Nonfiction
A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA: ARAB ROOTS, AMERICAN STORIES by Alia Malek (Free Press). “With a remarkable ability to capture her subjects’ voices, Malek, a Syrian-American civil rights lawyer, sketches illuminating responses to her question: What does American history look and feel like in the eyes and skin of Arab Americans?” — Publishers Weekly Starred Review. www.aliamalek.com
HOW IT ENDS: FROM YOU TO THE UNIVERSE by Chris Impey (Norton). The fascinating science behind the eventual end to everything — from the individual to all existence told with verve and humor by astronomer, Chris Impey. www.chrisimpey.com
CHURCHILL’S SECRET WAR: THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND THE RAVAGING OF INDIA DURING WORLD WAR II by Madhusree Mukerjee (Basic Books). In the tradition of The Rape of Nanking and A Problem From Hell, this account of the deliberate sacrifice of millions of innocent lives, subjects of the British Empire, in an effort to defeat Hitler will change the way we think of Churchill and World War II.
SIN IN THE SECOND CITY: MADAMS, MINISTERS, PLAYBOYS, AND THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA'S SOUL by Karen Abbott (Random House). The true story of the most celebrated madams in history, Minna and Ada Everleigh, who establish the grandest whorehouse in the world and rule Chicago's notorious red-light district at the turn of the century. A New York Times Bestseller. www.sininthesecondcity.com
LEAVING INDIA: MY FAMILY’S JOURNEY FROM FIVE VILLAGES TO FIVE CONTINENTS by Minal Hajratwala (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). “Told with the probing detail of a reporter, the fluid voice of a poet and the inspired vision of a young woman who walks in many worlds, Hajratwala's story offers an engaging account of what may be one of the fastest-growing diasporas in the world.” —Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review . www.minalhajratwala.com
THE KENNEDY LEGACY: JACK, BOBBY AND TED AND A FAMILY DREAM FULFILLED by Vincent Bzdek (Palgrave Macmillan). Explores the legacy of America's most famous clan and looks to the future as the sun sets on the current generation of Kennedys by The Washington Post news editor and features writer.
LIFE UNLOCKED: 7 REVOLUTIONARY LESSONS TO OVERCOME FEAR by Srinivasan S. Pillay M.D. (Rodale). The latest research from neurobiology and psychology explaining how fear works on our brain and how we can free ourselves from its grip.
READING CLAUDIUS by Caroline Heller (The Dial Press). The story of how the author's parents and uncle survived the years of Hitler through the literature to which they turned before, during, and after the war. It is a loving homage to books and the rich literary world of cafes and philosophy that, along with so much else, was irrevocably destroyed by the war in Europe.
KING OF BOLLYWOOD: SHAH RUKH KHAN AND THE SEDUCTIVE WORLD OF INDIAN CINEMA by Anupama Chopra (Warner). Watched by more eyeballs than Tom Cruise, Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest movie star in the biggest film industry on the planet. This is an inside look at the melodramatic, glamorous world that has billions from Mumbai to Michigan under its fantastic spell. A New York Times Editor’s Pick. www.anupamachopra.com
THE BIG BOX SWINDLE: THE TRUE COST OF MEGA-RETAILERS AND THE FIGHT FOR AMERICA'S INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES by Stacy Mitchell (Beacon Press). Activist Mitchell reveals the far reaching hidden costs of the big-box retailers and gives hope to concerned citizens and entrepreneurs with a call to action.
www.bigboxswindle.com
A Book Sense Pick.
ART OF WAR FOR WOMEN by Chin-Ning Chu (Doubleday, 2007). A unique distillation of Taoist philosopher-general Sun Tzu’s masterpiece for modern women by internationally renowned speaker and the best-selling author of THICK FACE, BLACK HEART. www.chinningchu.com
FAMILY OF SHADOWS: ARMENIA LOST, REMEMBERED AND REGAINED by Garin Hovannisian (HarperCollins). The extraordinary saga of the Hovannisian family spanning four generations, from the Armenian genocide, to the vibrant immigrant community in California and the future of post-Soviet Armenia.
AMERICAN PLASTIC: BOOB JOBS, CREDIT CARDS AND THE QUEST FOR PERFECTION by Laurie Essig (Beacon). Sociologist, Laurie Essig, reveals the startling connections between our addiction to plastic money and plastic surgery and how our escalating quest for perfect bodies and perfect lives masks a culture in crisis.
PROPHETS OF WAR: LOCKHEED MARTIN AND THE MAKING OF THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX by William Hartung (Nation/Basic). The inside story of Lockheed Martin’s rise to political and economic dominance, and the tactics and techniques it has used to get here by the director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation.
LIVING COSMOS by Dr. Chris Impey (Random House). Dr. Impey, Professor of Astronomy at Seward Observatory/University of Arizona, shows how the technological advancements of the past five years have brought the search for life from the realm of science-fiction to a plausible reality. He argues that not only is life a natural occurrence in the cosmos, we are on the brink of discovering evidence for it thanks to the work of a diverse group of cutting edge scientists and the emerging field of astrobiology. www.thelivingcosmos.com
REDVOLUTION: DARE TO DISTURB THE UNIVERSE by Sera Beak (HarperOne). Call to action for all types of women by world-traveled, Harvard trained scholar of comparative religions, spiritual cowgirl and revolutionary. www.serabeak.com
THE BROTHERHOOD by Thomas Joiner, PhD (Palgrave). A new look at how men's ability to form friendships and create a socially comfortable network for themselves deteriorates in middle age, leading to self destructive behavior by expert in male psychology and professor at Florida State University.
FUGITIVE VISIONS: AN ADOPTEE’S RETURN TO KOREA by Jane Jeong Trenka (Graywolf, 2009). “Trenka shakes up literary expectations in a beautiful, ponderous record of moving back to her birth country, Korea.” -Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review.
MORE POWERFUL THAN DYNAMITE: NEW YORK’S YEAR OF ANARCHY by Thai Jones (Bloomsbury). Story of the dramatic struggle between anarchists, progressives and plutocrats which shaped the course of 20th century American history by historian and journalist.
AMBITIOUS BREW: THE STORY OF AMERICAN BEER by Maureen Ogle (Harcourt Brace). The story of the German immigrant families who battled fiercely against each other in the 19th century to establish the great brewing dynasties that still have their names on the cans today. www.ambitiousbrew.com
BASIC TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA by Glenn Wallis (Modern Library). A ground breaking effort to compile and translate the "heartwood" of Buddhism-- the core teachings in Buddha's own words-- as well as provide a way for contemporary readers to engage with the text and find relevance by a leading scholar.
WOMAN OF THE HOUSE: THE RISE OF NANCY PELOSI by Vince Bzdek (Palgrave) Biography of America's first female Speaker of the House by the News Editor of The Washington Post.
HOW TO RULE THE WORLD: THE COMING BATTLE OVER THE GLOBAL ECONOMY by Mark Engler (Nation Books). A journalist and social activist exposes the injustices of the Bush-era politics of globalization and offers a guide to overcoming the challenges of the post-Bush moment. www.democracyuprising.com
STORMS CAN’T HURT THE SKY: A BUDDHIST PATH THROUGH DIVORCE by Gabriel Cohen (Da Capo/Perseus). A compulsively readable story of crisis and renewal that will appeal to people from any faith looking to recover from their own losses. www.gabrielcohenbooks.com
THE MUSIC ROOM by Namita Devidayal (St. Martin’s Press). A literary memoir about the hidden world of Indian classical music revealed through the author's decades-long relationship with her guru (the last living icon and heir to the legendary singer Alladiya Khan), showing how traditions and life lessons are passed from one generation to another and offering a glimpse of India rarely seen by the Western world.
THE LAST TRUE STORY I'LL EVER TELL: AN ACCIDENTAL SOLDIER'S ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IN IRAQ by John Crawford (Riverhead). In a voice that is at once raw and immediate, Crawford's stories vividly chronicle the daily life of a young soldier in Iraq-the excitement, the horror, the anger, the tedium, the fear and the camaraderie. Together, they slowly uncover something more: the transformation of a group of young college students, innocents, into something entirely different. “A tremendous book ... incredibly gripping and incredibly well-written... It's a remarkable story... I urge everyone to go...grab it.”-- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show.
A New York Times Bestseller.
A RADICAL LINE: FROM THE LABOR MOVEMENT TO THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, ONE FAMILY'S CENTURY OF CONSCIENCE by Thai Stein Jones (Free Press). The story of the Stein and Jones families and the different paths of political radicalism in the twentieth century as lived by members of Thai's family. "One of the best forays into the Days of Rage- event, prequel, and sequel- to have appeared in years." Kirkus Reviews (starred)
ALL IS CHANGE: THE TWO-THOUSAND YEAR JOURNEY OF BUDDHISM TO THE WEST by Lawrence Sutin (Little Brown). The definitive story of the Western encounter with Buddhism. The story is a colorful one, featuring adventurers, eccentrics, seekers, celebrities and charlatans from the first intrepid Westerners to visit the forbidden monasteries in the remote Himalayas to the Florida teen who was recently identified as a reincarnation of a Tibetan lama.
LANGUAGE OF BLOOD by Jane Jeong Trenka (MHS Press/Graywolf). A lyrical and inventive memoir by a Korean adoptee of her journey from rural Minnesota to Korea to understand her past and the pull of the unspoken language of blood. Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers Pick, 2004 Minnesota Book Award Winner. www.languageofblood.com
THE RED BOOK by Sera Joan Beak (Jossey Bass). Hip, sensual, modern-day mysticism for young women. 29 year old Sera Beak has a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard, and along the way has trance-danced in Goa, whirled with Dervishes in Konya, prayed in churches, temples, mosques, Wiccan festivals, shared visions with shamans, argued with Zen masters, had private audience with the Dalai Lama on her 21st birthday and more. www.serabeak.com
THE POWER OF THE PURSE: HOW SMART BUSINESSES ARE ADAPTING TO THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT CONSUMERS by Fara Warner (Prentice Hall Business). Women now drive some 80% of all buying decisions and by 2010, they'll account for half of America's private wealth: $13 trillion dollars. Top journalist Fara Warner takes you behind the scenes at a few remarkable companies that have learned how to refocus on women - and, in so doing, have achieved truly stunning results. www.powerofthepurse.com
LAND OF THE NAKED PEOPLE by Madhusree Mukerjee (Houghton Mifflin). A moving account of the Andamese, a tribe of stone-age hunter-gathers living on a spray of islands in the Bay of Bengal, whose genetic makeup resembles that of our prehistoric kin. In a series of visits the author sets out to understand their mysterious origins and uncertain future as environmental changes and contact with the modern world threaten to end their way of life.
LIFE INSIDE by Mindy Lewis (Atria). A sullen, rebellious teenager at fifteen, Mindy was committed to a state psychiatric institute by her mother, where she was locked up as insane until she turned eighteen. LIFE INSIDE is an account of this traumatic event in Mindy's adolescence, and the larger, more courageous story of the thirty odd years of life after her release: the slow, often painful way back to being normal, sane, not crazy.
THE GOLD TRAIN by Ron Zweig (Morrow). Riveting history of an unknown and shameful corner of World War II history. In the final days of the war, the Nazi rulers of Hungary loaded a train with dozens of boxcars filled with looted Jewish gold and other treasures. The train fled across Europe until it was finally captured by the U.S. Army. 55 years later, a U.S. Presidential commission is still trying to determine what happened to the gold after that.
HOW MUCH ARE YOU MAKING ON THE WAR DADDY? A QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO WAR PROFITEERING IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION by William Hartung (Nation Books). An authoritative and spirited explication of crony capitalism under the Bush administration by the director of the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute.
THE WIMP FACTOR: GENDER GAPS, HOLY WARS AND THE POLITICS OF ANXIOUS MASCULINITY by Stephen J. Ducat, Ph. D (Beacon Press). An engaging account of recent presidential history that uses a variety of revelatory elements from popular culture such as cartoons, political advertisements, movies and slips of the tongue by public figures to demonstrate a direct link between men’s fear of being feminine and their tendency to embrace right wing political opinions, and explores the startling implications of this.
HOW WALL STREET CREATED A NATION: J.P. MORGAN, ROOSEVELT AND THE PANAMA CANAL by Ovidio Diaz Espino (Four Walls Eight Windows). The incredible untold story of how a secret syndicate of Wall Street speculators headed by J. P. Morgan and the “foxy” lawyer William Nelson Cromwell convinced Roosevelt to purchase the defunct French Panama Canal Company and when Colombia was unwilling to cooperate, forment a revolution in Panama with US dollars and warships.
LUIS BUNUEL by John Baxter (Carroll & Graf). The definitive biography of the surrealist filmmaker.
LAWRENCE DURRELL by Ian MacNiven (Faber). The definitive, authorized biography of the novelist.
BRENDAN BEHAN by Michael O’Sullivan (Roberts Rinehart). Definitive biography of the legendary Irish playwright and author.
SPACE MATTERS by Kathleen Cox (Stewart, Tabori and Chang). A unique design book that draws on the ancient Indian science of Vastu to demystify the subject of interior design by explaining why spaces work or don't work, and that will show, step-by-step, how to create an appealing home by the author of THE POWER OF VASTU LIVING (Fireside) www.vastuliving.com.
REVERSE HEART DISEASE NOW by Stephen Sinatra, M.D. and James Roberts, M.D. with Martin Zucker (Wiley). Two leading cardiologists share the newest findings about the deadly role of plaque in cardiovascular disease and offer a complete approach using the best of complementary and conventional medicine for reversing and preventing it.
THE GLUTEN CONNECTION by Dr. Shari Lieberman (Rodale). Between 35 and 50 percent of the U.S. population may have a sensitivity to gluten which is linked to unexplained weight gain, fatigue, join pain, depression, infertility and digestive distress and can lead to far more serious health problems if left untreated. Dr. Lieberman explains this common condition and what you can do about it. www.dr.shari.net
THE MEMORY CURE: HOW TO PROTECT YOUR BRAIN AGAINST MEMORY LOSS AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE by Majid Fotuhi, PhD. M.D. (McGraw-Hill). By the Neurologist at the Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins University Medical School.
JOINING HANDS AND HEARTS:INTERFAITH, INTERCULTURAL WEDDING CELEBRATIONS by Rev. Susanna Macomb with Andrea Thompson (Fireside).
A WOMAN'S BOOK OF MEDITATION by Hari Kaur Khalsa (Avery). First popular book on meditation designed especially for women by respected Kundalini Yoga and meditation teacher and author of A WOMAN'S BOOK OF YOGA.
ILLEGAL DRUGS: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR HISTORY, CHEMISTRY, USE AND ABUSE by Paul M. Gahlinger, M.D., Ph. D. (Penguin). The first book to provide detailed chemical and medical information on all 178 illegal drugs from an authoritative source as well as describe in an engaging style, drug laws, the “war on drugs,” the history and culture of usage, the drug economy and other important context for understanding “the drug problem.”
PARSIS: THE ZOROASTRIANS OF INDIA: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY by Sooni Taraporevala (Overlook Press). The first visual documentation of India’s Parsi community, the followers of the world’s first prophet, Zarathusthra by
an award-winning photographer and screenwriter. www.soonitaraporevala.com
Fiction
CLEOPATRA’S DAUGHTER by Michelle Moran (Crown). A new novel about the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony by the bestselling author of NEFERTITI and THE HERETIC QUEEN. www.michellemoran.com
SISTER TERESA by Barbara Mujica (Overlook). "This brilliant fictional biography of Saint Teresa of Avila breathes new life into a sacred subject." -Booklist. "An earthy, humanizing portrait" -Kirkus (starred). www.barbaramujica.com
DELILAH by India Edghill (Picador). A lyrical and wonderfully imagined retelling of the biblical story of Samson and Delilah by the author of QUEENMAKER and WISDOM’S DAUGHTER. www.indiaedghill.com
FRIDA by Barbara Mujica (Overlook, Plume). A brilliantly inventive novel about the celebrated artist immortalized in the film starring Salma Hayek.
"The best kind of fictionalized biography: rich, vibrant and psychologically astute." -Kirkus Reviews.
INTERESTING MONSTERS by Aldo Alvarez (Graywolf). "Set mostly in gay experience, these fresh, artfully crafted tales touch on recognizable themes -- allure, anxiety, redemption, prejudice, and loss -- that shiver to life under the author's masterly touch. Highly recommended." -Library Journal
THE HIGH KING’S TOMB by Kristen Britain (Daw Books). The third GREEN RIDER installment. "This is the rarest of finds: a truly enjoyable read." -Terry Goodkind. www.kristenbritain.com
National Bestseller.
HOUSE OF LIGHT by Joyce Carol Thomas (Hyperion). "Joyce Carol Thomas's characters enact the verites of human life: romance, apprehension, loss, and hope." -Alice Walker
FRESH EGGS by Rob Levandoski (Permanent Press, Plume). "Part freak show, part corporate satire, part the study of a family in crisis- from a distinctive literary voice deserving to be more widely known." -Kirkus Reviews
GOSSIP HOUND by Wendy Holden (Plume). New novel by the internationally best-selling author of BAD HEIR DAY and FARM FATALE.
GOOD AS ANY by Timothy Westmoreland (Harcourt Brace). From a new voice in American fiction comes tales of men whose language is grief, whose off-center lives expose the difficulty of being whole in a world they cannot understand. Reminiscent of the work of Russell Banks, it announces a major new writer of immense talent.
LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE by J. California Cooper (Doubleday). A new novel by the American Book Award winning author.
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