10 Books to Pick Up in August 2010
AgaatBy Marlene Van Niekerk
630 pages; Tin House
This is a frank novel about a white South African landowner and her lifelong servant in a radically changing country.
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BrokenBy Karin Slaughter
416 pages; Delacorte
The best-selling author brings back characters from Undone to tell a story of duty and motherly love.
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ComposedBy Rosanne Cash
256 pages; Viking
Tales from the life of the singer-songwriter who inherited the "man in black"'s country music mantle and then made it her own.
On the Outskirts of NormalBy Debra Monroe
248 pages; Southern Methodist University
An unsentimental memoir about a white woman who adopts a black baby in a small Texas town.
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Rich BoyBy Sharon Pomerantz
528 pages; Twelve
We dare you to put down this big, fat, old-fashioned drama about a poor boy who makes good—but feels bad about it.
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5 more at-a-glance reviews
As Husbands GoBy Susan Isaacs
352 pages; Scribner
A social satire about a plastic surgeon's violent demise, from a master of the genre.
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Following PollyBy Karen Bergreen
320 pages; St. Martin's
A young woman stalks a "popular" onetime classmate to learn her secrets. When the golden girl ends up dead, guess who's the likeliest suspect?
Red Hook RoadBy Ayelet Waldman
352 pages; Doubleday
This engagingly complex examination of two close families is a leap ahead for the essayist and author.
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Fly Away HomeBy Jennifer Weiner
416 pages; Atria
This tale of a politician's sex scandal is witty and smart, as expected from the author of In Her Shoes.
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Other People's Rejection LettersEdited by Bill Shapiro
192 pages; Clarkson Potter
A look at how some famous and not so famous people deal with saying and hearing "no." A stunt book, but an amusing one.
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Photo: Ben Goldstein/Studio D
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