New Releases on My Wishlist September 15, 2009

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
This is one of the most anticipated books of all time. Dan Brown's sequel to The Da Vinci Code will have the prestige of holding Random House's record for most copies printed in the initial run.

The storyline is being kept very secretive until the release. Supposedly, the book takes place in Washington, D.C. and highlights mysteries surrounding Freemasonry. I have also read that the narrative is to take place in a twelve hour period. I guess we will all know very soon if any of this is true.

Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire

New York Times Best Selling author of Wicked presents an inspiring visual tribute to the work of legendary writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak published in 1963 to great critical acclaim, Maurice Sendak's Caldecott Award winning Where the Wild Things Are has sold millions of copies worldwide, garnered countless awards, and been translated into nineteen languages. In Making Mischief, Gregory Maguire reconsiders Sendak's oeuvre with the same adroit and idiosyncratic scrutiny that allowed him to see a heroine in the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked) and add a charming dimension to the story of the Little Match Girl (Matchless).

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.

Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Baghdad, and almost every grueling step of the way.

What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.