May

FICTION/HARRIS
Harris, JoanneThe  Girl with No Shadow2008, 444 p.
This sequel to the delightful Chocolat features Vianne who now has changed her name to Yanne and moved to Paris to start a new life with her daughters Anouk and Rosette.  Seeking a quiet life, she keeps her secrets hidden but, as all too often, secrets are revealed when we least expect.  When newcomer Zozie de l’Alba offers to help Yanne with the chocolate shop she now has, she is guarded but hopeful this arrangement will work out.  Soon however, it becomes apparent to Yanne that Zozie is not who she thinks she is and she becomes worried about her influence on her teenage daughter.  Again, as in Chocolat, this beautifully written novel captures the reader till the very last page. Sheila Guenzer

FICTION/HILL
Hill, JoeHeart-Shaped Box2007, 376 p.
Judas Coyne, a middle-aged rock star, collects morbidly peculiar items and is particularly interested in an internet auction of a suit which includes the dead owner’s ghost.  When the suit arrives, Judas discovers that he has been set-up since the suit belonged to Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of his previous girlfriend who committed suicide.  McDermott’s ghost is out to avenge her death and threatens to kill Judas and anyone who tries to help him. This book is a compelling tale of horror and in the end the characters find redemption. Marianne Trautvetter

FICTION/MEDWED
Medwed, MameveHow Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life2006, 255 p.
Antiques dealer Abby Randolph makes a living selling antiques at a booth at a Cambridge antiques mart.  One day a colleague suggests she take a chamber pot she received after dividing the possessions of her recently deceased mother and her partner on the television show, Antiques Roadshow.  To her great surprise, the chamber pot belonged to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and it is worth a small fortune.  Her former best friend Lavinia also lays claim to the chamber pot, as her mother was living with Abby’s mother, starting a legal battle.  Complicating matters, Abby was in love with Lavinia’s brother Ned until he wrote a novel detailing her hopes and fears, causing her to break up with him.  Mild-mannered Abby must deal with Lavinia’s selfishness and the necessity of seeing Ned again as she fights to claim what is hers and to discover how she wants to change her life. Sue O’Brien

FICTION/MILLET
Millet, LydiaHow the Dead Dream2007, 244 p.
The only child of emotionally inaccessible parents, the oddly likeable T. is a loner – mildly obsessed with several of the American founding fathers, and curiously adept at various entrepreneurial schemes.  As a real estate developer, his sharp intellect and unusually keen insight serve him well on his latest project: a retirement community in the California desert.  Despite his successes, T. remains dissatisfied and spiritually adrift – dealing inadequately with the arrival of his mentally unstable mother, and the untimely death of the only girl he ever loved.  He responds by finding solace in the company of animals rather than in people, who he generally regards as insensitive ecological pariahs.  Overall, this is a poignant and sensitive literary novel, artfully blending social satire and personal melancholy, reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut. Debbie Deady

SF/F ROTHFUSS
Rothfuss, PatrickThe Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One2007, 662 p.
This first installment in a new fantasy series is traditional fantasy storytelling at its best. When the legendary Kvothe, discovered in a backwater village, is persuaded to tell his life story over three days to a “chronicler,” the Kvothe of legend, quickly becomes merely flesh and blood. A gifted child orphaned by the murderous Chandrain, Kvothe survived the wilderness, the streets and the University using his wits and unique talents, while carefully constructing the foundation of his mythic status. A roadhouse, a scribe, a flawed hero, a bit of magic, lots of adventure, a sidekick, and trouble afoot. A sure bet for traditional fantasy readers everywhere! Terri W.

YA/FICTION/VALENTINE
Valentine, JennyMe, the Missing, and the Dead2008, 208 p.
Lucas is surrounded by missing people: his older sister is never around, his mother is absorbed in a midlife crisis, his grandfather has dementia, and his journalist father went missing under fishy circumstances years ago. With so many ghostlike family members, it’s not surprising that Lucas finds a connection with the dead.  Lucas finds an abandoned funeral urn and immediately feels a connection to the woman inside.  After embarking on an investigation into her life, a spine-tingling discovery allows Lucas to finally close the book on his father’s disappearance.  Readers, especially teens, looking for a coming-of age story with a little supernatural mystery won’t want to miss this debut novel.

FICTION/WOLITZER
Wolitzer, MegThe Ten-Year Nap2008, 351 p.
This novel of post-9/11 literary fiction illuminates the day-to-day minutiae of a loosely knit group of mothers whose friendship originates from their children attending the same private day school in Manhattan. These women, former career-professionals, have elected to devote their energies to full-time mothering for as-yet indeterminate season of their lives.  Breakfasting at the Golden Horn Diner, the women articulate their mutual challenges as well as the unique struggles confronted by each woman in her own little corner of the world.  Vivid, well-drawn characters propel the story from multiple points of view, in a candid, often hilarious, snapshot of contemporary culture. Suzy Miller