Book reviews, excerpts, reading guides and more of BookBrowse 2003 Favorites by debut authors

Eragon

Inheritance, Book I

by Christopher Paolini

Hardcover: Aug 2003 | Paperback: Apr 2005

Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders?

The Boy Who Loved Windows

Opening the Heart and Mind of a Child Threatened With Autism

by Patricia Stacey

Hardcover: Sep 2003 | Paperback: Oct 2004

A compelling and inspiring read which should be of interest to anyone who cares about the lives of children; and especially for parents and professionals who care for children with autism and other special needs.

Liars and Saints

by Maile Meloy

Hardcover: Jun 2003 | Paperback: Jul 2004

In a family driven by jealousy and propriety as much as by love, an unspoken tradition of deceit is passed from generation to generation. These fiercely protected secrets gradually drive the Santerres apart; it will take astonishing courage and ...

The 6th Lamentation

by William Brodrick

Hardcover: Jul 2003 | Paperback: Jun 2004

For readers of John Le Carré and Alan Furst, a remarkable debut thriller about love, betrayal and the shadows that war leaves behind.

Easter Island

by Jennifer Vanderbes

Hardcover: Jun 2003 | Paperback: Jun 2004

Join two intrepid young women as they delve into the centuries-old mysteries of Easter Island. Slowly unearthing the island's haunting past, they are forced to confront turbulent discoveries about themselves and the people they love, changing ...

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Hardcover: Aug 2003 | Paperback: May 2004

A funny, often poignant tale of boy meets girl with a twist: what if one of them couldn't stop slipping in and out of time? Highly original and imaginative, this debut novel raises questions about life, love, and the effects of time on relationships.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

Hardcover: Jun 2003 | Paperback: May 2004

'Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement. He is a wise and bleakly funny writer with rare gifts of empathy.'

The Seduction of Silence

by Bem Le Hunte

Hardcover: Jan 2003 | Paperback: Mar 2004

Both magical and utterly compelling, this spellbinding novel interweaves family sagas with the richness of Indian mysticism, creating an intimate portrait of an unforgettable family.

The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo

by Paula Huntley

Hardcover: Jan 2003 | Paperback: Feb 2004

"Gripping, heartbreaking reading...The interweaving of Hemingway's story, the students' narratives of terror and Huntley's own tales of discovery make for a book that is stirring and nearly impossible to put down."

Fat Land

How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World

by Greg Critser

Hardcover: Jan 2003 | Paperback: Jan 2004

Critser's portrait of Fat America including forays into the diabetes ward of a major children's hospital make Fat Land a chilling but eloquent portrait of the cost in human lives - many of them very young lives - of America's obesity ...

I Don't Know How She Does It

The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother

by Allison Pearson

Hardcover: Oct 2002 | Paperback: Aug 2003

In a novel that is at once uproariously funny and achingly sad, Allison Pearson captures the guilty secret lives of working women--the self-recrimination, the comic deceptions, the giddy exhaustion, the despair--as no other writer has.

The Song Reader

by Lisa Tucker

Paperback: May 2003

'Leeann is the perfect narrator for this engaging and bittersweet story of compassion, forgiveness, and the search for redemption. This is a wonderful first novel.'