Big Fiction Titles – Week of 1/4
In the new year, new fiction awaits.
Tracy Chevalier returns with Remarkable Creatures, based on the lives of two Victorian women who become fossil hunters. Booklist called it a “perfect choice for book clubs and for Austen fans.” This new title by the author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring is also an Indie Next pick for January, and received a rousing review in the Guardian (UK), though the PW review was much less sanguine.
NOTE: Chevalier will be speaking at MidWinter, as part of the ALA/ERT Author Forum, “From Book to Big Screen” (Fri., Jan. 15, 4–5:15 p.m.)
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Audio from Penguin Audiobooks (01/01/2010)
- Compact Disc: $ 39.95; ISBN 9780143145301
Large Print from Thorndike Press (01/01/2010)
- $33.95; ISBN 9781410422880
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Jonathan Dee‘s The Privileges, about the gradual dissolution of a hedge fund manager’s family, wins admiration from Salon‘s Laura Miller, who observes that Dee succeeds in maintaining sympathy for the Morey family, whose invulnerability “in time, becomes a flaw.”
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Leila Meacham‘s debut novel, Roses, is a multi-generational saga about two Texan families with fortunes tied to cotton and timber. PW calls it an “enthralling stunner, a good old-fashioned read” and compares it to the work of Barbara Taylor Bradford and Colleen McCullough. After a big push at Book Expo last year, it’s getting some buzz on the reader community at Goodreads.
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Other fiction coming next week:
- Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler (Knopf): People gave it 3 out of 4 stars, saying that it “isn’t first-rate Tyler…the first chapters sag…[but once the book] comes alive, it’s worth the wait.”
- Impact by Douglas Preston (Forge)
- Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
- Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn (Atria): The second in a new mystery series, featuring a charming canine detective and written under a pseudonym by Peter Abrahams. The debut was a bestseller last year. Fans can look forward to even more; the author is under contract for two more titles in the series.