Agate Publishing

Racing the Dark (Oct., $24) by Alaya Dawn Johnson centers around a girl who learns to wield magic.

Akashic Books

The Swing Voter of Staten Island (Oct., $22.95) by Arthur Nersesian. In 1981, a New Yorker realizes that he's in a replica of his home city—in Nevada. 15-city author tour.

Algonquin Books

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Sept., $23.95) by Brock Clarke. An accidental arsonist leads readers through a flame-filled adventure about literature, lies, love and life. 50,000 first printing.15-city author tour.

Breakfast with Buddha (Oct., $23.95) by Roland Merullo depicts a road trip with a holy man. Ad/promo.

American Univ. in Cairo Press

(dist by IPM)

Morning and Evening Talk (Jan., $19.95) by Naguib Mahfouz, trans. by Christina Phillips, features five generations of an Egyptian family.

Archipelago Books

(dist. by Consortium)

Yalo (Jan., $25) by Elias Khoury depicts a man imprisoned and tortured during the civil war in Lebanon. Author tour.

Arte Público Press

Dante's Ballad (Sept., $23.95) by Eduardo González Viaña. A father encounters eccentric characters as he journeys to track down his runaway daughter.

Atria

Them (Nov., $25) by Nathan McCall examines the relationship between longtime residents and new arrivals in a gentrifying Atlanta neighborhood. 5-city author tour.

Duncan Baird

(dist. by Sterling)

Coffee with Groucho (Sept., $9.95) by Simon Louvish imagines Groucho Marx discussing his films and his brothers.

Coffee with Hemingway (Sept., $9.95) by Kirk Curnutt conjures up Ernest Hemingway at his desk and reflecting on globe-trotting and bullfighting.

Ballantine

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Nov., $25.95) by Judith McNaught. A divorced couple are given a second chance to rekindle their romance.

Shadow Music (Jan., $25.95) by Julie Garwood follows the author's Shadow Dance s with a compelling historical romance.

Bantam

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: The Frontier Stories (Oct., $24) by Louis L'Amour. The fifth volume collects stories set on the frontier. 150,000 first printing.

The Darkest Evening of the Year (Nov., $27) by Dean Koontz. A woman who rescues golden retrievers fears she's being followed after she saves a dog from a dangerous situation. 850,000 first printing.

Light of the Moon (Jan., $25) by Luanne Rice depicts an anthropologist who travels to France to get over her mother's death. 200,000 first printing.

Berkley

Dark Possession (Sept., $24.95) by Christine Feehan. In this new Carpathian adventure, Manuel Manolito De La Cruz has been called back to his homeland and has caught the scent of his destined lifemate.

Bethany house

The Road Home (Sept., $19.99) by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen depicts friendship between generations. 30,000 first printing.

Black Heron Press

(dist. by Midpoint Trade)

Anna Begins (Jan., $21.95) by Jennifer Davenport. A high school senior must deal with an eating disorder and a suicidal boyfriend.

Bloomsbury

The Indian Clerk (Sept., $24.95) by David Leavitt takes inspiration from the true story of the relationship between an esteemed British mathematician and an unschooled math genius from India. 50,000 first printing.

Diablerie (Jan., $23.95) by Walter Mosley tells a noir tale of a seemingly ordinary man whose secrets are hidden even from himself. 60,000 first printing.

Counterpoint

A Man of No Moon (Sept., $24) by Jenny McPhee is set against the backdrop of postwar Italy. Author tour.

Curbstone Press

Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea (Sept., $24.95) by Sergio Ramírez. Set in Nicaragua, this story, which spans 50 years, becomes an exercise on the power of memory and the influence of the past.

Dafina

Deliver Me from Evil (Sept., $24) by Mary Monroe follows a woman who embarks on an affair after 12 years of marriage.

Delacorte

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (Sept., $25) and Lord John and the Hand of Devils (Nov., $25) by Diana Gabaldon feature the dashing 18th-century Lord John Grey. 150,000 first printing each.

Amazing Grace (Oct., $27) by Danielle Steel brings together four strangers in the aftermath of a San Francisco earthquake. 800,000 first printing. .

Crossroads (Nov., $26) by Belva Plain describes how greed and corporate intrigue affect the residents of a small New England town. 140,000 first printing.

Del Rey

Gentlemen of the Road (Oct., $18.95) by Michael Chabon tells the story of two wandering adventurers in the kingdom of Arran in A.D 950. Ad/promo.

Doubleday

Engleby (Sept., $24.95) by Sebastian Faulks revolves around Mike Engleby, an intriguingly unreliable narrator. 50,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.

Playing for Pizza (Sept., $27.95) by John Grisham. A disgraced NFL player gets a second chance—with a team in Parma, Italy. 1.75 million first printing.

Untitled Novel (Jan., $tba) by John Grisham. 2.8 million first printing.

Killer Heat (Jan., $26) by Linda Fairstein. Blonde ADA Alex Cooper gets involved in a series of seemingly unrelated murders. 150,000 first printing. Author tour.

Life Class (Jan., $23.95) by Pat Barker. The author of the Regeneration Trilogy portrays artists and lovers caught in the maelstrom of the Great War. 35,000 first printing.

Doubleday/Flying Dolphin

The Alphabet from A to Y, with Bonus Letter Z! (Oct., $17.95) by Steve Martin and Roz Chast combines the zany humor of the actor and the New Yorker cartoonist. 200,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.

Doubleday/Nan A. Talese

Trespass (Sept., $25) by Valerie Martin. A middle-class woman becomes increasingly concerned about her son's secretive Croatian girlfriend.

The Commoner (Jan., $24.95) by John Burnham Schwartz. This novel, based on the true story of the present empress of Japan, delves into the emotional lives of the world's most hermetically sealed royalty. 35,000 first printing. Author tour.

Dutton

World Without End (Oct., $35) by Ken Follett picks up the lives of the descendants of characters from the author's The Pillars of the Earthtwo centuries later. Ad/promo. Author tour.

The Appeal (Jan., $26.95) by John Lescroart follows an attorney who becomes involved in the case of a reservist charged with a revenge killing.

L.A. Outlaws (Feb., $25.95) by T. Jefferson Parker. A deputy in the L.A. county sheriff's department becomes involved with a witness to a diamond heist. Author tour.

Ecco

Hotel de Dream (Sept., $23.95) by Edmund White explores New York City's seedy underbelly at the dawn of the 20th century.

War and Peace (Sept., $34.95) by Leo Tolstoy, trans. by Andrew Bromfield, offers the first English translation of this classic novel's original version.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Tree of Smoke (Sept., $27.50) by Denis Johnson tracks the nephew of a Vietnam war hero who is training as a spy. Ad/promo.

The Uncommon Reader (Sept., $15) by Alan Bennett describes the transformation of the queen of England after she discovers the joy of reading. Ad/promo.

The Quiet Girl (Nov., $26) by Peter Høeg, trans. by Nadia Christensen, centers around a circus clown with a deep love for Bach and an even deeper gambling debt. Ad/promo.

Feminist Press

The Amputated Memory (Nov., $24.95) by Werewere Liking, trans. by Marjolijn De Jager, depicts a Cameroonwoman's reclamation of her sense of self.

David R. Godine/Black Sparrow

Jazz and Twelve O'Clock Tales (Oct., $24.95) by Wanda Coleman collects 13 stories about lonely people whose inner lives outshine their material poverty.

Grand Central Publishing

The Choice (Sept., $24.99) by Nicholas Sparks. Travis Parker becomes attracted to his neighbor, who not only has a boyfriend, but seems to dislike him intensely. Ad/promo.10-city author tour.

Stone Cold (Nov., $26.99) by David Baldacci. The Camel Club returns, working to protect a woman being hunted by a deadly casino owner. Ad/promo.

Graywolf

The Water Cure (Sept., $22) by Percival Everett traces a man's attempt to exact revenge for the murder of his 11-year-old daughter.

Great Little Books

(dist. by Midpoint Trade)

Bedtime Stories: The Short, Long and Tall Tales of a Sleepwriter (Oct., $14.95) by Barbara Worton collects the author's thoughts before nodding off.

Grove Atlantic/Granta

The New Granta Book of the American Short Story (Nov., $29.95), edited by Richard Ford.

Harcourt

Vanilla Bright Like Eminem (Sept., $23) by Michel Faber. The author of The Crimson Petal and the Whitespins 16 tales of people at turning points in their lives.

The Konkans (Feb., $25) by Tony D'Souza. In 1973, a family of passionate raconteurs attempt to preserve their Konkan heritage. Author tour.

Harlequin/HQN

Long Tall Texan Legacy (Nov., $16.95) by Diana Palmer pairs two stories set in Jacobsville, Tex.

HarperCollins

Run (Oct., $25.95) by Ann Patchett sketches the aftermath of one fateful night on a Boston family. 200,000 first printing.

Mister B. Gone (Nov., $24.95) by Clive Barker offers a demonic “memoir” written in 1438. 150,000 first printing.

Sword Song (Jan., $25.95) by Bernard Cornwell. The fourth volume in the Saxon Tales reimagines the birth of England. 150,000 first printing.

Henry Holt

The Race (Nov., $26) by Richard North Patterson. A maverick candidate takes on his political enemies and the ruthless machinery of politics.

Host Publications

The Faithful Lover (Sept., $30, paper $15) by Massimo Bontempelli, trans. by Estelle Gilson, collects 13 stories by the noted Italian writer.

Houghton Mifflin

Exit Ghost (Oct., $26) by Philip Roth. The indomitable Nathan Zuckerman returns to New York City after an 11-year absence. 200,000 first printing. Ad/promo.

The Invention of Everything Else (Feb., $24) by Samantha Hunt. In 1943 a Hotel New Yorker chambermaid befriends the hotel's most famous resident, inventor Nikola Tesla. Author tour. Ad/promo.

Johns Hopkins Univ. Press

The Jew of Home Depot and Other Stories (Nov., $19.95) by Max Apple presents the first collection by Apple in 20 years.

Kensington

Changing Tides (Sept., $24) by Michael Thomas Ford. A divorced man spends his summer getting to know his 16-year-old daughter and falling in love with a male graduate student.

The Sixth Form (Jan., $24) by Tom Dolby. Ethan Whitley's senior year in prep school is marked by a relationship with a boy coming to terms with being gay.

Allen A. Knoll

Voyage to Oblivion (Feb., $27.95) by Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II. Seven shipboard dinner companions cannot escape their own demons even while on a round-the-world cruise.

Knopf

Songs Without Words (Sept., $24.95) by Ann Packer follows two women, friends since childhood, as their relationship is stretched to the breaking point. 150,000 first printing. Ad/promo. 10-city author tour.

Bridge of Sighs (Oct., $26.95) by Richard Russo. A man writing a history of his New York town travels to Italy to visit a boyhood friend from the same town. 200,000 first printing. Ad/promo. 12-city author tour.

The Senator's Wife (Jan., $24.95) by Sue Miller exposes the imperfections—and strong bonds—in two contemporary marriages. 150,000 first printing.

Library of America

Jack Kerouac: Road Novels 1957—1960 (Sept., $35) by Jack Kerouac, edited by Douglas Brinkley, collects the work of the beat generation writer on the 50th anniversary of On the Road. 25,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.

Little, Brown

The Almost Moon (Oct., $24.99) by Alice Sebold. A woman looks back over the course of 24 hours at the experiences that led her to kill her mother. Ad/promo.5-city author tour.

Swine Not? (Nov., $23.99) by Jimmy Buffett follows a Southern belle from Vertigo, Tenn., who moves to New York City with her pet pig, Rumpy.

MacAdam/Cage

Caspian Rain (Sept., $25) by Gina B. Nahai looks at a Jewish-Iranian girl in the decade before Iran's Islamic Revolution. 30,000 first printing. 10-city author tour.

McBooks Press

From the Depths (Nov., $23.95) by Gerry Doyle. A female CIA forensics expert investigates mysterious deaths alongside a crew of Navy SEALS on a defecting Korean sub.

Mercer Univ. Press

The Book of Marie (Sept., $23) by Terry Kay revolves around the 50th reunion of the Overton High School class of 1955, which rekindles one alum's memory of a killing and a case of arson.

Mira

Where Angels Go (Oct., $16.95) by Debbie Macomber brings back the angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, who especially love helping people on Earth.

Modern Library

Three Days Before the Shooting… (Feb., $35) by Ralph Ellison, edited by John Callahan. Culled from over 3,000 manuscript pages, this edition represents the most complete version of the author's final manuscript.

Morrow

Soul Catcher (Sept., $24.95) by Michael C. White. This pre-Civil-War epic follows a tracker and the runaway female slave he has pursued on a harrowing journey. 100,000 first printing.

The Christmas Pearl (Nov., $14.95) by Dorothea Benton Frank brims with the author's signature humor and Southern charm. 150,000 first printing.

Now You See Him (Jan., $24.95) by Eli Gottlieb. A murder committed by a maverick novelist unleashes disturbing secrets with far-reaching consequences. 50,000 first printing.

New Directions

Nazi Literature in the Americas (Feb., $23.95) by Roberto Bolaño, trans. by Chris Andrews, collects fictitious short biographies of imagined fascist writers in Latin America and the U.S.

W.W. Norton

The Air We Breathe (Oct., $24.95) by Andrea Barrett. Patients in a TB sanitarium are far removed from America's entry into WWI until an accident and a betrayal bring the war home. 14-city author tour.

The Age of Shiva (Jan., $24.95) by Manil Suri. A woman struggles to establish herself against the male-dominated landscape of modern India. 14-city author tour.

Overlook

The Dilemma (Oct., $25.95) by Penny Vincenzi evokes the struggle for dignity; first U.S. publication.

Pantheon

The Soul Thief (Feb., $24) by Charles Baxter revolves around what happens when a man feels that a friend is stealing his identity.

Homecoming (Jan., $24) by Bernhard Schlink, trans. by Michael Heim, tells of a man's search for the truth about the father he thought had died in WWII.

A Free Life (Nov., $26) by Ha Jin explores the experience of a family of three who immigrate from China to the United States in the 1980s. 9-city author tour.

Permanent Press

Sticklebacks and Snow Globes (Oct., $26) by B.A. Goodjohn views a London working-class neighborhood through the eyes of an eight-year-old epileptic girl.

An Almost Life (Dec., $28) by Kevin Mednick follows a personal injury lawyer with an unhappy personal life.

Pineapple Press

Black Creek: The Taking of Florida (Sept., $19.95) by Paul Varnes focuses on a family from Georgia that settles in Florida during the Seminole Wars.

Pocket Books

Guiding Light: Jonathan's Story (Sept., $22) by Julia London features three characters from the soap opera, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

Little Lady and the Prince (Feb., $24) by Hester Browne. A young woman about to be married is asked by her beloved grandmother to reform a playboy prince.

Putnam

Dark of the Moon (Sept., $26.95) by John Sandford explores three murders in a small town. 500,000 first printing.

Book of the Dead (Oct., $26.95) by Patricia Cornwell. Kay Scarpetta moves to a new city and starts struggling with local politicians and entrenched interests. 1,500,000 first printing.

The Chase (Nov., $26.95) by Clive Cussler portrays a detective pursuing a man suspected of numerous robberies. 750,000 first printing. Author tour.

Creation in Death (Nov., $25.95) by J.D. Robb presents Lt. Eve Dallas patrolling the streets of New York City. 550,000 first printing.

T Is for Trespass (Dec., $26.95) by Sue Grafton considers identify theft and elder abuse. 1,200,000 first printing. Author tour.

Random House

Tipperary (Nov., $26.95) by Frank Delaney unites a roving folk healer and a young woman trying to restore her family's estate in late 19th- and early 20th-century Ireland.

Beautiful Children (Jan., $24.95) by Charles Bock depicts the case of a missing child in Las Vegas.

Riverhead

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Sept., $24.95) by Junot Díaz views the Dominican-American experience through the lives of Oscar, his sister Lola and the Cabral family at large. 80,000 first printing. Author tour.

Song Yet Sung (Feb., $24.95) by James McBride. A runaway slave's flight affects those in a small Chesapeake town. 100,000 first printing.

Rookery Press

Snitch Jacket (Sept., $24.95) by Christopher Goffard tracks Benny Bunt as he goes from snitching on his friends to falling under the Falstaffian spell of a local legend.

Schocken

A Pigeon and a Boy (Oct., $25) by Meir Shalev recounts a pigeon handler's release of one last pigeon in 1948 and the impact of the bird's message on the recipient's son. 8-city author tour.

Scribner

Angela and the Baby Jesus (Nov., $14.95) by Frank McCourt. The Pulitzer Prize—winner spins a captivating tale of Angela as a child. 300,000 first printing.

Duma Key (Jan., $28) by Stephen King centers on a man whose near-fatal accident gives him access to vast powers of creativity—and destruction. 1,500,000 first printing.

Simon & Schuster

The Gift (Oct., $19.95) by Richard Paul Evans. This tale of hope and faith affirms the redemptive power of love. Ad/promo.12-city author tour.

St. Martin's

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms (Sept., $24.95) by Gail Tsukiyama. During WWII, two brothers try to pursue traditional paths, as a sumo wrestler and a crafter of masks for Noh theater. Ad/promo.Author tour.

The Abstinence Teacher (Oct., $24.95) by Tom Perrotta studies the tension between those who would inject faith into children's lives and those who would not. Ad/promo. Author tour.

Pandora's Daughter (Oct., $25.95) by Iris Johansen. A woman who is unaware that she has psychic powers becomes the target of killers. Ad/promo.

The Christmas Promise (Oct., $14.95) by Donna VanLiere retells the story of the prodigal son. Ad/promo.Author tour.

St. martin's/Thomas Dunne

Starburst (Sept., $24.95) by Robin Pilcher presents a story of intertwining lives in the tradition of Maeve Binchy. 100,000 first printing.

Syracuse Univ. Press

My Thousand and One Nights: A Novel of Mecca (Oct., $24.95) by Raja Alem and Tom McDonough offers a portrait of medieval Mecca in which women hold center stage.

Tor

Blasphemy (Jan., $25.95) by Douglas Preston centers on Torus, the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, and the 12 scientists sent to turn it on. 300,000 first printing. Author tour.

People of the Weeping Eye (Jan., $24.95) by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear presents a man on a journey home through Mississippi and a woman forced to live life in reverse.

Touchstone

The Worst Thing I've Done (Oct., $25) by Ursula Hegi. Annie, Jake and Mason, friends since childhood, decide to raise Annie's infant sister together when Annie's parents die.

Gotta Keep on Tryin' (Jan., $24) by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant follows three friends dealing with the death of one friend's brother.

Unbridled Books

The Pirate's Daughter (Oct., $24.95) by Margaret Cezair-Thompson spans two generations of women whose destinies are linked with film star Errol Flynn. Author tour.

Univ. of Nevada Press

Minimal Damage: Stories of Veterans (Sept., $24.95) by H. Lee Barnes features seven stories and a novella about veterans seeking dignity in civilian life.

Univ. of South Carolina Press

Jesus in the Mist (Sept., $24.95) by Paul Ruffin collects 14 stories of the Deep South.

VIking

Cheating at Canasta (Oct., $24.95) by William Trevor collects 12 stories about regret, deception, adultery and aging.

Diary of a Bad Year (Jan., $24.95) by J.M. Coetzee features a narrator writing a wide-ranging political screed and the young female neighbor helping him type his manuscript.

Pontoon (Sept., $25.95) by Garrison Keillor returns to Lake Wobegon to uncover the secret life of a Sanctified Brethren woman of good standing, which emerges after she dies. 6-city author tour.

People of the Book (Jan., $24.95) by Geraldine Brooks features a young Australian book conservator called to analyze the 600-year-old Sarajevo Haggadah.

Home to Holly Springs (Oct., $26.95) by Jan Karon covers the spur-of-the-moment adventure of a newly retired priest. 4-city author tour. Advertising.

Waterbrook Press

Boo Humbug (Sept., $11.99) by Rene Gutteridge takes a holiday visit to tiny Skary, Ind., as the town is buzzing over a production of Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Weinstein Books

Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures (Sept., $23.95) by Vincent Lam chronicles the personal and profession lives of four young medical students. 9-city author tour. Ad/promo.100,000 first printing.

YMAA Publication Center

The Crocodile and the Crane (Sept., $21.95) by Arthur Rosenfeld describes a doomsday switch in human DNA that threatens to wipe out humanity.

Zondervan

Between Sundays (Nov., $21.99) by Karen Kingsbury follows a star running back, a younger player and a woman who cares about underprivileged kids. 200,000 first printing.