Novels Now

The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris
Contemporary Fiction
2008 William Morrow (Harper Collins)
Finished on 4/15/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)

Book Description
Since she was a little girl, the wind has dictated every move Vianne Rocher has made, buffeting her from place to place, from the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a [...]

Valentines by Ted Kooser
Poetry
2008 University of Nebraska Press
Finished on 4/1/08
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
For Valentine’s Day 1986, Ted Kooser wrote “Pocket Poem” and sent the tender, thoughtful composition to fifty women friends, starting an annual tradition that would persist for the next twenty-one years. Printed on postcards, the poems were mailed to a list of recipients that [...]

The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
Nonfiction - Memoir
2008 Knopf
Finished on 3/30/08
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)
ARC - Due out on May 6, 2008
Book Description
In this final volume of the beloved American saga that began with All Over but the Shoutin’ and continued with Ava’s Man, Rick Bragg closes his circle of family stories with an unforgettable tale [...]

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
Contemporary Fiction
2008 HarperCollins Publishers
Finished on 3/13/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)
ARC - Due out on April 1, 2008

Book Description
Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others we keep to protect those we love.
A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by [...]

Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble
Contemporary Fiction
2008 HarperCollins Publishers
Finished on 3/7/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
ARC - Due out on April 8th
Publisher’s Blurb:
Barbara had always been the backbone of her family. Warm, funny, and loving, her four daughters adored her and relied on her. Faced with the reality of leaving them before any [...]

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Contemporary Fiction
Finished on 2/20/08
Rating: 4.75 (Terrific!)
ARC (Book due out on March 4)
Book Description
The acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a spellbinding tale of a mother’s tragic loss and one man’s last chance at gaining salvation.
Can we save ourselves, or do we rely on others to do it? Is [...]

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell
Historical Fiction
Copyright 2008
Finished on 1/22/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)

Book Description
“I suppose I ought to warn you at the outset that my present circumstances are puzzling, even to me. Nevertheless, I am sure of this much: My little story has become your history. You won’t really understand your times until you [...]

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
Memoir
Finished 12/3/07
Rating: 4/5 (Very good)
ARC - Book due out on January 8, 2008
Publisher’s Blurb:
In humorous, incandescent prose, Kelly Corrigan alternates tales of growing up Corrigan with the story of her life and her father’s today as they each–successfully, for now–battle cancer. A book that reminds us of the good things [...]

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Fiction/Historical Romance
2008 Hyperion
Finished on 2/27/08
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
What’s In A Name Challenge
Publisher’s Blurb:
Every now and again, a storyteller comes along who can take us completely into her world and make us wish we never had to leave it. Jennifer Donnelly is such a writer.
When India Selwyn Jones, a young woman from [...]

River by Lowen Clausen
Contemporary Fiction
2008 Silo Press
Finished on 2/3/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Book Description
From a remote corner of a vanishing American landscape, a bereaved father begins a journey down the river that has been all but inseparable from his life. At the river’s origin the shallow stream courses through the ranch where he was born. It [...]