Hannah Doherty Recommends:

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman

It's hard to be ambivalent about Ayelet Waldman. In recent months, her controversial columns in publications from Salon.com to The New York Times have managed to inflame half of her readership with judgmental ire, while winning the hearts of the other half with her intriguing topics and forthright telling of awkward truths. Her new novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits will prove no exception to this polarizing trend, I suspect. Protagonist Emilia Greenleaf is a Harvard Law School graduate who marries the man she considers her soulmate, ready to embrace his lifestyle and his young son as her own. The situation grows complicated, however, as Emilia is forced to contend with Jack's bitter ex-wife, his son's precocious hypochondria, and most grievously, the recent death of her own infant daughter. Emilia veers from self-centered grief to pettiness to open-hearted forgiveness as she grapples with the shortcomings of those around her, and her selfish behavior at times is far from heartwarming. Yet, her honesty and her willingness to expose even the darkest sides of her character make her seem immature rather than evil, and as the book progresses, so does she, finally coming to terms with her grief and making a peace, however tenuous, with her estranged loved ones. I didn't come to love Emilia; however, by the end I did love this book, for its candid reminder that people are complicated, relationships are messy, and both can change.

Doubleday | $23.95 | 0-385-51530-8 | HC | January

Jennifer Parmelee Childs Recommends:

The Big Oyster: New York on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky

Let me start by saying that I don't even like oysters. They are slimy, have little nutritional value, and you actually eat them alive. Yuck. That said, you may be surprised to hear that I was absolutely fascinated by Kurlansky's expose of New York City's love affair with the oyster, which like many love affairs ended badly. The naturally occurring and abundant oyster beds off of Manhattan influenced early New York's cultural, economic and culinary trends. New York was the leading exporter of oysters, and when people came to New York, they wanted to taste the famous oysters and visit the oyster houses. When people thought of New York, they thought of oysters (which, as a current New Yorker, seems hard to believe). But like many of our precious resources, mankind managed to muck it up. As Kurlansky amusingly points out: "If eating an oyster is tasting the sea, eating a New York Oyster was tasting New York Harbor, which became increasingly unappealing." Centuries of pollution finally destroyed the beds in the 1920s, but the story up until that point is an enthralling one, not to mention one you've likely never heard before. The author's wit and storytelling ability makes you forget you are actually learning something. If only Kurlansky could have been my history professor, perhaps I would have gotten a better grade . . .

Ballantine | $23.95 | 0-345-47638-7 | HC | March

Erica McDonald Recommends:

By a Lady: Being the Adventures of an Enlightened American in Jane Austen's England by Amanda Elyot

Have you read Emma, seen the most recent Pride & Prejudice film, or participated in a Jane Austen book club? Would the prospect of being transported to the English city of Bath in the year 1801 excite or frighten you? Anglophile C.J. Welles is exiting the stage during a major Broadway audition when she suddenly finds herself in Georgian Bath! Will she ever be able to return home? Will she want to after being courted by the dashing Lord Darlington and befriended by her literary hero, Jane Austen? She must quickly adapt to the social customs and manners in order to hide her foreignness to both country and century. Rich in period detail, the novel follows C.J. as she maneuvers the intricacies of fashion, the sights and smells of living conditions, and the social mores that constrict and govern the classes of 19th century English society. The enticing romance with Lord Darlington and the mystery of how and why C.J. was brought to Jane Austen's England unfolds in a truly satisfying work of historical fiction with echoes of the language and tone of Jane Austen's novels interspersed with the thoughts and emotions of a modern American woman. You will be left yearning for some inexplicable time travel yourself. Perhaps you, too, would be invited to afternoon tea by the iconic literary figure, Jane Austen!

Three Rivers Press| $14.95 | 1-4000-9799-1 | TR | March

Sarah Pucillo Recommends:

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

For months, I heard different people throughout the company raving about this debut novel and then I finally sat down one Sunday and read it cover to cover. My first reaction? Wow! Even after everything I’d heard, Unger’s fresh, first-person narrative exceeded my expectations! The heroine, Ridley Jones, races to unravel the mystery of her past after she rescues a child from being hit by a van one morning. How did this singular event lead to the events that left Ridley questioning her past and scrambling for her life? Chance. She happened to be in the right place at the right time to save the child. If she had spent another moment looking at her mail or if a reporter had not been nearby with enough time to snap a photo of her heroic action, a man claiming to be her father would never have seen her on TV and sent her a mysterious note. And if Ridley had not received the mysterious note, would she still have met her sexy, new neighbor and asked for his help? The voice of Ridley Jones will captivate readers and leave them wondering about the choices one makes in response to everyday events. The combination of exceptional writing, a riveting plot, and a heroine readers will fall in love with, makes Beautiful Lies a debut novel destined for the bestseller lists!

Shaye Areheart Books | $23.00 | 0-307-33668-9 | HC | April

Marica Purcell Recommends:

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan

When I first read about this book on an advance tip sheet I LOVED the title . . . it ranks right up there with Book Lust: Recommend Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl. Both books applaud and explore the great unpredictable magic of reading. As a child, my mother both encouraged my endless reading, and predicted that I would ruin my eyesight, especially from reading under the covers at night by flashlight!

"We read literature for a lot of reasons, but two of the most compelling ones are to get out of ourselves and our own life stories and—equally important—to find ourselves by understanding our own life stories more clearly in the context of others.” Thus Corrigan sums up the basic premise of her wonderful examination of our inclination to both expand and examine our live through the words of others. And sometimes it’s rather sobering. After all, there is that true saying that oppresses all of us in the book business: “Too many books, too little time.” Make the time to read this delicious memoir, and be brave—turn off the cell phone and put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door.

Random House | $24.95 | 0-375-50425-7 | HC

Courtney Russell Recommends:

Intuition by Allegra Goodman

After reading Intuition, I will never look at an article about a possible cure for cancer (or other similar illness) the same. This book provided a fascinating glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in a science lab, and the researchers whose lives are affected by their work. Imagine a small lab where postdocs—whose personalities are marked by intelligence and complexity—work hard on cures for cancer; where no one is simply a good guy or a bad guy; and where being part of the tight knit environment of a lab can also foster an intimate relationship. Then imagine what can happen when someone in this group thinks they got the short end of the stick, someone who is naturally analytical and suspicious, who then finds holes in their colleague’s methods. When egos, pride, fear, and jealousy, get in the way—watch out. These personal issues not only stand in the way of progress and getting work done; they can also undermine the results of this work and the reputations of people and the labs in which they work. With an unhurried, carefully wrought suspense, Goodman creates a novel where the setting is almost claustrophobic and the psychological drama unfolds superbly.

Dial Press | $25.00 | 0-385-33612-8 | HC | February