Books for Grownups: August 2008

-- Publishers Weekly, 8/6/2008 11:00:00 AM

It's the last month of summer, which means it's time to plan this year's last trips to the beach--and to figure out what to read. This month, PW and AARP have come up with some great books: a few thrillers for the beach or the plane; with election season coming, there are books on politics, one of them by Nancy Pelosi; and of course, a handful of helpful how-tos.  Get reading, quick, before the weather changes and you have to take your book inside.

Fiction

The Franchise Babe
By Dan Jenkins
Doubleday
$24.95
ISBN 978-0-385-51910-6
Longtime sportswriter Jenkins romps through the rarely seen business side of big money women’s golf. Jenkins knows his stuff and loves the game; the book’s a riot.

An Absolute Scandal
By Penny Vincenzi
Doubleday
$24.95
ISBN 978-0-385-51989-2
Here’s one to take to the beach. Prolific British author Vincenzi’s trademark breakneck plotting, scandalous doubecrosses and sultry storytelling make this read like a snappy British Dallas. All that's missing are the shoulder pads in this tale of a prominent family’s possible undoing as it battles in court Lloyd’s of London.

L'Assassin
By Peter Steiner
St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne
$24.95
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37342-9
In this literate crime thriller from New Yorker cartoonist Steiner, the middle-aged hero, an ex-CIA officer, must leave his idyllic life in the French countryside and go on the run after becoming the target of a revenge-seeking former U.S. secretary of state.

Master of the Delta
By Thomas H. Cook
Harcourt/Penzler
$24
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-101254-1
Edgar-winner Cook examines the slow collapse of a prominent Southern family in this tale of suspense about a middle-aged high school teacher who discovers that one of his students in his true-crime class is the son of a confessed murderer.

Black and White and Dead All Over
By John Darnton
Knopf
$24.95
ISBN-13: 978-0-307-26752-8
Loaded with subtle social commentary and wry humor from a Boomer perspective, this highly intelligent whodunit examines a string of murders at a major New York City newspaper struggling to stay afloat amid ever-decreasing readership, circulation and stock value.

Nonfiction

Assisted Loving: True Tales of Double Dating with My Dad By Bob Morris 
HarperCollins
$24.95ISBN 978-006137-412-8
Morris, a former columnist for the New York Times, mixes humor and social commentary in this courageous book, revealing the bitter grief of his mother's death and the joyous re-emergence into life of Joe, his widowed father.

The Selected Essays of Gore Vidal
Edited by Jay Parini
Doubleday
$27.50
ISBN 978-0-385-52484-1
Vidal’s characteristic barbed wit and contrarian views are on display in these many essays, including some of his best and most entertaining, on literature and politics—from middlebrow taste to JFK’s legacy.

Society's Child
By Janis Ian
Tarcher
$26.95
ISBN 978-158542-675-1
"I was born into the crack that split America," Ian writes. Her early immersion in the folk music scene of the 1960s helped shape her prodigious songwriting talents while she was still in her teens. The roller-coaster ride of Ian’s life may be typical stuff for celebrity autobiography, but fans will appreciate the candor with which she discusses the hardships and her gradual path to happiness as an independent singer-songwriter in Nashville.

One Minute to Midnight
By Michael Dobbs
Knopf
$27.95
ISBN 978-1-4000-4358-3
In a fast-paced, suspenseful account, Washington Post reporter Dobbs relates the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis—when the US and the USSSR hovered on the brink of nuclear war.

The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s 
By G. Calvin Mackenzie And Robert Weisbrot
Penguin Press
$27.95
ISBN 978-1-59420-170-7
Two professors of government examine the political dynamics that allowed the U.S. government in the 1960s to enact the most far-reaching social reform legislation since the New Deal.

How-to/Self-Help 

Juicing, Fasting, and Detoxing for Life: Unleash the Healing Power of Fresh Juices and Cleansing Diets 
By Cherie Calbom MS and John Calbom MA
Wellness Central
$14.99
ISBN: 978-044658-137-0
After a string of books promoting single-diet cures, Calbom and Calbom Ma offer a whole-life program for regaining health in an unhealthy world, along with tips and schedules that make the plan manageable for even the busiest people.

No-nonsense Guide to Menopause
Barbara Seaman and Laura Eldridge
Simon & Schuster
$26.95
ISBN 978-074327-678-8
The late Barbara Seaman, a legendary figure in the women's health movement, and Laura Eldridge touch on nearly every aspect of women’s health (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress relief, vitamins and herbs, aging, appearance, etc.) as they help readers frame key questions, evaluate research studies, consider treatment options and move gracefully through menopause and the years before and after “the change”.

The Nice Girl Syndrome: Stop Being Manipulated and Abused—and Start Standing Up for Yourself 
By Beverly Engel Wiley
$24.95
ISBN 978-0470-17938-3
Domestic violence expert Engel elucidates the “Seven Types of Nice Girls” (i.e. Doormat, Pretender, Prude, Enlightened One) and provides a guide for women to become authentically strong and self-protective.

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living 
By Russ Harris 
Trumpeter (Random, dist.)
$14.95
 ISBN 978-1-59030-584-3
Physician Harris draws upon “acceptance and commitment therapy” (ACT) to argue that happiness is not necessarily a normal state of being and true serenity can best be achieved by being “mindful” of negative thoughts and emotions and responding to hardships with “psychological flexibility.”

Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters 
By Nancy Pelosi with Amy Hill Hearth 
Doubleday
$16.29
ISBN 978-0-385-52586-2
In a graceful personal and political history, Pelosi describes her experiences from an Italian-American childhood to her seat in Congress. Pelosi’s book is a simply crafted acknowledgment of the support of her family, mentors and helpful colleagues without rhetorical flourishes, insider scandal or intimate revelations—a gentle account from a tough politician.