Book thoughts for the Fall and the fallen....

I guess Thursdays are book days in the press. Lots of links for thought:


Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on street-lit, or hip-hot lit. The interesting thing is the quandary of whether books can actually influence social behaviors or not and whether if that is true, does that offset the benefits that come from influencing a culture of non-readers to read? I think reading is always good, no matter the subject matter. It broadens the mind, and makes people think. Are there some who are more susceptible to the lure of the concept? Yeah, that's true. But IMHO, the benefits far outweigh the outliers. Reading is the cornerstone of any developed civilization, and anything that helps strengthen that cornerstone, is to be encouraged. One opinion here, only.

USA Today has their list of recommended fall reads:

How I Paid For College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater by Marc Acito; Broadway Books, $21.95; in stores. Quirky coming-of-age novel in which penniless teen resorts to blackmail, embezzlement and high jinks to earn his college tuition.

KO note: Sex in the title, will sell well.

The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle; Viking, $25.95; in stores. In-your-face author uses Kinsey Report on human sexuality as jumping-off point for this tale of marriage, sex and infidelity.

KO note: Kinsey report: see above note.

Playing With Boys by Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez; St. Martin's, $24.95; in stores. Author of The Dirty Girls Social Club tells fast-paced story of three young women trying to make it in L.A.

KO note: Title implies sex, see above note.

The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips; Random House, $24.95; in stores. Rollicking, globetrotting adventure tale about one man's manic obsession with finding the tomb of an apocryphal king in turn-of-the-20th-century Egypt.

KO note: No sex. More iffy on the number-front. However, implies a certain Indiana Jones quality that might overcome it's non-sexiness.

The Love Wife by Gish Jen; Knopf, $25; Tuesday. Overburdened family of Carnegie Wong, second-generation Chinese-American, and his blond wife, Janey, is turned upside down when Wong's "cousin" Lanlan comes to live with them.

KO note: Title implies there will be sex and Chinese-American provides multicultural sex which is even better. Will sell.

Che's Chevrolet, Fidel's Oldsmobile on the Road in Cuba by Richard Schweid; University of North Carolina Press, $27.50; Sept. 24. Journalist tracks history of U.S. cars dating to 1950s that still travel the streets in Cuba. Schweid recounts historic "car" moments such as Fidel Castro riding to the Bay of Pigs in a Chevy.

KO note: No sex at all. Will only sell to leftist anarchists who can't get laid.

Melancholy Baby by Robert B. Parker; Putnam, $24.95; Sept. 24. In fourth novel featuring Sunny Randall, the Boston private eye struggles with the upcoming marriage of her ex-husband while seeking out family secrets for a college girl.

KO note: "family secrets of a college girl?" Hmm… lesbian sex?

Trespassing by Uzma Aslam Khan; Metropolitan, $27; Oct. 5. Ill-fated love story of Daanish, an American-educated Pakistani, and the deceptive and mysterious Dia shifts between Pakistan and America.

KO note: love story, with Pakistani bent. Multi-cultural sex, will sell well.

Cheat and Charmer by Elizabeth Frank; Random House, $25.95; Oct. 5. Pulitzer Prize winner's debut novel, set in the 1950s, pits screenwriter's wife against her sister during Hollywood blacklist scandals.

KO note: Sounds more glitzy, but does have the Pulitzer cachet. No sex inherent. Sales are iffy, but I bet reviews are great.

Color Blind by Jonathan Santlofer; William Morrow, $24.95; Oct. 12. Author of 2002's The Death Artist writes a gritty tale of murder and mayhem that begins with the discovery of two bodies and the oddly colored paintings left at the crime scene.

KO note: Gore and art. An interesting dichotomy. No sex, but perhaps we'll have skanky villain sex. Don't know. Could do well.

Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones; Basic Books, $26; Oct. 12. Author of Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence looks at the genesis of and our enduring obsession with comic books.

KO note: No sex, not even comic-book sex. Sales will do well among techy geekazoids who can't get laid.

The Best American Nonrequired Reading edited by Dave Eggers; introduction by Viggo Mortensen; Houghton Mifflin, $14; Oct. 14. This year's eclectic mix of fiction, non-fiction, journalism and humor includes pieces by Michelle Tea, Haruki Murakami and David Sedaris.

KO note: Ohhhh, the much-praised Dave Eggers, combined with Viggo's hunkiness. An interesting marketing ploy. Will get great reviews, and I wonder if they'll include a step-back of Viggo?

Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Lucy Anne Hurston; Doubleday, $29.95; Oct. 19. Scrapbook-like tribute to the life of this African-American writer precedes Oprah's November production of Hurston classic Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring HalleBerry.

KO note: Oprah. TV. Will sell well and will be fodder for reading-groups everywhere.

The Virtues of War by Steven Pressler; Doubleday, $24.95; Oct. 19. Fictionalized re-creation of the life of Alexander the Great, who ascended the throne of Macedon at 19 and died at 33, never defeated by an enemy.

KO note: this should hit about the time that Colin Farrell's epic hits the big screen. Confused consumers will flock to the shelves, assuming that Colin will be included. Alas, two week sales are good, but this one will not have Colin's "legs"

Bicycle by David Herlihy; Yale University Press, $39.95; Nov. 1. The definitive, illustrated cultural history of the long quest for and development of a human-powered vehicle.

KO note: Huh? And 39.95? However, this is around election time, so who knows what'll happen. Perhaps it's the Lance Armstrong affect.

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich; HarperCollins, $26.95; Nov. 2. A thriller that mixes murder and explosions with car races and graft.

KO note: Oh, new Janet E. Can she reproduce Stephanie Plum for the NASCAR set? This one should hit NYT easy.

Oh, Play That Thing by Roddy Doyle; Viking, $24.95; Nov. 4. Sequel to Doyle's 1999 best-selling novel (A Star Called Henry) takes a former IRA assassin to New York and Chicago.

KO note: Title implies sexiness, but plot sounds vaguely sex-free. However has Irish cachet and is a sequel. Should do well.

Nixon at the Movies by Mark Feeney; University of Chicago Press, $27.50; Nov. 8. A critic for The Boston Globe examines Richard Nixon's fascination with Hollywood and the nearly 500 movies he watched in the White House (more than two a week during Watergate).

KO note: Nixon??? And it's not even Nixon sex. I don't know. Iffy.

The Power Game by Joseph Nye Jr.; PublicAffairs, $25; Nov. 9. A former assistant defense secretary's debut novel, thriller set in Washington, D.C., is about power and deceptions.

KO note: Political celeb cachet. Bet he puts in Washington sex.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $23; Nov. 19. The second novel by Robinson (Housekeeping) deals with war-tested faith and visions in three generations of Midwestern ministers.

KO note: Midwestern ministers? Hmmm… Maybe in Wisconsin, but I wonder about this one…