Anderson is best known as publisher of Parade magazine and CEO of Parade Publications. But his new book delves into the private side of his life. Meant to Be: The True Story of a Son Who Discovers He Is His Mother's Deepest Secret reveals Anderson's harrowing childhood and his decadeslong search for his own identity.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "How Anderson rose from an environment of violence and chaos to become a highly respected reporter and later newspaper editor . . . is an engrossing story. Anderson does an exceptional job of illuminating how powerful belief in oneself can be." - St. Petersburg Times
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Kitchen Privileges by Mary Higgins Clark
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Valerie Boyd
In Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, Boyd chronicles the remarkable and sometimes mysterious life of the novelist and folklorist who was one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Boyd is arts editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Boyd's sumptuous biography of Zora Neale Hurston is the consummate examination of the writer's flamboyant life, easily surpassing Hurston's perplexing 1942 autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road." - Boston Globe
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters by Zora Neale Hurston, Carla Kaplan, Robert Hemenway
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Rita Ciresi
Ciresi's wry, insightful view of romance and family relationships enlivens her short story collections, Mother Rocket and Sometimes I Dream in Italian, and her novels, Blue Italian and Pink Slip. In Remind Me Again Why I Married You, she revisits the mismatched lovers of Pink Slip, five years into marriage and parenthood and wondering whether love can survive. Ciresi is an associate professor of English at the University of South Florida.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "One of these days you might find yourself wondering just who this person is sleeping on the other side of the bed, eating the food in the refrigerator, and never leaving the newspaper the way you like it. If and when that happens, don't despair: Remind Me Again Why I Married You might help you laugh at the problems every relationship can come to face." - St. Petersburg Times
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: She Is Me by Cathleen Schine
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Carol Higgins Clark
Clark has followed her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, onto the bestseller lists with a series of lighthearted mysteries featuring Los Angeles private detective Regan Reilly. The seventh, Popped, takes Regan to Las Vegas for a case involving an old school friend's struggle to make a TV show for a cable channel devoted to hot air ballooning.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Clark's seventh Regan Reilly mystery (after 2002's Jinxed) takes aim at all sorts of eminently spoofable targets, including reality TV shows, advice columnists and screen actors. . . . It all adds up to zany, if not particularly brilliant, fun in the desert, with an ending series fans will love." - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: May the Best Man Die by Deborah Donnelly
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Mary Higgins Clark
The queen of thrillers began writing when she found herself a young widow with five kids to support. For almost 30 years, she has been a publishing phenomenon, the author of 28 bestsellers, from Where Are the Children? (1975) to The Second Time Around (2003). Her memoir about her childhood and first marriage, Kitchen Privileges, has just been released in trade paperback.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "As her legions of fans know, Clark likes to keep readers in suspense. So it's only fitting that the novelist made her devotees wait 33 years for this, her first memoir. It was worth the wait: Clark has produced a pull-up-a-chair recounting of the memorable moments in her life, from her childhood in the Depression-era Bronx to bestsellerdom." - People
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
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Gail Collins
Collins, the editorial page editor of the New York Times, takes on a large subject in America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. From the dreadful details of diapering babies in colonial times to why so many WACS stationed in Tampa during World War II ended up in the hospital because of mosquito bites, she illuminates history with the real lives of women both famous and obscure.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Collins's facts illuminate an enormous shift in our understanding of what constitutes history. . . . Collins, a lively narrator of events, works years of scholarly research seamlessly into the text of America's Women, with neither pedantry nor pretension." - Washington Post
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: The World Split Open: How the Modern Women's Movement Changed America by Ruth Rosen
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Rod Davis
Davis' first novel, Corina's Way, is the story of a New Orleans voodoo practitioner who enlists the help of a girls school chorus and the school's con-man chaplain to battle corporate competitors eager to start a chain selling voodoo-related merchandise. Davis is the travel editor of the San Antonio Express-News.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "First-time novelist Davis captures the essence of New Orleans with a blend of voodoo, gangsters and, of course, plenty of jazz and gospel music. . . . Davis nails the complicated racial and religious stew that makes up bayou culture, and his witty, fast style perfectly complements the clever premise." - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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Tim Dorsey
The latest in Dorsey's series of uproarious thrillers spiked with political satire is The Stingray Shuffle, which involves a briefcase holding $5-million, a bankrupt drug cartel, a really bad novelist and Dorsey's signature character, history buff-serial killer Serge Storms. Dorsey, a former newspaper reporter and editor, lives in Tampa.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "In his latest bizarre concoction, Dorsey picks up - sort of - various plot strands from his earlier books. . . . A brilliantly constructed romp that is part thriller, part farce, and entirely, gloriously, deliriously wacky." - Booklist
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen
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Mike Flax
Freelance sportswriter Flax was a walk-on defensive end for one of college football's powerhouses at the University of Alabama. In his first book, Crimson Slide: Why Alabama Football Fell and How It Can Climb Back to the Top, he offers an insider's analysis of the team's recent fall from glory. Flax is a high school coach in Cincinnati.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "There are plenty of interesting theories and insider stories available for readers willing to wade through the occasionally excessive detail. . . . Crimson Slide is an intensive, 160-page immersion deep into the world of Alabama football, warts and all." - Crimson White
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: 1990s Alabama Flashback by Matt Zeigler
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Wayne Greenhaw
A novelist, journalist and writing teacher, Greenhaw sets the stories in his new collection, The Spider's Web, in his home state of Alabama. The title novella and related short stories revolve around a young man coming of age in the 1950s.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "The Alabama landscape and culture of the 1950s South come out in these captivating tales of anguish, perception and acceptance. . . . The Spider's Web is a touching journey." - Southern Scribe
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg
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Ad Hudler
Former reporter Hudler began writing fiction when he became a stay-at-home dad, caring for his daughter while his wife pursued a career. His second novel, Southern Living, brings together a transplanted Yankee, a former beauty queen and a desperately bored socialite in a comedy of manners set in a Georgia town. Hudler lives in Fort Myers.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Singly, the three women are forces to be reckoned with. . . . Together, they are a hurricane poised to swoop through Selby. With sharply drawn characters and pitch-perfect dialogue, this tragicomic entertainment makes fine reading for the Fannie Flagg crowd." - Booklist
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Lunch at the Piccadilly by Clyde Edgerton
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Eric Kraft
Inflating a Dog: The Story of Ella's Lunch Launch is the eighth novel in Kraft's series making up the whimsical fictional memoirs of one Peter Leroy. Leroy doesn't so much remember his past as reimagine, embellish and meditate upon it. Kraft, who won the John Dos Passos prize for literature in 1998, lives in St. Petersburg.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Reading the Peter Leroy saga is akin to watching a champion juggler deftly keep dozens of balls in the air while executing an intricate double-time tap dance routine - all without breathing hard. . . . Sentimental, loving, raucous, wise, and great fun, this is simply not to be missed." - Booklist LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
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Daniel Lenihan
In Submerged: Adventures of America's Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team, Lenihan tells thrilling stories from his 25 years as head of the National Park Service dive team that thwarts looters after sunken treasure and historical artifacts. He co-wrote the novel Wake of the Perdido Star (2000) with actor Gene Hackman.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "A sharp, engaging writer, Lenihan describes the terrifying aspects of his work - the bone-chilling cold, impenetrable clouds of silt and the notorious bends - with a good dose of black humor. . . . Fast paced, full of amiable characters, the book will appeal to divers, maritime enthusiasts and anyone fond of nautical hijinks and swaggering seafarers." - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Fatal Depth: Deep Sea Diving, China Fever, and the Wreck of the Andrea Doria by Joe Haberstroh
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Scott Peacock
Scott Peacock, an Atlanta-area restaurateur, and his co-author Edna Lewis, the grand dame of Southern cooking, infuse The Gift of Southern Cooking with their culinary expertise and warm friendship. Its classic and contemporary Southern recipes emphasize fresh ingredients and rich flavors. Peacock lives in Decatur, Ga.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Authenticity is always an issue in Southern cooking; each state has its fiercely held opinions and sacred recipes, but Lewis and her young friend and protege, Scott Peacock, have unbeatable credentials. . . . The rest of the country owes its thanks to this unlikely pair for bringing Southern comfort back to everyone's table; and so, as one chapter puts it, praise the lard and pass the biscuits." - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Feeding a Yen by Calvin Trillin
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Laura Lippman
Lippman, a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, has written eight novels in the Tess Monaghan series about a Baltimore private investigator. Lippman's new book, Every Secret Thing, is a nonseries novel about two 11-year-old girls sent to prison for killing a baby - and the terrible events that occur when they try to resume their lives as adults.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Lippman slowly relinquishes the facts of her story, building suspense as she reveals the past. . . . With this book, much darker than any in her past series, Lippman shows she is an author willing to take risks in both writing and storytelling. Her deft handling of this disturbing material is sure to increase the breadth of her readership." - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
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Eric Marcus
Marcus, a former television producer, is the author of Breaking the Surface, a bestselling biography of Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, and several other books. He has updated his 1992 book Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights to chronicle the dramatic changes of the last decade. The new edition includes interviews with Dave Kopay, Larry Kramer and Ellen DeGeneres.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Rich and often moving . . . at times shocking, but often enlightening and inspiring: oral history at its most potent and rewarding." - Kirkus Reviews
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture by John D'Emilio
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Walter Mears
As a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Associated Press, Mears covered 11 presidential campaigns between 1960 and 2000. In Deadlines Past: Forty Years of Presidential Campaigning: A Reporter's Story, he shares an insider's view of races ranging from Kennedy vs. Nixon to Bush vs. Gore. Mears lives in Virginia.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "It is a puckish survey of the blunders and idiocies political flesh is heir to, and a lament that today's stage-managed campaigns make it so hard to put gaffes in context." - Columbia Journalism Review
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV by Bob Schieffer
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Lisa Miscione
True crime writer Lydia Strong is the main character in Miscione's two thrillers. The second, The Darkness Gathers, plunges Strong into a harrowing world of organized crime and sexual slavery. Miscione lives in Clearwater.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Miscione appeared on the thriller scene a year ago with the widely acclaimed Angel Fire and should garner equally enthusiastic reviews for her second. . . . It soars." - St. Petersburg Times
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: Lost Light by Michael Connelly
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Billy Moore
Moore's first novel for young readers, Cracker's Mule, is set in the South of the 1950s, where an 11-year-old is tricked into buying a blind mule and must learn to make the best of it. Moore lives in De Funiak Springs.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Cracker's Mule is a sweet coming of age story suitable for young adults as well as their parents. . . . Episodic in structure, Cracker's story recounts memories of a happy childhood spent surrounded by loving adults in a simpler time." - Southern Scribe
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: My Dog Skip by Willie Morris
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Jill Nelson
Nelson's bawdy first novel, Sexual Healing, is the story of a pair of lustily entrepreneurial black women who open a luxury spa for women like themselves. It's a spa with a difference: attractive black men selling sex. Politics, culture, friendship and, of course, sex are among the targets of Nelson's comedy.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "This is beach reading at its finest: funny, silly, lively and nasty enough that you'll want to keep it away from the young 'uns. So scoop out a place back there in the lingerie drawer where you hide books like this and get a highlighter to mark the instructional segments for your partner." - Minneapolis Star-Tribune
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do by Pearl Cleage
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Thomas Sanchez
In such novels as Mile Zero, Rabbit Boss and Zoot-Suit Murders, fourth-generation Californian Sanchez has turned American history and culture into compelling fiction. His latest novel, King Bongo, is a darkly stylish dance through Havana in the 1950s.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Sanchez stirs all those subplots and edgy characters into a tantalizing sofrito, seasoned with raucous humor and the sexiest shoe store scene in print. With its rich pop culture details and political reverberations, his Havana is a lavish and menacing dreamscape." - St. Petersburg Times
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
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Karin Slaughter
The third novel in Slaughter's Grant County series, A Faint Cold Fear, involves medical examiner Sara Linton, her police chief ex-husband and a bitter former cop in the investigation of a college student's apparent suicide. Slaughter lives in Atlanta.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "The bottom line is that this is a successful, satisfying novel with enough forensic detail to give it that Cornwellesque edge and a good, involving, twisted plot. Oh yes, it also has a shocking last-paragraph sting in its tail that'll have you gasping." - Mystery Ink
LIKE HER WORK? THEN TRY: Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell
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Carl Smith
Smith, an actor, singer and teacher, sets his second novel on the coast of South Carolina, where he lives. In Lowcountry Boil, a mysterious ex-con and an undercover federal agent discover drug smuggling in unlikely social circles.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: Of Smith's first novel, Nothin' Left to Lose: "This colorful debut picks and twangs its way through the world of late-'60s country music, jumping from studio to bar to mob hangout as its songwriter hero (who will remind readers of Kris Kristofferson) learns that "the music business is no place for sissies or bleeding hearts.' " - Publishers Weekly
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Last Car to Elysian Fields by James Lee Burke
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Ed Williams
Syndicated columnist Williams doesn't shy from the outrageous aspects of growing up in the rural South in Rough as a Cob, his second collection of essays. It covers a shotgun attack on a UFO, the fatal peril of attending professional wrestling matches, dating advice and more.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "In Rough as a Cob . . . Williams expands from his own escapades to those of his father (Ed Jr.) and grandfather (Ed Sr.). It is clear that his straightforward honesty, bawdy sense of humor, and love of family and tradition are well-rooted in Juliette, Georgia." - Southern Scribe
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Southern by the Grace of God by Lewis Grizzard
Rich Wolfe
In Jon Gruden: All It Takes Is All Ya Got, Take This Job and Love It, Wolfe writes about the Super Bowl-winning Bucs coach.
LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Do You Love Football? Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep by Jon Gruden and Vic Carucci Stuart Woods
After a career in advertising, Woods published his first novel, Chiefs, in 1981. His 28th, Capital Crimes, is the third thriller featuring politician Will Lee and set in Washington, D.C. Woods has a home in Florida.
A CRITIC'S VIEW: "Woods turns back to the hero of his early novels, Will Lee. . . . Though Will doesn't factor heavily into the most exciting sequences, an old friend from the Stone Barrington series shows up and the dogged Kinney pursues the case relentlessly. Exciting reading for Woods' many fans." - Booklist LIKE HIS WORK? THEN TRY: Split Second by David Baldacci
