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Hornets
aren't the only things to watch for this summer.
Be on the
lookout for tornadoes, vampires and even terrorists in
some new books likely to end up in your beach bags.
Readers
should have no problem finding something, even if buzz
about upcoming titles seems to circle confidently around
only a couple of novels.
The
first, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"
by
Stieg Larsson
, went on sale two weeks ago. The Swedish trilogy has
gained momentum since the first book, "The Girl
With the Dragon Tattoo."
You also
won't be able to escape hearing about "The
Passage," a post-apocalypse horror story by
Justin Cronin
. A virus from a secret military experiment creates a
race of vampiric monsters. But this isn't paranormal
romance. Rather Cronin's lengthy novel (which has been
picked up by film director
Ridley Scott
) is being compared with
Stephen King's
"The Stand."
Another
paranormal story, "The Short Second Life of
Bree Tanner
" by
Stephenie Meyer
, has a built-in audience. Meyer is using a character
from "Eclipse" in this novella for
"Twilight" fans.
For
readers who prefer fiction more down to earth,
Jenna Blum's
"The Stormchasers" will explore relationships
involving tornado fanatics;
Martin Cruz Smith
finds corruption (surprise!) in modern-day
Moscow
with "Three Station"; and
Julie Orringer
offers a more old-fashioned love story in "
The Invisible Bridge
."
Nonfiction
readers won't be left out, although several summer
favorites debuted in early May (books like
Sebastian Junger's
"War" and
Nathaniel Philbrick's
"The Last Stand").
Here's a
list of additional summer titles, organized loosely by
theme. Publication dates are subject to change.
—IT'S
ALL ABOUT FAMILY:
"The
Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by
Aimee Bender
(available now) — A 9-year-old girl bites into her
mother's homemade cake and discovers she has a magical
gift: She can taste her mother's emotions (and they are
not the good cheer she seems to convey).
"My
Name Is Memory" by
Ann Brashares
(available now) — Young lovers discover their love was
thwarted in an earlier life. A book about time-traveling
for adults by the author of "Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants."
"The
Summer We Read Gatsby" by
Danielle Ganek
(available now) — Half-sisters Cassie and Peck are
summoned to the Hamptons to figure out what to do with a
rundown house left by a beloved aunt and contend with
former beaus.
"Promises
to Keep" by
Jane Green
(
June 15
) — A photographer and mother of two daughters
contends with her free-spirit sister, best friend and
divorced parents during a summer in
Maine
.
"My
Hollywood
" by
Mona Simpson
(
Aug. 3
) — A composer and new mother hires a nanny from
the Philippines
to care for her son and help stabilize her rocky
household. By the author of "Anywhere but
Here."
"Fragile"
by
Lisa Unger
(
Aug. 3
) — A charming small community is in turmoil when a
teen boy's girlfriend disappears.
"The
Blind Contessa's New Machine" by
Carey Wallace
(
July 8
) — A 19th-century Italian bride goes blind, and her
husband tries to keep her safe by locking the doors. A
childhood friend and inventor gives her a way to escape
the husband and find furtive love.
—THE
WAY WE REMEMBER IT (MEMOIR)
"How
Did You Get This Number" by
Sloane Crosley
(
June 15
): Humorous essays featuring a bright young thing in the
big city.
"Female
Nomad and Friends" by
Rita Golden Gelman
(available now): A collection edited by the author of
"Tales of a Female Nomad" featuring other
travelers and including food and recipes.
"Hitch-22"
by
Christopher Hitchens
(available now): The contrarian and atheist writes about
his first 60 years, including his mother's suicide,
protesting the pope, his career as a war correspondent
and more.
"Lay
the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling" by
Beth Raymer
(available now): A newcomer to Vegas spends four years
working for a sports-betting entity and placing wagers
on everything from spelling bees to
Little League
contests.
—LOOKING
INTO THE PAST
"The
Cross of Redemption" by
James Baldwin
(
Aug. 3
): Essays, reviews and interviews by the author of
"Notes of a Native Son" are gathered for the
first time in book form.
"Lives
Like Loaded Guns:
Emily Dickinson
and her Family's Feuds" by
Lyndall Gordon
(
June 14
): The great, peculiar poet may have kept to herself
because she suffered from epilepsy, this new biography
says.
"Empire
of the Summer Moon" by
S.C. Gwynne
(available now): A historical account of the battle
between warring Comanches and white settlers for control
of the West.
"Declaration"
by
William Hogeland
(available now): An account of the nine weeks in 1776
when
Samuel and John Adams
led a band of patriots willing to break with
England
.
"
Pearl Buck
in
China
" by
Hilary Spurling
(available now): Biographer shows how young Pearl
witnessed incredible poverty in
China
as the daughter of a single-minded missionary in this
gripping account of the Nobel Prize-winning author of
"The Good Earth."
"Freedom
Summer" by
Bruce Watson
(
June 14
): A look at the summer of 1964, the season that
"made
Mississippi
burn" during the violent days of the civil rights
movement.
—MOSTLY
FOR LAUGHS
"
Star Island
" by
Carl Hiaasen
(
July 27
): An anonymous stunt double for a pop star is
mistakenly kidnapped in
Miami
and must be rescued (while keeping her existence a
secret).
"Super
Sad True Love Story" by
Gary Shteyngart
(
July 27
): The author of "The Russian Debutante's
Handbook" satirizes a future illiterate,
debt-ridden America where there still might be something
worth living for: love.
—OUR
CULTURE NOW
"
True Prep
" by
Lisa Birnbach
, with
Chip Kidd
(
Aug. 11
): The author of the 1980 best seller "The Official
Preppy Handbook" looks at how former preps have
adapted to cell phones and reality TV.
"Extra
Lives" by
Tom Bissell
(available now): An exploration of video games that
combines personal experience (Bissell once went on a
cocaine binge playing "Grand Theft Auto IV")
with interviews of leading game designers.
"The
Facebook Effect" by
David Kirkpatrick
(
June 15
): How a
Harvard
student created a social network that has transformed
the Internet and, arguably, daily life.
"What
Women Want" by
Paco Underhill
(
July 6
): The author of "Why We Buy" shows that the
consumers everybody's catering to are women. As women
gain power and independence, their choices are
transforming consumerism.
—KEEP
THE LIGHTS ON
"Rock
Paper Tiger" by
Lisa Brackmann
(available now): A scarred Iraqi war veteran struggles
to find herself while working as a security guard in
modern
China
. Conspiracies, not peace, keep her on the run.
"The
Burning Wire" by
Jeffrey Deaver
(available now): Terrorism is feared when a killer uses
a shocking weapon — an electrical substation — in
the new thriller by the popular Deaver.
"The
Lion" by
Nelson DeMille
(available now): A deadly Libyan terrorist known as the
Lion is chased by former
New York
detective
John Corey
.
"Bullet"
by
Laurell K. Hamilton
(available now): Vampire hunter
Anita Blake's
latest adventure involves a vampire from her past and
her hometown of
St. Louis
.
"In
Harm's Way" by
Ridley Pearson
(
Aug. 3
): Sheriff
Walt Fleming
is kept surprisingly busy with homicides for a guy who
lives in a lovely vacation spot like
Sun Valley
.
"Dead
Line" by
Stella Rimington
(
July 1
): A Syrian source tips off intelligence officer
Liz Carlyle
that an attack is planned at a
Middle East
peace conference.
"The
Rembrandt Affair" by
Daniel Silva
(
July 25
):
Gabriel Allon
has retreated to the cliffs of
Cornwall
, but when an art restorer is murdered and a Rembrandt
is stolen, the Israeli agent is drawn into the intrigue.
—NOVEL
INQUIRIES
"A
Visit From the Goon Squad" by
Jennifer Egan
(available now): A 1990s music producer thinks
digitization has helped cause an aesthetic holocaust as
the novelist explores time and culture.
"Imperial
Bedrooms" by
Bret Easton Ellis
(
June 15
): The sequel to the author's first novel, "Less
Than Zero," which was published in 1985.
"Lucy"
by
Laurence Gonzales
(
July 13
): Ethical issues of genetic engineering surface when a
girl turns out to be the offspring of a human and an
ape.
"The
Nobodies Album" by
Carolyn Parkhurst
(
June 15
): This new novel by the author of "The Dogs of
Babel" portrays a writer estranged from her adult
son, who, she learns, has been accused of murdering his
girlfriend.
"Anthropology
of an American Girl" by
Hilary Thayer Hamann
(available now): An artist comes of age in 1970s
New York
, with rape, drugs and other trials.
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