New books in August 2010 include new historical fiction from Phillipa Gregory and Per Petterson, a fascinating work of suspense from Karin Fossum, Rosencrans Baldwin's (The Morning News) poignant debut novel, and a brand new scientific investigation from my favorite popular science author, Mary Roach. Oh yeah, and Jonathan Franzen's Freedom.
1. 'Broken' by Karin Fossum
© Houghton Mifflin
A female author is visited by one of her characters, desperate for his story to be told, in this suspenseful departure for Karin Fossum, Norwegian author of the internationally acclaimed Inspector Konrad Sejer crime series.
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2. 'Freedom' by Jonathan Franzen
© FSG Books
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, August 31, 2010
After nine long years, Jonathan Franzen (The Corrections) is back in the suburbs. This time, his subjects, the Berglunds, are a progressive St. Paul family who have begun behaving very strangely. Franzen once again shows mastery at mining the suburban experience for both comedy and tragedy.
3. 'I Curse the River of Time' by Per Petterson
© Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press, August 3, 2010
Pers Petterson's latest novel revisits Arvid Jansen, in a prequel to his 2006 American debut, In the Wake. Jansen, at 37-years-old, faces a life upturned with his divorce and his mother's cancer diagnosis.
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4. 'Mentor' by Tom Grimes
© Tin House Books
Tin House Books, August 1, 2010
Tom Grimes, now the director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Texas State University and the author of five novels, was once a student at the Iowa Writers' Workshop under the tutelage of Frank Conroy. This book is a memoir of that time and relationship and an exploration of the writing life.
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5. 'Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins
© Scholastic
The third book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy is certain to be a huge hit. The YA fantasy series has attracted a large following with its story of a 16-year-old girl lving on luck and ingenuity in a dystopic future.
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6. 'Packing for Mars' by Mary Roach
© W.W. Norton
W.W. Norton, August 1, 2010
Mary Roach explores space travel as only she can. The author of hilarious inquiries into the nature of death (Stiff), life after death (Spook), and sex (Bonk), now considers the oft-unconsidered complications of life in space.
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7. 'The Red Queen' by Philippa Gregory
© Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, August 3, 2010
The author of The Other Boleyn Girl brings us the War of the Roses, as told by Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII and the heiress to the red rose of Lancaster. Gregory once again proves herself a queen of historical fiction.
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8. 'You Lost Me There' by Rosencrans Baldwin
© Riverhead
Riverhead, August 12, 2010
Rosencrans Baldwin, well known as a founding editor of the online magazine The Morning News, debuts with an imaginative, sometimes funny sometimes touching, love story in which an Alzheimer's researcher is forced to reevaluate his memories of his own marriage.
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9. 'Sympathy for the Devil' by Stephen King, Michael Chabon, Kelly Link, more
© Night Shade Books
This collection of the best satanic short stories features tales from Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Stephen King, Kage Baker, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Kelly Link, China Mieville, Michael Chabon, and many others. Thirty-five stories in all.
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