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Let our special reading guide of new and forthcoming fiction and nonfiction titles help you decide what to read this summer.
Fiction
"Busy Monsters," William Giraldi
When a mediocre writer's bride-to-be leaves him to search for a legendary giant squid, he treks across the continent seeking counsel from nefarious creatures on how to win back her affections. (Due in August)
"The Chieu Hoi Saloon," Michael Harris
The lives of a Vietnam vet, a bar owner and a prostitute collide in a haunting story set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. (Now available)
"Children and Fire," Ursula Hegi
The latest from the author of "Stones From the River" tells the story of a teacher in a German town in 1934 who is quickly being seduced by Hitler's propaganda into a reality circumscribed by fear, hatred and murder. (Now available)
"Conquistadora," Esmeralda Santiago
A tale of love, discovery and adventure in 19th-century Spain through the eyes of an indomitable, unforgettable woman; by the author of "When I Was Puerto Rican." (Due in July)
"The Days of the King," Filip Florian
Central Europe is on the brink of war as a dentist travels with the prince of Romania. (Due in August)
"Faith," Jennifer Haigh
Haigh's fourth novel, set in Boston in 2002, examines the effect of sexual-abuse allegations on one priest's relatives. (Now available)
"The Final Storm of the War in the Pacific," Jeff Shaara
In the final book of his World War II series, Shaara tells the story of the struggle for Okinawa and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (Now available)
"The GQ Candidate," Keli Goff
A scandal puts Luke Cooper, black and Jewish, in the Michigan governor's chair, and his decision to then run for president causes turmoil for those close to him. (Due in July)
"The Hair of Harold Roux," Thomas Williams
In 1975, the National Book Award was given to two writers: Robert Stone for "Dog Soldiers" and Williams for this novel, reissued with an introduction by Andre Dubus III. (Due in June)
"The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine," Alina Bronsky
Three generations of women living in Soviet Russia in the 1980s are reunited in Germany. (Now available)
"The Kid," Sapphire
The author of "Push" tells the story of Precious' son, Abdul, facing violence and coping with grief as he makes his way to adulthood after his mother's death. (Due in July)
"The Land at the End of the World," Antonio Lobo Antunes
An anguished medic, haunted by memories of war in Angola, spends a feverish night wrestling with his demons and recounting his experiences to anyone who will listen. (Now available)
"The Language of the Sea," James MacManus Thomas
An outspoken marine biologist loses his job, but not before taking his students on one last field trip to Cape Cod that takes an unexpected, harrowing turn. (Now available)
"Millennium People," J.G. Ballard
First U.S. publication of the late author's story of a psychologist who succumbs to a fringe middle-class protest movement in London. (Due in July)
"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," Ransom Riggs
An odd collection of photographs peppers this tale of a teenager who stumbles upon an abandoned children's home on an island off the coast of Wales and discovers that the occupants may have been more than peculiar — they may have been dangerous, too. (Due in June)
"Once Upon a River," Bonnie Jo Campbell
After the death of her father, 16-year-old Margo Crane sets out by boat on the dangerous Stark River to search for her vanished mother. (Due in July)
"One Summer," David Baldacci
Baldacci takes leave from the thriller genre to write the story of a terminally ill family man who tries to reclaim his children after the death of his wife in an automobile accident. (Due in June)
"The Secret History of Costaguana," Juan Gabriel Vasquez
The confessions of a Colombian-born writer who, after Joseph Conrad's death in 1924, reveals how he shared the details of his turbulent, revolutionary life with the great novelist and gave Conrad the idea for his novel of South American unrest, "Nostromo." (Due in June)
"Silver Girl," Elin Hilderbrand
A woman who feels she's lost everything because of her Bernard Madoff-like husband tries to find solace with an old friend — and an old flame. (Due in June)
"Sisterhood Everlasting," Ann Brashares
In this return of the Traveling Pants sisterhood, a proposed reunion of the far-flung friends in Greece takes an unexpected turn when tragedy strikes. (Due in June)
"State of Wonder," Ann Patchett
A research scientist is sent to Brazil to track down a former mentor who disappeared while working on a potentially lucrative new drug. (Due in June)
"Then Came You," Jennifer Weiner
The best-selling author's latest looks at how four women are bound by infertility and a hope for the future.(Due in July)
"To Be Sung Underwater," Tom McNeal
Twenty years on, a married woman wonders whether she can rekindle the flame with the man she loved in her youth. (Due in June)
"Whatever Gets You Through the Night, A Story of Sheherezade and the Arabian Entertainments," Andrei Codrescu
Codrescu reimagines how Sheherezade saved Baghdad's virgins through a heroic feat of storytelling that lasted for 1,001 nights. (Due in June)
"A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion," Ron Hansen
A woman beseeches her hosiery-salesman lover to kill her husband in this Jazz Age tale based on an actual murder case. (Due in June)
"The Year We Left Home," Jean Thompson
Feminism, antiwar sentiment and the pull of city life shape this saga of a rural Iowa family spanning the last decades of the 20th century. (Now available)
Biographies, memoirs
"All In: From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ," Jerry Yang with Mark Tabb
Yang's memoir of becoming a world-class poker champion starts with his family, along with thousands of other Hmong, fleeing their Laotian homeland during the Vietnam War. (Due in July)
"Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast," Andrew E. Kersten
The author charts the great progressive attorney's rise from an obscure Midwestern childhood to his role as a defender of the downtrodden, as the "attorney for the damned." (Now available)
"Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness," Alexandra Fuller
Fuller returns to Africa and the story of her unforgettable family in this sequel to "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight." (Due in August)
"David Bowie, Starman," Paul Trynka
This biography tracks the shape-shifting artist's career through countless reinventions of his music and personal style. (Due in July)
"Ethan Allen, His Life and Times," Willard Sterne Randall
The story of a hero from the New England frontier whose daring attacks during the American Revolution with his Green Mountain Boys nourished the young nation's appetite for mythic tales. (Due in June)
"If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't)," Betty White
The famed television and movie actress shares her wit and no-nonsense insights not only about life in Hollywood but also on friendship, pets, love and what it's like to turn 89. (Available now)
"Jane Fonda, The Private Life of a Public Woman," Patricia Bosworth
The author draws on her own experiences with Jane Fonda — dating to their days together as students at the Actors Studio — for this intimate portrait of Fonda and the many influences (family, marriages, politics) that have shaped her life and career. (Due in August)
"Lady Blue Eyes, My Life With Frank Sinatra," Barbara Sinatra
How a self-described "farm girl from Missouri" rose from a hardscrabble life to find romance and enjoy a lively chemistry with Frank Sinatra during their 22-year marriage, the entertainer's fourth, last and longest. (Due in June)
"Reagan's Journey: Lessons From a Remarkable Career," Margot Morrell
The author offers motivational insights on persevering as reflected in the challenges that faced Ronald Reagan during his public career. (Available now)
"Stan Musial: An American Life," George Vecsey
Long considered one of baseball's greatest players, Stan Musial is one of the least-known names in the game. Vecsey sheds new light on the quiet gentleman. (Available now)
"Stories My Father Told Me: Notes From 'The Lyons Den,' " Jeffrey Lyons
The film critic draws on his father Leonard's popular newspaper column for this collection of anecdotes about New York nightlife and the glitterati. (Due in June)
"This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens" of Nikki Sixx
The bass player of Motley Crue continues his look at his life that began with his best-selling memoir of addiction, "The Heroin Diaries." (Available now)
"Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein," Julie Salamon
Julie Salamon had exclusive access to the late playwright's private papers, journals and letters and the cooperation of the Wasserstein family and literary executors. (Due in August)
"Witnesses to an Extreme Century," Robert Jay Lifton
A psychiatrist immersed in history, Lifton has devoted his life to probing some of the darkest moments of the 20th century. (Available now)
Page-turners
"Act of Passion," Georges Simenon
A successful doctor grows restless and thinks a casual affair is the perfect answer—until the consequences turn deadly. (Due in July)
"Before I Go to Sleep," S.J. Watson
A chilling debut thriller about Christine Lucas, a woman whose mind is erased of everything about her — her past, the people she loves, her name — each time she goes to sleep. (Available in June)
"Betrayal of Trust," J.A. Jance
Jance returns with her latest thriller featuring J.P. Beaumont, a retired Seattle police officer. (Due in July)
"Bloodmoney, A Novel of Espionage," David Ignatius
The author of "Body of Lies" returns with the story of a young CIA officer charged with finding out who's killing members of an intelligence unit on a peacemaking mission. (Due in June)
"The Cut," George Pelecanos
Spero Lucas has a knack for recovering stolen property since his return to the U.S. after serving in Iraq — but when a crime boss hires him, Spero plunges into an amoral world that puts everything he holds dear at stake. (Due in August)
"Damage Control," Denise Hamilton
When her best friend is murdered, high-powered PR exec Maggie Silver handles the spin for her friend's father, a powerful Southern California politician, and gets sucked into family secrets and old tragedies. (Due in August)
"A Dance With Dragons," George R.R. Martin
The fate of the Seven Kingdoms again hangs in the balance in this highly anticipated novel from the author of "Game of Thrones." (Due in July)
"A Drop of the Hard Stuff," Lawrence Block
Out of the NYPD, Matthew Scudder is trying to rebuild his life when the murder of a childhood friend confronts him with a question: Was his friend killed for what he did or for something he witnessed? (Available now)
"Embassytown," China Mieville
The harmonious society between humans and an enigmatic race of aliens on a distant planet is upset by political machinations in this latest tale by a first-rate builder of imaginary worlds. (Available now; see review on Page 3C )
"Fallen," Karin Slaughter
When detective Faith Mitchell finds a break-in at her mom's house and blood on the door, she charges in with gun blazing and is plunged into a world where she becomes a witness ... and a suspect. (Due in June)
"The Gentlemen's Hour," Don Winslow
Surfer-private eye Boone Daniels angers his fellow wave-catchers when he decides to help someone accused of killing a legendary surfer. (Due in August)
"The Hypnotist," Lars Kepler
A detective uses hypnotism on the sole eyewitness to a savage triple homicide — the boy who watched his family murdered before his eyes. (Due in July)
"Hit List: An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novel," Laurell K. Hamilton
Anita Blake investigates a serial murderer in the Pacific Northwest, knowing the real culprits are a shadowy group. (Due in June)
"The Jefferson Key," Steve Berry
An assassination attempt on the U.S. president's life leads Justice Department operative Cotton Malone into an encounter with a conspiracy dating to the days of the Founding Fathers. (Available now)
"The Killer Is Dying," James Sallis
Lives of a killer, a burned-out detective and a young child intersect beneath the scorching sun of Phoenix. (Due in August)
"The Most Dangerous Thing," Laura Lippman
The author of thrillers including "I'd Know You Anywhere" returns with her 16th novel. (Due in August)
"Triple Crossing," Sebastian Rotella
A rookie border patrol agent working the Line in San Diego is recruited to infiltrate a Mexican crime family and soon finds everything — his career, romance, his life — in grave peril. (Due in August)
"The Warsaw Anagrams," Richard Zimler
It's Warsaw in 1941. An exhausted and elderly Jewish psychiatrist named Erik Cohen investigates his grandnephew's murder in the Warsaw ghetto amid the horrors of the Holocaust. (Due in July)
On the quirky side
"Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics," Michael Barson
Forget Spider-Man or the X-Men. Instead, with "Agonizing Love," dip into the adventures of a young lady confronted with the horrible creature known as "Mother's Boy"! Or listen to the inner probings of an anguished woman, at her husband's hospital bedside, asking the burning question, "Was I a wicked wife?" Michael Barson has selected excerpts from the love comics genre that thrived from the late 1940s to the late 1970s. (Available now)
"50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do)" Gever Tulley and Julie Spiegler
The idea behind these two books — that a good childhood involves some healthy, sometimes reckless play — isn't what's quirky: The diagrams are! Want to know the proper position for launching your child like a human cannonball? This falls under the "hard" category in the levels of difficulty and requires a crucial item: a mattress. The last thing you want is for your 6-year-old to do a face-plant on the family room floor. This book is a fun, worthy successor to the best sellers "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and "The Daring Book for Girls."
"Man Up! 367 Classic Skills for the Modern Guy," Paul O'Donnell, and "The Gentleman's Bedside Companion, A Compendium of Manly Information for the Last Fifteen Minutes of the Day," Tom Cutler
These are books that help the male species with timeless questions, such as, what is the proper way to hold an infant? ("Man Up!" says to use the crook of the elbow to support the baby's head.) Much of the content here is directed at funny, perennial topics like the best pickup lines and how to find the North Star (which suggests that males divide their time between chasing females and spending time in the woods). Some material, however, is devoted to history, literature and the finer points of conversation. Hey guys, try these old-fashioned alternatives to surfing the Internet.
