JulietBy Anne Fortier
464 pages; Ballantine
Call this debut novel Julie and Juliet: It's about a contemporary woman descended from the model for Shakespeare's heroine.
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I'd Know You AnywhereBy Laura Lippman
384 pages; William Morrow
The popular mystery-series author's latest stand-alone: a terrifying story about a death-row inmate obsessed with the only victim he left alive.
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Designated Fat GirlBy Jennifer Joyner
264 pages; Skirt!
A familiar tale—food-obsessed woman finally conquers her demons, almost—is noteworthy for its memoirist's brutally frank voice.
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Hollywood: A Third MemoirBy Larry McMurtry
160 pages; Simon & Schuster
Just as winning as the first two installments of the Lonesome Dove author's lifelong reminiscences.
The Lady Matador's HotelBy Cristina García
224 pages; Scribner
A multicultural group of strangers gathers in a Central American hotel in this exotic, lush, and sensual novel from the author of Dreaming in Cuban.
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5 more at-a-glance reviews
From the September 2010 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
A Curable RomanticBy Joseph Skibell
608 pages; Algonquin
An irresistible romp about a lovelorn 19th-century doctor who falls in with Sigmund Freud—and some dangerously attractive women.
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Bitter in the MouthBy Monique Truong
304 pages; Random House
A deeply compassionate and artfully crafted novel about being foreign and family at the same time—by the writer whose debut, The Book of Salt, swept us away.
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Ape HouseBy Sara Gruen
320 pages; Spiegel & Grau
From the author of Water for Elephants, a novel about bonobos who are smarter and more interesting than their human "caretakers."
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Russian WinterBy Daphne Kalotay
480 pages; HarperCollins
This tale of a Russian ballerina who defected to Boston is a history lesson inside an evocative novel about art and betrayal.
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Book of DaysBy Emily Fox Gordon
320 pages; Spiegel & Grau
These accessible yet sophisticated essays on modern life are so astute, you'll think the author has been hiding in your closet.
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From the September 2010 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
