Announcing the January 2005 Book Sense Picks

Here is a preview of the January 2005 Book Sense Picks. Independent booksellers in the Book Sense program will receive the Picks fliers in the December Red Box.

The picks flier is designed for stores to use during the month of January, and it is one component of the monthly Picks program, which also includes a downloadable PDF flier of 20 additional titles and shelf-talkers for those titles. These will be available online at www.bookweb.org/read/6977 in the next few weeks.

Future lists are in production, and Book Sense Picks Editor-in-Chief Dan Cullen encourages booksellers to send in nominations for their favorite titles.

This Friday, December 3, is the deadline for the February 2005 Book Sense Picks.

In addition, the deadline for the Valentine's Day Top Ten is Friday, December 10.

Send nomination to [email protected] or use the convenient Web form at www.bookweb.org/read/6305.

And many thanks for all your contributions to Book Sense!

THE HA-HA: A Novel, by Dave King (Little, Brown, $23.95, 0316156108) "Silent and scarred, Howard Kapotash has been living on the edges of community since Vietnam, until nine-year-old Ryan moves in and forces him to open up in this novel of reparations and found families. Here is a first novel from a new voice to welcome without hesitation." --Melissa Olm, The Reader's Loft, De Pere, WI Also a Time Warner Audio (Abridged CD, 1586217410)

THE FAMILY TREE, by Carole Cadwalladr (Dutton, $23.95, 0525948422) "Carole Cadwalladr has written a tour-de-force first novel. This tale of a young, pregnant woman whose scientist husband questions her genes while she questions nearly everything she knows (or thinks she knows) is a complex and moving novel reminiscent (but no clone) of works by such notable contemporary British novelists as Kate Atkinson and Margot Livesey." --Betsy Burton, The King's English, Salt Lake City, UT Also a Penguin Audio (Unabridged CD, 0143057308)

THE COLD DISH, by Craig Johnson (Viking, $23.95, 0670033693) "Craig Johnson's first book has completely won me over. This suspenseful story of a possible murder in small-town Wyoming is well plotted and features characters so richly drawn that I nearly moved in with them. A real find!" --Sheryl Cotleur, A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, San Francisco, CA

OUT: A Novel, by Natsuo Kirino (Vintage, $12.95 paper, 1400078377) "It's not just that Natsuo Kirino has written one of the most believable, compelling, and eerie mysteries I've read in years, it's that reading Out is like taking a trip to Japan with Alfred Hitchcock as your tour guide." --Steve Mort, DIESEL, A Bookstore, Oakland, CA

THE MEMORY OF RUNNING: A Novel, by Ron McLarty (Viking, $24.95, 0670033634) "Smithy Ide is an overweight, alcoholic Vietnam vet who suffers several devastating losses. When he begins a quest across the country on his childhood bicycle, he discovers himself along the way. This beautifully written first novel features characters so well-written that you won't be able to put this book down." --Lisa Zupke, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop, Shorewood, WI Also a Recorded Books Audio (Unabridged CD, 1402594291)

DANCING NAKED AT THE EDGE OF DAWN, by Kris Radish (Bantam, $11 paper, 0553382632) "Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn was a delightful read and a breath of fresh air. I hope anyone who reads this novel will get the message, that life does go on, and it's what you decide to make of it that counts." --Tina Fraser, The Bookcase, Wayzata, MN

THE LOST GERMAN SLAVE GIRL: The Extraordinary True Story of the Slave Sally Miller and Her Fight for Freedom, by John Bailey (Atlantic, $24, 0871139219) "Based on Louisiana court records, this book tells the story of Sally Miller, a young German girl who became the slave property of a French cabaret owner in the 1840s.The trial to free her became an internationally celebrated case, and the book reads fast and furious with twists that will rival any novel." --Rodney Knolton, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Memphis, TN

TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR YOU: Tales of Improper Behavior, by Rod Liddle (Doubleday, $19.95, 0385513089) "As I read this delightful book, Rod Liddle's first, I was constantly catching bits and pieces of other author's styles. Usually, the good bits. I encountered the stripped-down language of Hemingway, the dark humor of Chuck Palahniuk, and a complete disregard for taboo that's all Liddle's own." --Josh Przybylski, Village Bookstore, Menomonee Falls, WI

MERITOCRACY: A Love Story, by Jeffrey Lewis (Other Press, $18, 1590511425) "Lewis captures both the dreams and the uncertainties of these Yale grads, members of the Vietnam generation. This is a moving portrait of John Kerry's and George Bush's Ivy League classmates. Highly recommended." --Marian Nielsen, Orinda Books, Orinda, CA

ENTOMBED: A Novel, by Linda Fairstein (Scribner, $26, 0743254880) "Entombed takes place in the old New York haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, and, as is typical of Fairstein, you learn as much about the rich history of New York City as you do about solving a crime. The prose is tight, and the mystery takes you through to the end. This is perhaps Linda Fairstein's best yet." --Jenny Lawton, Just Books, Greenwich, CT Also a Simon & Schuster Audio (Abridged CD, 0743538455)

REVOLUTION NO. 9: A Novel, by Neil McMahon (HarperCollins, $15.95, 0060529180) "Carroll Monks, the emergency room physician we've met in McMahon's previous books, leaves the hospital setting for the Northern California mountains, where his son has joined a violent cult. Monks not only wants to get his own son out, but also the young, deathly ill, diabetic son of the cult's leader. The tension never lets up -- this is a terrific addition to McMahon's series." --Susan Wasson, Bookworks, Albuquerque, NM

VALLEY OF BONES: A Novel, by Michael Gruber (Morrow, $24.95, 0060577665) "I was hooked all the way through! Gruber's follow-up to Tropic of Night follows Miami detective Jimmy Paz' attempts to solve the murder of a wealthy oilman. Very impressive from start to finish." --Candice Lahr, Books at the Buzz, Benton, IL Also a HarperAudio (Abridged CD, 0060759305)

THE VANISHED HANDS, by Robert Wilson (Harcourt, $25, 0151008418) "Wilson continues to smash all the rules set for thriller/mystery writing with this sequel to The Blind Man of Seville. There is so much depth to his characters, especially homicide detective Javier Falcon of Seville, that they leap off the page, and force you to see things from inside their heads." --Seth Marko, Warwick's, La Jolla, CA

HEDWIG AND BERTI, by Frieda Arkin (Thomas Dunne, $23.95, 0312333544) "From the moment Hedwig and Berti -- two upper-class German Jews forced to leave their homeland during the rise of the Nazis -- stepped into the life of the narrator, I was utterly hooked on this book. The London of the late 1930s comes alive, but the best part of this story is the glorious characters that Arkin has created. " --Karen L. Keyte, Books Etc., Falmouth, ME

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL: A Novel of Love, Loss, and Food, by Frances Norris (St. Martin's, $23.95, 0312322321) "I've read quite a few books with food themes, but this one takes the cake. Julia's struggles to deal with her father's death, a controlling stepsister, and an unfulfilling food stylist job at a magazine all blend together to create some tasty food for thought." --Tara O'Donnell, Paperbacks Plus, Bronx, NY

DOWNTOWN: My Manhattan, by Pete Hamill (Little, Brown, $23.95, 0316734519) "Start spreading the news, Pete Hamill has written a paean to New York filled with nostalgia for those of us lucky enough to call ourselves natives -- and for every tourist who ever fell in love with this exciting, maddening, one-of-a-kind city." --Susan Avery, Ariel Booksellers, New Paltz, NY Also a Time Warner Audio (Abridged CD, 1586217291)

BURY THE CHAINS: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves, by Adam Hochschild (Houghton, $26.95, 0618104690) "Adam Hochschild follows his great King Leopold's Ghost with an amazing account of the few men who gathered together in late 18th century England to stop the slave trade and who, stunningly, succeeded." --Bill Cusumano, Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

THE TRUE AND OUTSTANDING ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT SISTERS: A Novel, by Elisabeth Robinson (Back Bay, $13.95 paper, 0316159360) "Start your book club off to a great New Year with Robinson's story of two sisters: Olivia, a Hollywood producer who lives in the fast lane, and Maddie, a Midwestern homemaker who is seriously ill. Their joys and sorrows are captured through e-mails, letters, and phone messages. You will want to call your sister or close friend when you finish this book, just to say hello and thanks." --Barbara Theroux, Fact & Fiction, Missoula, MT

GRAPHIC DISCOVERY: A Trout in the Milk and Other Visual Adventures, by Howard Wainer (Princeton University Press, $29.95, 0691103011) "Howard Wainer, an entertaining writer employing color and wit, lets us know how and why graphs are the best way to find the structure and surprises hidden in otherwise mundane collected data." --Marcus Rector, Builders Booksource, San Francisco, CA