The January 2006 Book Sense Picks and Notables Preview

Here is the full listing of the January Book Sense Picks, with booksellers' comments, as well as a preview of the January Book Sense Notables. Independent booksellers in the Book Sense program will be receiving their January Picks fliers in the December Red Box. (The flier includes jacket images, bibliographic information, and bookseller quotes.)

December Notables fliers and shelf-talkers, featuring booksellers' comments, are now available in PDF format on BookWeb.

1. THE COLONY: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai, by John Tayman (Scribner, $27.50, 074323300X) "I couldn't put down this fascinating, often disturbing history of the Molokai leper colony and those who were forced to live (and die) there. Fear of this misunderstood disease turned people against each other, tore families apart, and wiped out individual rights in the name of public health." --Barb Bassett, The Red Balloon Bookshop, Saint Paul, MN

GENTLEMEN & PLAYERS: A Novel, by Joanne Harris (Morrow, $24.95, 0060559144) "This may be Harris' best yet! A chess match of wits and psychology, this mystery is set at a posh, British private boys' school, where all is not what it seems. Just when you think you have it figured out, the author -- as chess master -- makes moves you didn't anticipate!" --Karen Vail, Armchair Bookstore, Dennis, MA

THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES: A Novel, by Paul Auster (Holt, $24, 0805077146) "Nathan Glass, a lonely, retired insurance salesman moves to Brooklyn to live out the rest of his days. Throw in an under-achieving nephew, a fraudulent antiquarian bookseller, and a charming nine-year-old grandniece, and you have a funny, sad story that is impossible to put down." --Steve Eddy, Book King, Rutland, VT

THE THINKER'S THESAURUS: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words, by Peter E. Meltzer (Marion Street Press, $16.95 paper, 0972993797) "This unique volume (from the publisher of The Wrong Word Dictionary) will bring out the sophisticate in you, with its collection of big-money alternatives to the dime-store stalwarts found in your everyday Roget's. It's a gamesome synonymicon for the philologist and verbomaniac. Easy to use, easy to understand, and not a bit intimidating." --Herman Fong, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA

ARTHUR & GEORGE: A Novel, by Julian Barnes (Knopf, $24.95, 030726310X) "This character-driven masterpiece is based on a true event: In late-Victorian England, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took it upon himself to investigate the tragic case of George Edalji, who found himself accused of a macabre crime. This novel is in no sense a conventional murder mystery, yet I read it in an absolute fever. I can't say enough about this compelling, powerful, and intricate work." --Joe Murphy, Olsson's Books & Records, Washington, DC

THE WORLD TO COME: A Novel, by Dara Horn (Norton, $24.95, 0393051072) "In this imaginative, multilayered novel, Dara Horn handles themes of betrayal, trust, and memory with both luminous prose and sensitivity. Sympathetic characters fill stories within stories surrounding the theft of a Chagall painting, as she traces its history while also predicting its future. I loved it and think readers and book clubs will too." --Hester Jeswald, Sarasota News & Books, Sarasota, FL

THE LIFE ALL AROUND ME BY ELLEN FOSTER, by Kaye Gibbons (Harcourt, $23, 0151012040) "I loved Kaye Gibbons' Ellen Foster when I first read it and am glad she's back. Set five years later, Ellen is now 15 and has settled into a permanent home with a new mother. Her adventures continue, and I loved reading her wonderfully different view on life." --Jan Warner-Poole, Storyteller Books, Vancouver, WA

BLINDFOLD GAME: A Thriller, by Dana Stabenow (St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95, 031234323X) "Be prepared to stay up late once you start this story about a CIA analyst tracing the sale of black market plutonium. You won't want to put down this thriller, set on the high seas, with an international terrorist plot so real it's scary." --Nancy Kelley, Browsing Bison Books, Deer Lodge, MT Also available as a Random House Audio (Abridged CD, 0739325205)

A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, by E.H. Gombrich (Yale University Press, $25, 0300108834) "A Little History of the World is the most charming narrative history I have ever come across. This is the perfect book for an entire family to share, or for anyone who wants to understand how we got where we are without slogging other more weighty tomes." --Lisa Wright, Oblong Books and Music, Millerton, NY

LEONARDO'S SWANS: A Novel, by Karen Essex (Doubleday, $21.95, 0385517068) "Steeped in 15th-century Italian court intrigue, love, and betrayal, this novel is about Beatrice and Isabella d'Este. No two sisters could be more different ... or are they? Essex masterfully paints a picture of their lives just as she develops a master character: Leonardo da Vinci." --Mosey Leckie, Books on The Common, Ridgefield, CT Also available as a Random House Audio (Abridged CD, 0739324306)

THE PEOPLE'S ACT OF LOVE, by James Meek (Canongate, $24, 1841957305) "An isolated Siberian hamlet in 1919 is the setting for this amazing novel. Samarin, a mysterious escapee from a Russian prison camp; Anna, a beautiful widow who has inexplicably decamped to this remote and harsh place; Czech soldiers; and a religious cult are the intricately connected cast of characters that make this an unforgettable and spellbinding read." --Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO Also available as a Recorded Books Audio (Unabridged CD, 1419365487)

THE HOUSE OF PAPER, by Carlos Maria Dominguez, Peter Ss (Illus.) (Harcourt, $18, 0151011478) "I was utterly charmed by this short, lyrical, literary, almost otherworldly mystery of bibliomania taken to its extreme. With illustrations by Peter Sis." --Dale Szczeblowski, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA

THE ACCIDENTAL: A Novel, by Ali Smith (Pantheon, $22.95, 0375422250) "Fans of inventive and offbeat fiction will want to check out this stylishly surrealistic novel depicting how a beautiful drifter permanently alters the lives of four members of the troubled Smart clan. Intelligent and thought-provoking, Smith's story is a study of family, desire, duty, and self-determination in modern Western society." --Tiffany Martin, The Bookworm of Edwards, Edwards, CO Also available as a Highbridge Audio (Unabridged CD, 1598870130)

MADEMOISELLE BENOIR: A Novel, by Christine Conrad (Houghton, $20, 0618574794) "When thirty-something Tim Reinhart gives up his busy New York City life and moves to rural France, he loves the people he meets, particularly one Mademoiselle Benoir, over 20 years his senior. Told through letters, this novel is a journey to understand and hold onto this unusual love affair. C'est magnifique!" --Megan O'Bryan, Scott's Bookstore, Mount Vernon, WA

LOVE WALKED IN: A Novel, by Marisa de los Santos (Dutton, $23.95, 0525949178) "Cornelia sees life through her favorite movies, and when Martin waltzes into her life, she is smitten by his Cary Grant looks. When Cornelia is introduced to a precocious 11-year-old, you have a wonderful, warm, and witty love story of three very complex lives." --Andra Tracy, Out Word Bound, Indianapolis, IN

THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor -- and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!, by Tim Harford (Oxford University Press, $26, 0195189779) "This entertaining and enlightening book takes you from your immediate surroundings -- bookstore cafe, drinking (overpriced?) coffee and looking at this hardcover (why not paperback?) book -- and explains how quirks and failures of the market can cause both your latte to cost four dollars and global poverty."  -- Audrey Brockhaus, Schuler Books & Music, Okemos, MI

THE WORST HARD TIME: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, by Timothy Egan (Houghton, $28, 061834697X) "This is a wonderful history of the Dust Bowl in the 1920s and 1930s. Examining politics, the environment, and history, it is filled with eyewitness accounts that just seem unreal." --Nancy Brown, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT

THE MASQUE OF THE BLACK TULIP: A Novel, by Lauren Willig (Dutton, $24.95, 0525949208) "This rollicking tale is a worthy sequel to last year's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. If you are a fan of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Regency romance, deeds of derring-do, and screwball comedy, this is the novel for you. A perfect antidote for the winter doldrums!" --Susan M. Taylor, Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, MA Also available in Penguin Audio (Unabridged CD, 0143058029)

LIFE'S LITTLE ANNOYANCES: True Tales of People Who Just Can't Take It Anymore, by Ian Urbina (Times Books, $15, 0805080309) "This book derives from a hilarious, attention-getting article in the New York Times. Urbina has located all sorts of horrible things that constantly go awry and the ingenious things some people have devised to get even. Ouch!" --Steve Shapiro, Rainy Day Books, Fairway, KS Also an Audio Renaissance Audio (Abridged CD, 1593978391)

KAFKA ON THE SHORE, by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, $14.95 paper, 1400079276) "The stories of a young boy named Kafka and the old man Nakata are wonderfully intertwined and come together beautifully. This is a surrealistic wonderland of characters, places, and events. Impossible to put down." --Kathleen E. Raymond, Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Memphis, TN

Fiction

THE CONJURER'S BIRD, by Martin Davies (Shaye Areheart Books, $24, 1400097339)
GOOD WOMEN: Three Novellas, by Jane Stevenson (Mariner, $12 paper, 0618462171)
THE ICE SOLDIER, by Paul Watkins (Holt, $25, 0805078673)
MERITOCRACY: A Love Story, by Jeffrey Lewis (Other Press, $12.95 paper, 1590511980)
PURITY OF BLOOD, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Putnam, $23.95, 0399153209)
QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, by Gail Godwin (Random House, $24.95, 0345483189)
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, by Richard Hawke (Random House, $21.95, 1400064252)
UTTERLY MONKEY, by Nick Laird (Harper Perennial, $13.95 paper, 0060828366)

Nonfiction

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DONOVAN: The Hurdy Gurdy Man, by Donovan Leitch (St. Martin's Press, $24.95, 0312352522)
FIRE IN THE GROVE: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath, by John C. Esposito (Da Capo Press, $24, 0306814234)
GOLDEN BOY: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood, by Martin Booth (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95, 0312348177)
THE NAMING OF NAMES, by Anna Pavord (Bloomsbury, $45, 1596910712)
SHOULD I DO WHAT I LOVE?: Or Do What I Do -- So I Can Do What I Love on the Side?, by Katy McColl (Sasquatch, $14.95 paper, 1570614571)
TOOTHPASTE FOR DINNER: Hipsters, Hamsters, and Other Pressing Issues, by Drew (F&W, $9.99 paper, 1581807864)

Mystery/Suspense

ASH & BONE, by John Harvey (Harcourt, $25, 0151011397)
THE FINISHING SCHOOL: A Novel of Suspense, by Michele Martinez (Morrow, $23.95, 0060724005)
A LONG SHADOW: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery, by Charles Todd (Morrow, $23.95, 006078671X)
A MINISTER'S GHOST: A Fever Devilin Mystery, by Phillip DePoy (St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95, 0312339348)
SUNSTROKE, by Jesse Kellerman (Putnam, $24.95, 0399153306)

Poetry

COME ON IN! New Poems, by Charles Bukowski (Ecco, $27.50, 0060577053)