Table of Contents
Most Popular . . .
More . . .
Hotlists 2008
Crime Fiction - embedded
Ranganathan's Five Laws:
Books are for use.
Books are for all; or Every reader his book.
Every book its reader.
Save the time of the reader.
A library is a growing organism.
Out and About. . .
I'm playing around at Shelfari, LibraryThing, and Good Reads. I've set up links to my pages on these sites. And, yes, I have a hard time keeping up-to-date on these sites...
I've set up "shelves" from these sites on Overbooked - here
Overbooked is spacing out: Myspace: Overbooked and Crime Space - and, facing out: Facebook profile.
Overbooked specializes in providing timely information about fiction (all genres) and readable nonfiction. Overbooked has been online since 1994.
Overbooked is the winner of the 2008 Louis Shores - Greenwood Publishing Award: to recognize excellence in book reviewing and other media for libraries. The award recipient is selected for significant achievement related to a reviewing process that helps librarians make selection decisions.
Featured Titles 2004
Page Modified: August 19, 2008
New titles - selected on the basis of good reviews.
Nonfiction, fiction and mystery titles are included on these lists. Books
for kids and teens (fiction and nonfiction) are also listed.
January 2004
Nonfiction
- Swimming
to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer
Author: Cox, Lynne
Publisher: Knopf $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375415076
Kirkus
The famous long-distance swimmer, known for her ability to withstand cold temperatures that might kill others, now tells the fascinating story of how she braved the frigid waters of Antarctica.
Updated 11.12.03 - The Land That
Never Was Sir Gregor MacGregor and the Most Audacious Fraud in History
Author: Sinclair, David
Publisher: Da Capo $ 26 ISBN: 0306813092KirkusBooklist
On a cold January morning in 1823, a group of Scottish immigrants looking for a new life set sail for a tropical Eden called Poyais. The only catch was that it didn't exist. This is the dazzling and very funny story of one of the greatest hoaxes in history--a story as colorful and bizarre as the mastermind behind it.
Updated 1.10.04
Fiction
- A
Very Private Gentleman
Author: Booth, Martin
Publisher: St Martins $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312309082PWBooklist
From the Booker Prize short-listed author of The Industry of Souls and Islands of Silence comes a fascinating portrait of a man with a double life and a dark trade.
Updated 12.15.03 - Crofton's Fire
Author: Coplin, Keith
Publisher: Putnam $ 21.95 ISBN: 0399151125KirkusBooklist
A highly original first novel, in which a green second lieutenant barely escapes Little Bighorn - only to find that his life's adventures have just begun.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction | Western Stars | Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 11.25.03 - Marrying Mozart
Author: Cowell, Stephanie
Publisher: Penguin $ 24.95 ISBN: 0670032689Kirkus
"I wanted to write a novel in the spirit of his great operas, where many things can and do go wrong but in the end the characters come together singing that all is well. And I was fascinated by the period in his early twenties when he was no longer a prodigy and yet no one would offer him a living, and how he fell in with a family of four beautiful musical sisters. Between his possessive father and the sisters’ manipulative mother, it would be a miracle if he married any of them, but he did marry one. Which one and how it happened is the story of the book." - Stephanie Cowell
Suggested Reading: Music & Fiction
Updated 11.24.03 - The
Saints and Sinners of Okay County
Author: Dunbar, Dayna
Publisher: Ballantine $ 23.95 ISBN: 0345460391Kirkus
In this heartfelt and compelling debut novel, a down-on-her-luck woman faces down pain to reclaim her own belief in herself and restore order to a life that's gone desperately off track.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 11.12.03 - Bandbox
Author: Mallon, Thomas
Publisher: Pantheon $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375421165KirkusPWBooklist
From the author of Henry and Clara comes a dazzling, hilarious novel that captures the heart and soul of New York in the Jazz Age. Mallon pens a madcap and poignant book that brilliantly portrays the gaudiest American decade of them all.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Historical Fiction Stars
Updated 12.15.03 - The
True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Author: Robinson, Elizabeth
Publisher: Little Brown $ 23.95 ISBN: 0316735027KirkusPWBooklist
The bestselling status (and subsequent blockbuster film adaptations) of Bridget Jones's Diary and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is proof of the enduring strength of this category. Although the novel is invented, Robinson is a successful Hollywood producer whose credits include Braveheart and Last Orders.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | All Stars
Updated 11.12.03
Mystery & Suspense
- 18
Author: Burke, Jan
Publisher: Pocket $ 7.50 (paper) ISBN: 0743480511PW
From the USA Today bestselling author comes a first-ever collection of 18 of her early short stories, including her first published work, "The Loveseat" and her first Irene Kelly story, "A Fine Set of Teeth."
Updated 12.29.03 - 37th Hour
Author: Compton, Jodi
Publisher: Delacorte $ 21.95 ISBN: 0385337132Kirkus
With a bold assurance that is especially striking in a debut novel, Compton introduces Detective Sarah Pribek, a successful missing persons specialist facing the most disturbing case of her career when her husband, another officer, simply vanishes into thin air.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 10.8.03 - Perfect Sax
Author: Farmer, Jerrilyn
Publisher: Morrow $ 22.95 ISBN: 0380978903
A sour note is struck at a hot L.A. gala when a priceless saxophone is stolen from the auction, a body is discovered, and Madeline Bean starts to suspect a killer may be gunning for her, too.
Updated 12.29.03 - The Grenadillo Box
Author: Gleeson, Janet
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0743246861Booklist
The debut novel from the bestselling author of The Arcanum transports readers to 18th century Georgian England for an intricate, romantic tale of murder and intrigue.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Historical Fiction Stars
Updated 11.25.03 - Retribution
Author: Hoffman, Jiliane P.
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399151273LJ
An elite prosecutor faces the most lethal predator she's ever encountered, in this debut novel inspired by the author's own experiences as an Assistant State Attorney in Florida.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 9.25.03 - Dating Dead Men
Author: Kozak, Harley Jane
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385510187LJKirkusPW
Kozak's debut novel is a smart, funny, fast-paced mystery in the tradition of Janet Evanovich featuring greeting card artist and small business owner Wollie Shelley, a woman who's looking for love--and job satisfaction--in all the wrong places when she literally stumbles across a murder that irrevocably changes her life (in some ways, for the better).
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | All Stars
Updated 12.8.03
Books for Kids, Teens & Readers of All Ages
Age and grade designations are approximate, parental judgement should be used.- York's Adventures
With Lewis and Clark: An African-American's Part in the Great Expedition
Author: Blumberg, Rhoda
Publisher: Harpercollins $17.99 ISBN: 0060091118Kirkus
Celebrate the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's great expedition with this book that recognizes the contributions made by York, an African-American who took part in the Corps of Discovery's expedition.
Grades: 3+ Category: Nonfiction | Biography | History
Hotlists
African American Fiction | Christian Fiction
2008 Excel Files: (download - print, sort, etc.)
Crime Fiction | Fiction | African American Fiction | Christian Fiction | Nonfiction Notables
Stars
Fiction: Jan-June | July-Dec Crime Fiction: Jan-June | July-Dec
Speculative Fiction Romance Historical Nonfiction | YA
Overbooked is a volunteer project undertaken by Ann Chambers Theis: Collection Management Administrator, Chesterfield County (VA) Public Library. 9501 Lori Rd. or P.O. Box 297, Chesterfield, VA, 23832. Phone: 804.748.1760.
Overbooked is not an official Chesterfield County Public Library service. Overbooked.org is a nonprofit web site hosted by CVCO - Central Virginia's Community Online. Overbooked.com is a nonprofit web site in experimental mode. Overbooked does not endorse any commercial providers (or their products and services) linked to from this web site.
Join the Overbooked List - A quiet list for readers to share recent reads, keep up to date with details about new books, discuss favorite authors/titles, etc.
Comments, suggestions, corrections: Ann Chambers Theis (AKA Ann/ACT):
overbooked1@verizon.net
or
ann@overbooked.com
I really appreciate all the e-mail I receive from avid readers and writers and regret that I am not able to respond to all correspondents. Special thanks to those folks who regularly help keep me on track - you know who you are....