Thousands of books are due to publish in the next few weeks as the Fall season gets underway. We've been trawling through the catalogs and early reviews to pick out the literary diamonds from among this vast number, and have whittled the list down to about 100 September books, which members can view in full here. From among this number, here are a dozen to whet your appetite including 6 novels, 3 biographies and 3 books for older children and teens.

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

Novels

The Mirrored World by Debra Dean Historical Fiction, 256 pages Published by Harper: Aug 28, 2012 The bestselling author of The Madonnas of Leningrad returns with a breathtaking novel of love, madness, and devotion set against the extravagant royal court of eighteenth-century St. Petersburg. Full description & reviews

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny Mystery, 384 pages Published by St Martin's Press: Aug 28, 2012 "An entire mystery novel centering on Gregorian chants?...Yes, indeed, and in the hands of the masterful Penny, the topic proves every bit as able to transfix readers as the chants do their listeners." - Booklist Full description & reviews

NW by Zadie Smith Novel, 400 pages Published by Penguin Press Sept 4, 2012 Depicting the modern urban zone - familiar to town-dwellers everywhere - Zadie Smith's NW is a quietly devastating novel of encounters, mercurial and vital, like the city itself. Full description & reviews

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I received an email recently from Ken which read, "I am looking for a book, or biography, or a life experience narrative that speaks to an older male, lives alone, has no health issues, widower. There seem to be plenty of books out there written by and for women, but would like to know how other men have traveled this road?"

Although a few titles came to my mind, I was stumped for that special book to recommend to Ken, so asked our Facebook followers for their ideas. Within a couple of hours we had a wealth of suggestions, all of which, it occurred to me, could also be great recommendations for Father's Day, especially as a gift from an adult child.

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If you're looking for a great read (and let's face it, aren't we always!) I'm sure you'll find something to catch your eye among these nine debut novels publishing in May, which we've selected from the more than eighty notable May books we've previewed (members can view the full list here).

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda May 8, 2012 Published by St Martin's Press Young Adults 304 pages Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can't run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn't hurt him and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It's the only way to stay alive in a world of night - a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood. Full description & reviews

The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen May 15, 2012 Published by William Morrow 496 pages With the rich detail of Cold Mountain, the strong female bonds of The Help, and the untold history of The Warmth of Other Suns, comes a powerful debut novel about the secrets a woman keeps, and those she will risk everything to tell. Full description & reviews

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April brings a wealth of great new books. Below are half a dozen debuts that look particularly intriguing selected from the more than sixty notable books that members can view on our preview page.

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash Thriller, 320 pages Publishes: April 17 William Morrow A stunning debut reminiscent of the beloved novels of John Hart and Tom Franklin, A Land More Kind Than Home is a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small western North Carolina town. Full description & reviews

Carly's Voice : Breaking Through Autism by Arthur Fleischmann Memoir, 400 pages Published March 27 St Martin's "For anyone who's ever fallen in love with their child, misjudged a person, had their heart broken and then restored, Carly's Voice is for you. Wise beyond her years, Carly takes us inside her world - a young girl with severe autism who cannot speak, but has more to say than anyone I've ever met. This book is exquisitely written with courage, honesty, and, most of all, love. I've never read anything like it." - Monica Holloway, author of Cowboy & Wills and Driving with Dead People. Full description & reviews

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This winter has been unseasonably warm and dry for many. Let's hope spring changes that - not just to keep everything green but because there's way too many great books publishing in March to want to be anywhere other than tucked up with a good read!

Below are half a dozen exceptional first novels, selected from the ninety or so notable books profiled in our March Preview issue.

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

This Burns My Heart by Samuel Park Novel, 336 pages Publishes: March 6 Simon & Schuster A transcendent love story that vibrantly captures 1960s South Korea and brings to life an unforgettable heroine... Full description & reviews

Birds of a Lesser Paradise by Megan Mayhew Bergman Stories, 240 pages Publishes: March 6 Scribner From a prizewinning young writer whose stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and New Stories from the South comes a heartwarming and hugely appealing debut collection that explores the way our choices and relationships are shaped by the menace and beauty of the natural world. Full description & reviews

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Adam Johnson's recently published novel The Orphan Master's Son is introducing many readers to the complex history and multi-layered culture of North Korea. If you'd like to learn more about the political and social climate of this country, here are some suggestions:

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick: Demick's nonfiction work offers a remarkable insider's view of North Korea, as seen through the eyes of six ordinary citizens over fifteen years - a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il Sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong Il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population.

Bamboo and Blood: An Inspector O Novel by James Church: In the winter of 1997, trying to stay alive during a famine that has devastated much of North Korea, Inspector O is ordered to play host to an Israeli agent who appears in Pyongyang. When the wife of a North Korean diplomat in Pakistan dies under suspicious circumstances, O is told to investigate, with a curious proviso: Don't look too closely at the details, and stay away from the question of missiles.

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What better month to snuggle up with a good book than February? And what better book to snuggle with than an anticipated debut!

Below are a dozen exceptional books that will publish in February, all by first time authors, including four novels, two story collections, four nonfiction works and two books for younger readers.

These books are selected from our February Preview issue, that profiles almost 90 notable books publishing next month,

Enjoy!

Davina, BookBrowse editor

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey Novel, 400 pages Publishers February 1 Reagan Arthur Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart - he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone - but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.... Full description & reviews

A Good American by Alex George Novel, 400 pages Publishes February 7 Amy Einhorn Books It is 1904. When Frederick and Jette must flee her disapproving mother, where better to go than America, the land of the new? Originally set to board a boat to New York, at the last minute, they take one destined for New Orleans instead ("What's the difference? They're both new"), and later find themselves, more by chance than by design, in the small town of Beatrice, Missouri. Not speaking a word of English, they embark on their new life together... Full description and reviews, including 21 reviews by BookBrowse members

Red Plenty by Francis Spufford Novel, 448 pages Publishes February 14, Graywolf Press Red Plenty is history, it's fiction, it's as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant, and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne.... Full description & reviews

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The picture book market is in the doldrums.  Publishers report that sales are flat and disappointed booksellers must box up the brightly colored, lavishly illustrated volumes - unopened, unread, and most dispiriting of all, unloved - and send them back to the warehouses from whence they came.

And as if this news weren't bad enough, one of the chief reasons cited for the downturn is even more discouraging. It seems that parents - the ones who actually plunk down the money for these books - are a major factor in the picture book's current decline.   Parents have started urging first graders and even kindergarteners to leave picture books behind and move on to more text-heavy chapter books.   Why?  Because with the pressures of increasingly rigorous standardized testing looming on the horizon, parents are eager - some might even say desperate - for their children to get a leg up on the academic ladder.  And so, the pretty pictures and lilting rhythms get pushed aside for words, words and more words.

Now don't get me wrong.  I love words.  In fact, I have made a life's work out of writing them, both for children and adults.  But as both reader and writer, I find the elevation of the chapter book at the expense of the poor, maligned picture book an alarming trend. And I pity the children whose benighted parents are so quick to jump on this educational bandwagon.

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I just finished No Cheating, No Dying: I Had a Good Marriage. Then I Tried to Make It Better. (Scribner, Feb 2012) by Elizabeth Weil. It's a fun, easy read, but with depth.

I'm not a big fan of "self help" books, steering away from tomes that threaten to give me step by step improvement instructions. Instead I prefer to learn from other people's narratives (that is to say, other people's mistakes) - which is just what one can do from No Cheating, No Dying.

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The English language is a wonderful thing. For a whistle stop tour through it's 1500 year (or thereabouts) history, sit back and enjoy The History of English in 10 Minutes produced by Britain's Open University:

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