New Books This Week: January 31

So many books, so little time... oh, the new fiction this week!

Kristin Hannah - at Quail Ridge on Feb. 9Kristin Hannah's Home Front (Macmillan $27.99) debuts this week.  Hannah's fans know her characters and their families are not perfect - she focuses on the lives that go on after any fairy tale moments.  In Home Front, it's Mom who's deployed to Iraq as marital tensions are mounting.  Love, heartbreak, fear, bravery, and duty are all here.  And you should be here, too, when Kristin Hannah visits on Thursday, February 9, at 7:30 pm. 

Did you catch the chilling movie, The Ghost Writer, based on Robert Harris' novel, The Ghost?  Whether his stories are set in  the past (Fatherland; Pompeii) or present, this books are filled with twists and surprises.  Now he tackles the world financial markets in The Fear Index (Random House $25.95). A quirky but brilliant physicist-turned-investment guru is attacked as he's about to reveal his greatest marketing invention.  But are things, or he, really as they seem?  You can never be sure in Harris' world.  

The Fear Index - at Quail RidgeChina Mieville is one of the bright lights of today's science fiction world.  Her Embassytown (Del Rey $16) is now in paperback.   It's an original, engrossing examination of humankind's place among other sentient beings, of language, and of loyalty. 

Paul Gilding's message might seem scary: it's too late to just worry about global warming.  Accept and, as he says, 'brace for impact'.  But it's not all dark in The Great Disruption (Macmillan $17).  It may be the end of the age of consumerism - if only out of necessity.  

Brilliant acting, a career of fearless roles, and a sense of humor - Judi Dench has it all.  She tells all with wit and charm in her exceptional memoir, And Furthermore (St. Martin's $15.99), now in paperback.  

For younger readers: 

Jordan Sonnenblick -at Quail Ridge Books The great YA author Jordan Sonnenblick joins us on Thursday, February 23, at 7 p.m. for his new novel, Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip (Scholastic $17.99).  Rosemary says, " Jordan Sonnenblick is pitch perfect (pardon the baseball pun) in a winning novel that will capture the hearts of his audience.  Baseball and his grandfather have been the loves of Pete's life. Now the first is lost to injury, and Grandpa may be falling into the fog of Alzheimer's. We're along for the ride as Pete navigates his entry to high school, a potential romance, and family drama. It's a journey filled with humor, fear, discovery, and the overriding hope of reinvention."  For ages 11 and up. And we thank Scholastic for letting us have the book early for Jordan's program!