Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
(Little Brown & Company, $24.99, 9780316098335)
"Room is like no other book I have ever read. This emotionally powerful story of young Jack and his mother, held in captivity for seven years, is both a heart wrenching testament to the power of the love between a mother and child and a riveting story of overcoming horrible circumstances. Emma Donohue has written one of those rare books that you will remember reading your entire life, as you will be altered by the experience." -- Lanora Hurley, Next Chapter Bookshop, Mequon, WI

The Gendarme: A Novel by Mark T. Mustian
(Putnam Adult, $25.95, 9780399156342)
"Injured in WWI, Emmet Conn suffered amnesia as a result of a head wound. Now, at 92, a brain tumor causes long-lost memories to return, as Emmet recalls an earlier life as a Turkish gendarme leading a group of Armenian refugees to the border. The brutality and despair, filth and degradation these people must endure on the forced march mean little to him until he falls in love with Araxie, one of the Armenian refugees, and he begins to perceive his actions and his attitude through her eyes. Mesmerizing, beautiful, and heart-breaking." -- Jennie Turner-Collins, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati, OH

Ape House: A Novel by Sara Gruen
(Spiegel & Grau, $26, 9780385523219)
"In her new novel, Water for Elephants author Sara Gruen once again examines the relationship - both emotional and biological - between man and animal. This time, focusing on highly intelligent bonobo apes, she infuses the story with an unexpected level of humor, mystery and a foray into popular culture. What the reader can be assured of is yet another thoroughly engaging story, brimming with deftly drawn characters and compelling storylines. A delight!" -- Sue Beale, Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
(Knopf, $26.95, 9780307268938)
"What happens when the order of hunter and prey is reversed? Yuri Trush, a tracker living near a tiny Siberian village, must find a tiger that has recently killed a poacher. Trush and his team must learn what drives the tiger to behave in this terrifying new way before they can stop the carnage. By turns absolutely fascinating and monstrously chilling, The Tiger explores the world of the Siberian tiger from its mythic history and extreme habitat to modern economics and black market poaching." -- Marilyn Smith, Kepler's Books & Magazine, Menlo Park, CA

The Good Daughters: A Novel by Joyce Maynard
(William Morrow, $24.99, 9780061994319)
"The Good Daughters follows the lives of two women, born on the same day, in the same hospital, to two very different families. Their lives couldn't be less similar, but the one thing they have in common is a feeling of never quite fitting in. At times comic, at times tragic, at times horrifying, this novel is a fascinating study of what it means to be part of a family. This is not a book to simply read and enjoy, but one that that calls out to be shared and discussed." -- Joe Eichman, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO

The Lady Matador's Hotel: A Novel by Cristina Garcia
(Scribner, $24, 9781439181744)
"Cristina Garcia has written another astounding novel. The Lady Matador's Hotel will rightly take its place alongside her Dreaming in Cuban and The Aguero Sisters for its lyricism and its masterful exploration and treatment of identity and dislocation. Suki Palacios, the lady matador in the title, is a character I won't soon forget and is one that I know will resonate with readers everywhere." -- Mitchell Kaplan, Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL

Russian Winter: A Novel by Daphne Kalotay
(Harper, $25.99, 9780061962165)
"This narrative pas de deux binds Nina Revskaya's mysterious past as the Bolshoi Ballet's rising young star with her reclusive present as an anonymous benefactor of the Boston arts scene. When a rash, youthful decision based on jealousy and insecurity sets events spinning out of her control, Nina spends the rest of her life guarding a dark secret. With this sweeping story of art, love, and Soviet politics come hints of intrigue and betrayal, and even those with the most dazzling talent cannot protect themselves against damaging accusations." -- Emily Crowe, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA

Juliet: A Novel by Anne Fortier
(Ballantine, $25, 9780345516107)
"When her Aunt Rose dies, Julie Jacobs finds out that her real name is Giulietta Tolomei and that she was born in Siena, Italy. Julie journeys to Siena in search of her past, and to learn if she has a connection to the original Giulietta and her lover Romeo Marescotti, whose story was famously retold by Shakespeare. With vivid descriptions of the city and its inhabitants, Anne Fortier weaves a compelling story full of intrigue, historical references, and romance." -- Cynthia Kuhn, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, TX

I'd Know You Anywhere: A Novel by Laura Lippman
(Morrow, $25.99, 9780061706554)
"During the summer of 1985, Walter Bowman is a young 'spree' killer when he kidnaps 15-year-old Elizabeth Lerner. This psychological thriller spans the following 20 years in the life of Elizabeth Lerner/Eliza Benedict. Having left behind the memory of her captivity and rescue, and of Walter's capture, trial, and death-sentence verdict, she is drawn back to the past when she is contacted by Walter's advocate asking her help in commuting his upcoming execution to a life sentence. This compelling and sensitive story of predator and prey is a work of suspense not to be missed." -- Carol Hicks, Bookshelf At Hooligan Rocks, Truckee, CA

An Impartial Witness: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd
(William Morrow, $24.99, 9780061791789)
"Bess Crawford, World War I battlefield nurse, catches a glimpse of the wife of one of the wounded soldiers in her care in a desperate clutch at a train station. The wife is murdered later that day and Bess's patient is soon dead, also. What and whom did Bess see? Scotland Yard is soon in touch, and Bess can't let the memory go. The battlefield scenes are unforgettable, but it is the characters and suspense that drive this, the second in the excellent new series from the author of the Ian Rutledge Mysteries." -- Becky Milner, Vintage Books, Vancouver, WA

A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
(St. Martin's Press, $24.99, 9780312593315)
"In this evocative novel by the author of the bestselling Sarah's Key, Parisian siblings Melanie and Antoine have grown up damaged by their mother's premature death. Melanie is driving Antoine from a visit to the seaside where they had shared their mother's final summer, when, just as she's about to reveal to her brother a recovered memory from her childhood, she loses control of the car. A story of shocking family secrets and how childhood memories can continue to have effect far into adulthood, this is a haunting, yet hopeful read." -- Karen Vail, Titcomb's Bookshop, East Sandwich, MA

Vermilion Drift: A Novel by William Kent Krueger
(Atria, $25, 9781439153840)
"William Kent Krueger's mystery series featuring Cork O'Connor just keeps getting better with each installment. The latest Cork is asked to investigate a disappearance and what he uncovers leads to cold cases on the Ojibwe reservation as well as forgotten things from Cork's own past. Wonderful characters, twists and turns, and enough action to keep you going." -- Sue Richardson, Maine Coast Book Shop, Inc., Damariscotta, ME

Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28, 9780374158460)
"Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections is considered by many to be the best work of fiction produced in the last decade. Fans of Franzen's were provided a collection of essays in 2002 and a memoir in 2006, but waited expectantly for his next novel, hoping that it might provide the same humor, pain, and pathos as his previous novel had. Now, nine years later, Franzen has written Freedom, and it is as rich and rewarding as anything he has ever written; the characters are fully realized, the backdrop is perfectly captured, and the story is playful and sad, as heartbreaking as it is hopeful. Readers love Franzen because they know, and often are, the people he writes about, and are able to gain further access and insight into what it means to be human by spending time with the people and places he describes. Franzen does what so many writers fail to do, he brings his stories to life and allows us to live within them, if only for awhile." -- Kester Smith, Book People Bookstore, Austin, TX

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: A Novel by Charles Yu
(Pantheon, $24, 9780307379207)
"Winner of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 Award, Charles Yu offers a story of a man traveling through time to find his father. It's an unlikely and surprisingly successful combination of intelligence, wit, and raw emotion. Yu writes with great skill, immediately charming his readers." -- Bridget Allison, Phoenix Books, Essex, VT

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating: A True Story by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
(Algonquin, $18.95, 9781565126060)
"This slender volume is packed with peacefulness — I truly felt myself relaxing as I read it. Perhaps slowing to a snail’s pace? The story centers on a woman confined to bed rest because of an odd neurological illness. She receives the gift of a woodland snail as an unlikely companion, living in a potted plant by her bedside, and so begins a wonderful tale of natural history and human nature. This is one sweet story of the importance of taking time to notice our connection to nature." --Gail Wetta, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, IL

Healer: A Novel by Carol Cassella
(Simon & Schuster, $25, 9781416556121)
"A very contemporary story that shows us a family that may disintegrate when they go from mega-new rich biotechers to a family of three struggling to keep ahead of the fuel bill. Carol Casella has a superb ear for family relationships and adds depth to her novel (set in Eastern Washington State) when her protagonist, Claire, a doctor working in a low-end clinic serving the migrant community, confronts the very real poverty and life on the edge among the Latino fruit pickers." -- Marian Nielsen, Orinda Books, Orinda, CA

Hector and the Search for Happiness: A Novel by Francois Lelord
(Penguin, $14, 9780143118398)
"Hector is an unassuming psychiatrist quite set in his ways but longs for something more. He wants to answer the question, 'What is happiness?' His search takes him all over the globe where he discovers that there may be more to being happy than he ever realized and what happiness means to different people, different cultures. I loved this book, I loved Hector and I found myself wondering aloud what happiness meant to me. It made me ask friends and family what happiness meant to them. Read the book and think about that question. You may be just as surprised as Hector as to what you might find!" -- Andy Terrell, Destinations Booksellers, New Albany, IN

A Small Death in the Great Glen: A Novel by A. D. Scott
(Atria, $15, 9781439154939)
"Life in a Scottish village circa 1950 seems bucolic on the surface. But scratch a little beneath and the scene is not so pretty. McAllister has left the big city to be editor in chief of a small rag, trying to change it into a paper that delivers relevant, hard hitting news. The death of a small child shocks the townsfolk. Conveniently enough a Polish sailor has jumped ship in the harbor, he must have done the dirty deed. It couldn't be one of the locals. Or could it? This is a great new series! The characters are engrossing and likeable. I hope A. D. Scott keeps writing, I would enjoy visiting them again." -- Deon Stonehouse, Sunriver Books, Sunriver, OR

The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia: A Novel by Mary Helen Stefaniak
(W. W. Norton, $24.95, 9780393063103)
"Eleven-year-old Gladys Cailiff tells the story of the teacher that turned her small town upside down. In 1938, Grace Spivey came to town as a WPA hired teacher. She believed in field trips, costumes, and reading aloud from The Thousand Nights and a Night. But the real trouble started when she decided to revive the annual town festival. Great storytelling is alive! The reader will delight in the characters (and the camels) in this tale of the depression era South." -- Barbara Theroux, Fact & Fiction, Missoula, MT

The Witch of Hebron: A World Made by Hand Novel by James Howard Kunstler
(Atlantic Monthly Press, $24, 9780802119612)
"A delightful sequel to Kunstler's groundbreaking novel A World Made By Hand. Kunstler envisions a world in the very near future after the world's oil supplies have run out, and the people that populate his world in New York's Hudson River Valley are so believable that the reader can really imagine what this world might (will?!) be like." -- Mitch Gaslin, Food For Thought Books, Amherst, MA