In the latest epic from Wood (Daughter of the Sun), Tonina, a young Mayan-era woman born on tiny Pearl Island (off Cuba), is tall and light skinned, while her people are smaller of stature and dark. When her differences become too much for her fellows to bear, they send her away to the mainland to find her true people. Her quest leads her to the heart of the Mayan empire and to a barbarian ballplayer named Kaan, who desperately wants to be Mayan. When Kaan's wife dies and he goes on a quest to cleanse her soul, he's unwillingly thrown together with Tonina, and the two begin to attract fellow questers as they make their way through Mayapan. Meanwhile, Kaan is being pursued by Mayan prince Balam, who blames Kaan for everything that has gone wrong in his life. As Tonina and Kaan pick up more followers, a new culture begins to emerge. Wood crafts a complex and compelling pre-Columbian world. --Publishers Weekly

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Corporate psychologist Tasler draws on years of research and the latest findings in genetics, neurology and management theory to explore the benefits and dangerous consequences of human impulsiveness. At the heart of the author's argument is his pioneering "Impulse Factor Test," an online assessment that classifies people as "risk managers" or "potential seekers." This intriguing and highly readable analysis demonstrates how both groups can enhance their decision making and is enlivened by dramatic stories of innovators from St. Francis to Bill Gates and scientific reports on impulsiveness in different species and in hyperactive children. Tasler's pragmatic advice on leveraging the talents of both the brash and the bashful make this rewarding reading for anyone in the business world. --Publishers Weekly


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The first book to explore the privateers who fought the British Navy during the Revolutionary War, defeated them, and helped win the war of Independence. Already hailed by best-selling author Michael Korda as "soul-stirring stuff, as good as reading a Patrick O'Brian novel, except that every word is true."

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Meehl's (Out of Patience) contribution to the growing subgenre of YA vampire novels is very, very funny--similar to M.T. Anderson's Thirsty, but less twisted and heavier on the humor...A refreshing take on the brooding vampire romance, with a misfit vampire protagonist readers are certain to love. --Publishers Weekly

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Jodi Picoult praised Phyllis Schieber's debut novel, Willing Spirits, as "beautifully written, full of wit and wisdom and heart." Now, Phyllis Schieber offers another candid and poignant tale of women, their deepest longings and their most profound secrets...


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From the acclaimed author of The Judgment of Paris. "Unexpectedly fascinating, this history of wine corks may sound like a book only an oenophile could love, but Taber's zingy writing and juicy anecdotes make it a genuine page-turner, even for those who prefer wine coolers to wine lists....If it seems strange to harbor such passion about cork, Taber, a respected wine journalist, will do much to change your mind. --Publishers Weekly

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A New Yorker for all of his thirteen years, Rory Hennessy has always been happy just to hold his little family together. But then a magician's trick opens his eyes to Mannahatta, a spirit city that co-exists alongside our own Manhattan. A city inhabited by Indian sachems, warrior cockroaches, and children made entirely of papier-mache. A city built by history and legend, and ruled by the immortal Gods of Manhattan, including Babe Ruth, Alexander Hamilton, and Peter Stuyvesant. If something or someone in the history of New York was important enough, loved enough, feared enough, imagined enough, remembered enough, it is reborn in Mannahatta. Only Rory has the power to see Mannahatta and reveal it to others. But that gift may soon be his end as he is pursued through mazes of past and present, chasing history and the chance to right Mannahatta's greatest wrong.

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Tess Whistle lives in Idaho with paranoid parents, who "became born again" after a kitchen fire. The book begins with an account of how she loses her virginity, then flashes back to the start of junior year, when she expected to stay a virgin until she is "at least engaged"... Readers may be so busy laughing out loud at the eccentric characters and outrageous plotting that they may not realize how much they have grown to empathize with desperate Tess until her relationship is in crisis. Readers will fall in love with this off-beat story--and its rich lesson about living a life without guarantees. --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

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New from the acclaimed author of Starting out in the Evening (the critically praised film starring Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose and Lili Taylor is now available on DVD).

Brian Morton's remarkable new novel begins unremarkably: a middle-aged woman, her 35- year marriage over, meets her husband at a restaurant to hash out the final divorce agreement....Terrible fates befall some of Morton's characters, undeserved; he seems, at times, to bring them to life only to make them suffer. It's a complaint usually reserved for a high power, and a tribute to Morton's craft: confuring up lives so vivid the reader mourns their passing.

--The New York Times Book Review

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