Book reviews, excerpts, reading guides and more of BookBrowse 2004 Favorites by Established Authors

The Adventure of English

The Biography of a Language

by Melvyn Bragg

Hardcover: Sep 2004 | Paperback: Sep 2006

An enthralling story not only of power, religion, and trade but also of people and how they changed, and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

The Darling

by Russell Banks

Hardcover: Oct 2004 | Paperback: Oct 2005

A political-historical thriller set in Liberia and the USA between 1975 to 1991 that raises serious philosophical questions about terrorism, political violence, and the clash of races and cultures.

Going Postal

A Discworld Novel

by Terry Pratchett

Hardcover: Sep 2004 | Paperback: Oct 2005

Set in Pratchett's wonderfully crazed city of Ankh-Morpork, Going Postal hilariously reflects the plight of post offices the world over as they struggle to compete in an era when e-mail has stolen much of the glamour from the postal trade.

The Falls

by Joyce Carol Oates

Hardcover: Sep 2004 | Paperback: Aug 2005

'This big, enthralling novel recaptures the gift for Dreiserian realism that distinguishes such Oates triumphs as What I Lived For, and We Were the Mulvaneys. It's her best ever, and a masterpiece.' Kirkus Reviews.

Birds of a Feather

A Maisie Dobbs Mystery

by Jacqueline Winspear

Hardcover: Jun 2004 | Paperback: Aug 2005

Maisie is as intelligent and engaging a sleuth as one might desire: the period touches, from clothing to manners, are not only elegantly presented but unostentatious. 

The Sunday Philosophy Club

by Alexander McCall Smith

Hardcover: Sep 2004 | Paperback: Jul 2005

Filled with thorny characters and a Scottish atmosphere as thick as a highland mist, The Sunday Philosophy Club is irresistible, and Isabel Dalhousie is the most delightful literary sleuth since Precious Ramotswe.

Killer Smile

by Lisa Scottoline

Hardcover: May 2004 | Paperback: Jul 2005

A stunning new tale filled with witty dialogue, vibrant characters, and breakneck pacing, in which true-life history reinforces Scottoline's hallmark themes of justice and family.

Strange But True

by John Searles

Hardcover: Jul 2004 | Paperback: Jun 2005

Beautifully written and charged with a sublime wit, the novel brings to vibrant life a cast of characters that no reader will forget.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

by David Sedaris

Hardcover: Jun 2004 | Paperback: May 2005

Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface in another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.

War Trash

by Ha Jin

Hardcover: Oct 2004 | Paperback: May 2005

A powerful, unflinching novel that opens a window on an unknown aspect of a little-known war: the experiences of Chinese POWs held by Americans during the Korean conflict.

Eventide

by Kent Haruf

Hardcover: May 2004 | Paperback: May 2005

Haruf returns to the small town of Holt, Colorado to continue the story he started in Plainsong (1999) with an engrossing and profoundly moving novel rich in wisdom, humor and humanity.

The Enemy

A Jack Reacher Novel

by Lee Child

Hardcover: May 2004 | Paperback: Apr 2005

'A fabulously suspenseful prequel that reveals Reacher's character as he uncovers a homicidal cabal of military officers....Child has turned away from formulaic high-jinks to explore his characters instead: The result? His best so far' - ...