From last week's Book Sense bestseller lists, available at BookSense.com, here are the recommended titles, which are also Book Sense Picks:
Hardcover
How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper (Delacorte,
$20, 9780385338905/0385338902). "Wallowing in grief and guilt over his
wife's accidental death, Doug Parker looks for relief in all the wrong
places: with his neighbor's wife, at the bottom of a bottle, and on a
long run from family and responsibility--and he takes us along for the
tearful, tender, laugh-out-loud ride."--Anne Wagner, Porter Square
Books, Cambridge, Mass.
High Cotton: Four Seasons in the Mississippi Delta by Gerard Helferich (Counterpoint, $25, 9781582433530/1582433534). "This is one of those wonderful nonfiction books in the tradition of John McPhee or Mark Kurlansky. Helferich treats us to one year with a Mississippi Delta cotton farmer. Like the farmers featured in the book, we worry about crop yield and pest control--and inadvertently learn about a fascinating and important part of our economy, too."--Lisa Sharp, Nightbird Books, Fayetteville, Ark.
Paperback
Full Circle by Michael Thomas Ford (Kensington,
$15, 9780758210586/0758210582). "A great book about old friends and new
acquaintances. When Ned Brummel and his childhood best friend Jack
Grace went to college, they had a falling-out because they both fell
for the same man, Andy. Years later, as Ned travels to a gravely ill
Andy's bedside, he embarks on a journey of memory and
redemption."--David Deese, Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse,
Atlanta, Ga.
For Teen Readers
Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker
(S&S, $16.99, 9781416924234/141692423X). "An amazing, heartfelt
coming-of-age story, with characters I came to know and love! Billie
Standish meets life head-on, overcoming setbacks (including an assault
and its aftermath) with the help of Miss Lydia, a neighbor, good
friend, and most unlikely fairy godmother. You'll laugh, rant, and cry
as Billie comes to terms with her situation, her neglectful parents,
and herself."--Barb Bassett, The Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, Minn.
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks (Harcourt,
$17, 9780152059880/0152059881) "How does a boy genius, at age seven,
keep his mind occupied while being ignored by his foster parents? He
terrorizes and humiliates everyone because he is smarter and better
than they are, until, at 14, he is outsmarted by his real family. A
page-turning, nerve-wracking story about growing up in an adult world
where the rules of the game are not what they ought to be--and
friendship is more important than subterfuge and domination."--Jack
Blanchard, Fairy Godmother, Washington, D.C.
[Many thanks to Book Sense and the ABA!]