving print and digital.(Crafts & Hobbies)
July 25, 2011... Most ads for e-readers still feature a picture of a device showing black-and-white text in neat lines on a small screen. And basic text was what the earlier devices handled best (and, arguably, still do). With lush photo spreads and need to...

Binyavanga Wainanda: talking about writing about Africa.(Author Profile)(Biography)
July 25, 2011... In his essay "How to Write about Africa," published in Granta in 2005, Binvavanga Wainanda, 40, offers satirical advice to Westerners writing about Africa. In doing so, he points out the cliches and simplifications of much of Western media's...

The Outlaw Album.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Outlaw Album Daniel Woodrell. Little, Brown, $24.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-316-05756-1 In his eight novels, Woodrell (Winter's Bone) has been doing for his native Missouri Ozarks what William Faulkner did for rural Mississippi: introduce...

Mr. Fox.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Mr. Fox Helen Oyeyemi. Riverhead, $25.95 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59448-807-8 In this highly conceptual novel from Oyeyemi (White Is for Witching), the writer St. John Fox receives a visit from his muse Mary while his wife Daphne, whom he taught...

The Magician King.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Magician King Lev Grossman. Viking, $26.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-670-02231-1 Grossman's stylish sequel to The Magicians smoothly fuses adventure fantasy, magic realism, and mythic fiction. It's been two years since Quentin, Eliot, Janet,...

The End of the Wasp Season.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * The End of the Wasp Season Denise Mina. Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur, $25.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-316-06933-5 In Mina's stellar follow-up to Still Midnight, Det. Sgt. Alex Morrow, who's five months pregnant with twins, looks into the murder...

The Taste of Salt.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Taste of Salt Martha Southgate. Algonquin, $13.95 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-56512-925-2 In her haunting fourth novel, Southgate (Third Girl from the Left) examines the complicated issues of race, family, love, and addiction. Josie...

So Near.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... So Near Liza Gyllenhaal. NAL Accent, $14 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-451-23457-5 Gyllenhaal (aunt of Maggie and Jake) ) juxtaposes the impact of a family disaster on a marriage against the economic woes of a small upstate New York town...

Damage Control.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Damage Control Denise Hamilton. Scribner, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-0-7432-9674-8 In this excellent stand-alone from Hamilton (The Last Embrace), 33-year-old Maggie Silver works for "the top crisis management firm in L.A.," which represents...

The Vault: An Inspector Wexford Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Vault: An Inspector Wexford Novel Ruth Rendell. Scribner, $26 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4516-2408-3 In Rendell's fine follow-up to A Sight for Sore Eyes (1999), a non-Wexford novel in which a working-class aesthete's quest for beauty earned...

Lady of the English.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Lady of the English Elizabeth Chadwick. Sourcebooks/Landmark, $14.99 trade paper (544p)ISBN 978-1-4022-5092-7 Prolific historical novelist Chadwick's latest (after To Defy a King) delves deep into the political intrigue of 12th-century...

Swell.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Swell Corwin Ericson. Dark Coast (IPS, dist.), $16.95 trade paper (360p) ISBN 978-0-9844288-4-7 This delightfully loopy debut combines Down East deadpan with elements of Nordic mythology and Pynchonesque pyrotechnics in following the...

Scorch City.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Scorch City Toby Ball. St. Martin's, $25.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-312-58083-4 Set in 1950 in the unrelentingly grim metropolis known only as the City, Ball's worthy follow-up to The Vaults presents Lt. Piet Westermann, an honest police...

Cain.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Cain Jose Saramago, trans, from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24 (160p) ISBN 978-0-547-41989-3 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With breathtaking imagination, acclaimed Portuguese author Saramago (1922-2010),...

Second Nature.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Second Nature Jacquelyn Mitchard. Random, $26 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6775-6 Mitchard's (The Deep End of the Ocean) fans are familiar with the Cappadoras, a family that has suffered the most improbable tragedies. This time out they enter...

Saint's Gate.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Saint's Gate Carla Neggers. Mira, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1235-2 This novel of suspense from Neggers (Cold River) uneasily combines Maine artists, Irish saints, Viking artifacts, convent life, and the FBI. Puzzled by a mysterious...

Velva Jean Learns to Fly.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Velva Jean Learns to Fly Jennifer Niven. Plume, $15 trade paper (416p) ISBN 978-0-452-29740-1 Niven delivers another tale full of hope, heartbreak, and nostalgia in this sequel to Velva Jean Learns to Drive. Now in her twenties, at the...

The Art of Fielding.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach. Little, Brown, $25.99 (512p) ISBN 978-0-316-12669-4 Recalling works as disparate as Chaim Potok's The Chosen, John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Scott Lasser's Battle Creek, Harbach's big-hearted...

End of Days.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * End of Days Robert Gleason. Forge, $24.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2992-9 Gleason's work with Junius Podrug on such novels as Apocalypse 2012 and The 2012 Codes has made him an expert on all things apocalyptic, a subject he returns to with...

The Armageddon Chord.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Armageddon Chord Jeremy Wagner. kNight Romance (www.knightromancepublishing.com), $17.99 trade paper (254p) ISBN 978:0-9831297-7-6 Death metal guitarist Wagner (of bands Broken Hope and Lupara) debuts with a highly entertaining, albeit...

Secret Obsession.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Secret Obsession Kimberla Lawson Roby. Grand Central, $19.99 (192p) ISBN 978-0-446-57242-2 Paige Donohue has spent her entire life feeling inferior to her sister, Camille, who gets all the love and affection from their parents while Paige...

New York to Dallas.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... New York to Dallas J.D. Robb. Putnam, $27.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-399-15778-3 Bestseller Robb breaks with one tradition in her 34th Eve Dallas novel (after Treachery in Death); "Death" is not part of the title, but otherwise she delivers...

There but for the.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * There but for the Ali Smith. Pantheon, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-0-375-42409-0 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This startling lark from Smith (The Accidental) is so much more than the sum of its parts. Both breezy and devastating, the novel radiates...

Claim of Innocence.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Claim of Innocence Laura Caldwell. Mira, $7.99 mass market (448p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2932-9 In Caldwell's soap opera-ish fourth Izzy McNeil legal thriller (after Red, White and Dead), a lawyer friend of Izzy's, Maggie Bristol, asks the...

Lassiter.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Lassiter Paul Levine. Bantam, $25 (304p) ISBN 978-0-553-80674-8 In Levine's engaging eighth legal thriller featuring Florida attorney Jake Lassiter (after Flesh and Bones), Lassiter is distressed to hear from insurance investigator Amy...

The Scroll.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Scroll Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton L. Gansky. WaterBrook, $14.99 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-0-307-72926-2 In summer 2012, famed biblical archaeologist David Chambers decides to call it quits after his last dig in Israel--and the...

Prosperity rules.(Last Man in Tower and The Boat to Redemption)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Very different authors tackle privacy and the impact of shifting global wealth. Last Man in Tower Aravind Adiga. Knopf, $26.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-307-59409-9 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Mumbai was still Bombay, the apartment building...

The Opposite of Art.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Opposite of Art Athol Dickson. Howard, $15.99 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-1-4165-8348-6 Readers looking for a quest novel tinged with the supernatural, allegory, and metaphysical leanings will find much to ponder in Christy...

The Touch.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Touch Randall Wallace. Tyndale House, $14.99 (300p) ISBN 978-1-4143-4366-2 A gifted young surgeon and a genius biomedical engineer rendezvous in this novel about love, loss, and new beginnings. Andrew Jones has everything going for...

Forbidden.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Forbidden Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee. Center Street, $24.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-59995-354-0 A new trilogy and a new partnership begins with Dekker (The Bride Collector) and Lee (Havah) in the first of The Books of Mortals series. In the...

Midnight Lantern: New and Selected Poems.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Midnight Lantern: New and Selected Poems Tess Gallagher. Graywolf, $28 (352p) ISBN 978-1-55597-597-5 Gallagher's large following has honored her work, since the 1970s, for many reasons. Some value her proliferation of family elegies,...

Clavics.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Clavics Geoffrey Hill. Enitharmon (Dufour, dist.), $29.95 (48p)ISBN 978-1-907587-11-5 This very English poet's grand, rich lines won him transatlantic fame. This allusive sequence commemorates the 17th-century composer William Lawes; each...

Imaginary Logic.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Imaginary Logic Rodney Jones. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22 (96p) ISBN 978-0-547-47978-1 The gritty, capacious verse in this ninth book from Jones (Salvation Blues) pursues, and secures, the virtues of realist fiction: credible characters...

The Odicy.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * The Odicy Cyrus Console. Omnidawn (IPG, dist.), $15.95 trade paper (88p)ISBN 978-1-890650-52-0 Very old methods and very new American speech collide, strike sparks, and end up burning brightly indeed in this shockingly memorable...

Vanishing-Line.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Vanishing-Line Jeffrey Yang. Graywolf, $15 trade paper (120p) ISBN 978-1-55597-594-4 Admirers of Yang's crisp, polymathic, and widely praised debut, An Aquarium, might be surprised by the scope of his second effort, whose seven longer...

Notes from Irrelevance.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Notes from Irrelevance Anselm Berrigan. Wave (Consortium, dist.), $16 trade paper (80p) ISBN 978-1-933517-54-4 Stirring cosmic observations and succinct "micro-meanings" in the same pot, Berrigan creates a single poem that reads like the...

One Thousand Nights and Counting: Selected Poems.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... One Thousand Nights and Counting: Selected Poems Glyn Maxwell. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27 (288p) ISBN 978-0-374-22648-0 The British poet Maxwell's first U.S. selected presents a conversational style that is a constant throughout, as...

Water Puppets.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Water Puppets Quan Barry. Univ. of Pittsburgh, $14.95 trade paper (80p) ISBN 978-0-8229-6160-4 The poems in Barry's third collection are fragments of violence melded together. Her poem "Meditations," has quick-paced leaps from China to...

The Trees The Trees.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * The Trees The Trees Heather Christie. Octopus (SPD, dist.), $12 trade paper (66p) ISBN 978-0-9801938-7-9 In her quirky first outing Christie writes short blocks of prose without punctuation, phrases separated by white space, so that we...

Well Then There Now.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Well Then There Now Juliana Spahr. Black Sparrow/David R. Godine, $17.95 trade paper (156p) ISBN 978-1-57423-217 Spahr's fifth book of imaginative writing (both poems and prose) should be a blockbuster, a lasting disturbance; a work of...

We Are Starved.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... We Are Starved Joshua Kryah. CLP (Univ. of Oklahoma, dist.), $16.95 (82p) ISBN 978-1-885635-17-4 Through the jagged couplets and one-line stanzas of Kryah's second collection of poems runs an unsettling but graceful drama of consumption...

Vertigo.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Vertigo Marvin Bell. Copper Canyon (Consortium, dist.), $16 trade paper (152p) ISBN 978-1-55659-376-5 In his 18th book of poems, the beloved Bell continues to develop his signature form, the "Dead Man" poem, each of which is actually a...

Bad Moon.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Bad Moon Todd Ritter. Minotaur, $24.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-4299-7817-0 In Ritter's compelling second mystery featuring Perry Hollow, Pa., police chief Kat Campbell (after 2010's Death Notice), Eric Olmstead, a successful author and Kat's...

The Dog Who Knew Too Much: A Chet and Bernie Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * The Dog Who Knew Too Much: A Chet and Bernie Mystery Spencer Quinn. Atria, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4391-5709-1 Near the start of the pseudonymous Quinn's outstanding fourth Chet and Bernie whodunit (after 2010's To Fetch a Thief), Anya...

The Cradle in the Grave.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Cradle in the Grave Sophie Hannah. Penguin, $15 trade paper (480p) ISBN 978-0-14-311994-4 Hannah focuses on the dangerous gray area between guilt and innocence in her provocative fifth mystery featuring Det. Sgt. Charlotte "Charlie"...

Murder in the 11th House: A Starlight Detective Agency Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Murder in the 11th House: A Starlight Detective Agency Mystery Mitchell Scott Lewis. Poisoned Pen, $24,95 (250p) ISBN 978-1-59058-950-2; $14.95 trade paper ISBN 978-1-59058-952-6 Lewis's winning debut, the first in a new series, introduces...

The Tale of Castle Cottage: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Tale of Castle Cottage: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Susan Wittig Albert. Berkley Prime Crime, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-425-24350-8 Set in 1913, Albert's delightful eighth Beatrix Potter cozy (after 2010's The Tale of Oat Cake...

Murder My Neighbor: An Ellie Quicke Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Murder My Neighbor: An Ellie Quicke Mystery Veronica Heley. Severn, $28.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-7278-8050-5 In Heley's irresistible 12th Ellie Quick cozy (after 2010's Murder by Mistake), a former neighbor of Ellie's in suburban London,...

Blinded by the Sight.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Blinded by the Sight S.L. Smith. North Star (www.northstarpress.com), $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-87839-439-5 Merely serviceable prose and a simplistic plot undermine Scott's debut, a police procedural set in St. Paul, Minn. Lt....

I'll See You in My Dreams: An Arthur Beauchamp Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * I'll See You in My Dreams: An Arthur Beauchamp Novel William Deverell. McClelland & Stewart, $27.95 (440p) ISBN 978-0-7710-2716-1 Deverell's excellent fifth novel featuring lawyer Arthur Beauchamp (after 2009's Snow Job) finds him...

Sahara Dust: A Randa Sorel Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Sahara Dust: A Randa Sorel Mystery Jim Ingraham. Five Star, $25.95 (298p) ISBN 978-1-4328-2508-9 At the start of Ingraham's so-so second mystery to feature net. Sgt. Randa Sorel (after 2002's Capacity for Evil reissued for Kindle as...

Chalk Line: A Ben Gallagher Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Chalk Line: A Ben Gallagher Mystery Paula LaRocque. Marion Street (www.rnarionstreetpress.com), $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-933338-95-8 LaRocque's uneven debut introduces Arlington, Tex., chief of detectives Ben Gallagher. Ben is looking...

PW talks with Jason Webster: bullfighting can be murder.(Q&A)(Interview)
July 25, 2011... Jason Webster, who's lived in Spain since 1993, introduces Chief Insp. Max Camara in Or the Bull Kills You (Reviews, July 11) You've written a number of nonfiction books about Spain. Why the switch to fiction? I aim to be a storyteller...

A Crack in Everything.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... A Crack in Everything Daniel Marcus. Apodis (www.apodispublishing.com), $14.95 trade paper (230p) ISBN 978-0-9738047-5-1 Marcus (Burn Rate) delivers a touching and often melancholy contemporary fantasy that deftly avoids straying into...

The Bone House.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Bone House Stephen R. Lawhead. Thomas Nelson, $25.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-59554-805-4 Lawhead's second Bright Empires time-travel tale (after May's The Skin Map) is an incoherent collection of storylines populated by an unwieldy cast of...

The Dragon Keeper's Handbook.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Dragon Keeper's Handbook Shawn MacKenzie. Llewellyn, $15.95 trade paper (312p) ISBN 978-0-7387-2785-1 This note-perfect "nonfiction" book on fantasy creatures will be eerily familiar to anyone who's read the genre it emulates, down to...

With Fate Conspire.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... With Fate Conspire Marie Brennan. Tor, $27.99 (528p) ISBN 978-0-7653-2537-2 Gifted storyteller and world-builder Brennan returns to the Onyx Court, a faery city that coexists with London, in her fourth historical fantasy (after 2010's A...

The Restoration Game.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... The Restoration Game Ken MacLeod. Pyr, $16 trade paper (258p) ISBN 978-1-61614-525-5 Brewing revolution in a small corner of the former U.S.S.R. pulls a writer for a Scottish gaming startup into a complex game of international intrigue....

Erekos.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Erekos A. M. Tuomala. Candlemark & Gleam (www.candlemarkandgleam.com), $19.95 trade paper (311p) ISBN 978-1-936460-03-8 Debut author Tuomala poetically crafts a complex tale of war and love. Swamp witch Achane loves her dying sister...

Those across the River.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Those Across the River Christopher Buehlman. Ace, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-441-02067-6 Buehlman packs suspense and secrets into his debut novel, set in the deceptively quiet fictional town of Whitbrow, Ga., just after the Great Depression....

Rejiggering the Thingamajig and Other Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Rejiggering the Thingamajig and Other Stories Eric James Stone. Paper Golem, $18 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-9795349-7 Stone's first collection offers 25 SF stories ranging from the earnest but mediocre "The Man Who Moved the Moon" to...

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! Edited by Otto Penzler. Vintage Black Lizard, $25 (827p) ISBN 978-0-307-74089-2 Penzler's latest monster-sized anthology of monster stories is sure to call attention to the living dead the same way that his...

Tempted.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 25, 2011... * Tempted Elisabeth Naughton. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (416p) ISBN 978-1-4022-6046-9 Naughton's sexy, fast-paced Eternal Guardians series, in which superhuman warriors protect descendants of the Greek gods, continues in...