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September/October
2002 Book Sense 76 Picks
76 unique and provocative
selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by
the independent booksellers of America.
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| New Fiction in Hardcover |
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The
Blue Shoe
by Anne
Lamott
"Apart from her undeniable talent as a storyteller, Lamott captures valuable
lessons about ourselves, our dreams, and the past in this novel. Highly recommended
for an autumn weekend read. Five stars!" - Emery Pinter, Chapter 11
Bookstore Gainesville,
GA
 Casa
Rossa
by Francesca
Marciano
"I enjoyed every minute of this three-generation family chronicle set against
the last 70 years of Italian history. There is a compassionate quality about
Marciano's writing that makes even the most flawed human beings sympathetic.
I loved it." - Virginia Valentine, The Tattered Cover, Denver, CO
 Coastliners
by Joanne
Harris
"This is about a classic father-daughter struggle, set on an island off
the coast of France. Half-truths and partially understood family legends lead
to an explosive display of tempers involving the entire island. Scenic, beautiful,
and wild; this is Harris' best yet." - Maryann Eastman, White Birch
Books, N. Conway, NH
 Do
No Harm
by Gregg
Andrew Hurwitz
"Dr. David Spier is the target of contempt when he treats the man guilty
of throwing acid in the faces of ER women. The man escapes and starts targeting
the doctor's friends. But why? The dark side of psychological research is exposed
in this fast-paced medical mystery and game of pursuit." - Mary Jane
Weber, Town Book Store, Westfield, NJ
 Family
Matters
by Rohinton
Mistry
"This is one of those rare novels that you live and breathe, absorbing
the characters into your life, dreaming about their problems and possibilities.
The patriarch of a blended family is getting old and is in need of care from
his children; some of them are willing, others are resentful. Set in overcrowded,
politically overheated Bombay, this is a poetically rendered gem of family dynamics."
- Jude Sales, A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, San Francisco, CA
 The
Half-Mammals of Dixie
by George
Singleton
"These stories are knit together by their grounding in the South, but to
call the author's writing 'Southern' would be like calling Chekhov
just a Russian. The humor, depth and sadness of these stories will touch everyone,
no matter how cynical they are or where their hat is hung." - Todd
Simmons, NYU Bookstore, New York, NY
In
the River Sweet
by Patricia
Henley
"Ruth Anne is a happily married, devout Catholic with a newly out-as-a-lesbian
adult daughter. While struggling with both her priest's refusal to condemn the
anti-gay graffiti appearing in town and her own discomfort over her daughter's
disclosure, she receives an email from someone claiming to be her son. Her memories
of living in Vietnam during the war are interwoven with her present-day challenges
to create a tapestry of past and present, with a thread of spiritual reassessment."
- Suzanne Corson, Boadecia's Books, Kensington/North Berkeley, CA
July,
July
by Tim
O'Brien
"As the Darton Hall Class of 1969 alumni gather for their 30th reunion,
they are mostly successful, but they can't get it together on a personal level.
They are largely divorced or headed that way, and nostalgic for their college
years. O'Brien manages the Shakespearean cast brilliantly, telling classmates'
stories as they settle old scores or just decide to let them go. A great book
about what happened to those rebels who became the Establishment."
- Lyn Roberts, Square Books, Oxford, MS
 Lullaby
by Chuck
Palahniuk
"A witty horror story that follows a reporter as he uncovers the truth
behind a string of sudden infant death syndrome cases and a lullaby that once
spoken or thought will kill anyone in its path. In true Palahniuk style, Lullaby
couples the truly odd and bizarre with great metaphors and images. The consequence?
An original novel that dissects the desire for power while it speaks to the
chaos in which we live. Beware: it is not for the faint at heart."
- Alissa Haslam, Broadway Books, Portland, OR
 Nowhere
Man
by Aleksandar
Hemon
"The author's loving embrace of his Everyman character, Josef Pronek, draws
its reader deep into this story of contemporary Eastern Europe meeting modern
America, which, in wonderfully graceful prose, has the mood and style of the former
region, and all of the relevant immediacy of the latter." - Robert Sindelar,
Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA
 Quietus
by Vivian
Schilling"Beautifully written, this is a tale of suspense and introspection.
A woman and her friends miraculously survive a plane crash, and in the aftermath,
repressed secrets are unveiled as she is haunted by people and images from her
past." - Amy Rosenfield, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cleveland, OH
 Sea
Room
by Norman
Gautreau
"This debut novel centers around a family of Maine lobstermen from 1941-1949,
and the intervening events of WW II. The exploration of the local characters
was both humorous and exhilarating, as they manage difficult lives filled with
adversity." " - Lionel Carbonneau, Tatnuck Bookseller, Worcester, MA
 The
Staggerford Flood
by Jon
Hassler
"I was delighted to travel once again to the village of Staggerford, Minnesota.
It was a pleasure to revisit the town and to find out what has become of some
of the beloved characters. Hassler never fails to please his devoted fans."
- Marilyn Sieb,
Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI
The
Story of Lucy Gault
by William
Trevor
"This book is so fine that I feel it deserves my highest recommendation.
It is a beautifully constructed story of human frailty and foolish choices, and
although it is firmly rooted in the 20th century, it has a 19th century feel to
it. The action that carries this novel forward evolves without dramatic moment,
but, rather, in a slow, steady and inevitable pace toward its redemptive conclusion."
- Elizabeth Cauthorn, Viva Bookstore, San Antonio, TX
The
Sunday Wife
by Cassandra
King
"This is Southern literature at its best. As the story unfolds, the reader
gets to know the characters so well --the good, the bad, and the ugly -- and there
are all the perfect ingredients for great fiction: great characters, religion,
funeral food, and a good story." - Rona Brinlee, The Book Mark, Atlantic
Beach, FL
The
Tea Rose
by Jennifer
Donnelly
"What a book! It is a full-bodied brew of Dickensian proportions. A novel
full of well-drawn characters, set in late 1800s New York and London. It is full
of excitement, a witnessed murder, a disappearance, a lost love, revenge and hatred,
and ...a happy and satisfying ending." - Elly Smith, Madison Park Books,
Seattle, WA
The
Transplanted Man
by Sanjay
Nigam
"Nigam's colorful pantheon of characters includes a mysteriously gifted medical
resident; a wise Indian political leader whose transplanted organs are an amalgam
of his people; a scheming Bollywood superstar; a bibliomaniac nurse; and a struggling
therapist oft mistaken for a mystical guru. A wise, sexy, laugh-out-loud funny,
powerful, and truly exceptional novel. I regard this book as a dear friend and
one of the best I've read." - Anna Dorian, Esmeralda Books & Coffee,
Del Mar, CA
 Versailles
by Kathryn
Davis
"A unique novel based on the marriage, reign, and deaths of King Louis
XVI and Marie Antoinette. Anyone who loves historical fiction will delight in
reading this witty, irreverent slant on life during the French Revolution."
- Linda Wine, Books on Vernon, Glencoe, IL
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