Book reviews, excerpts, reading guides and more of BookBrowse 2002 Favorites by debut authors

The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

Hardcover: Jun 2002 | Paperback: Apr 2004

A luminous and astonishing novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, ...

High and Mighty

SUVs--The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way

by Keith Bradsher

Hardcover: Sep 2002 | Paperback: Jan 2004

The auto industry wants us to believe that SUVs are safer and "greener" than ordinary cars, but the reality is they poorly protect occupants and inflict horrific damage in crashes, they guzzle gasoline, and they are hard to control. Bradsher ...

Down To A Soundless Sea

by Thomas Steinbeck

Hardcover: Oct 2002 | Paperback: Dec 2003

Deeply felt and richly imagined, full of compelling drama and historical authenticity, Thomas Steinbeck's stories are as memorable and rugged as the coastline that inspired them. Click the excerpt link to read a complete short story.

This Side Of The Sky

by Elyse Singleton

Hardcover: Sep 2002 | Paperback: Sep 2003

In this lifelong story, Lilian and Myraleen struggle through dramatically changing times: From the stark realities of life in rural Mississippi, through the different sort of racism they find in workaday Philadelphia and France during World War II.

Rain Fall

by Barry Eisler

Hardcover: Jul 2002 | Paperback: Jul 2003

A stylish thriller debut introducing John Rain--a Japanese-American freelance assassin and warrior for the 21st century.

Across the Nightingale Floor

Tales of the Otori, Volume I

by Lian Hearn

Hardcover: Aug 2002 | Paperback: Jun 2003

A world-wide sensation, this first book of The Otori Trilogy is a brilliantly imagined, wholly seductive tale of war, passion, and intrigue, evoking the spirit of medieval Japan.

A Breath of Fresh Air

by Amulya Malladi

Hardcover: Jun 2002 | Paperback: Jun 2003

On the night of December 3, 1984, Anjali waits for her husband to pick her up at the train station in Bhopal, India. In an instant, her world changes forever. Her anger at his being late turns to horror when a catastrophic gas leak poisons the city ...

Himalayan Dhaba

by Craig Danner

Hardcover: Jun 2002 | Paperback: Jun 2003

Leads the reader through the mountains of India and across the rugged terrain of the human heart on a journey that will long be remembered.

Breaking Clean

A Memoir

by Judy Blunt

Hardcover: Feb 2002 | Paperback: Jan 2003

Blunt has turned the memories of her childhood and young adulthood in rural Montana into a beautifully written memoir that is a meditation on how land and her life will always be intertwined. A must read.

Puppet Child

by Talia Carner

Hardcover: Nov 2002 | Paperback: Sep 2002

When the justice system fails her daughter, one courageous mother takes matters into her own hands. In a wrenching race against time, the safety of one child becomes entangled in the theatrics of Family Court, bottled-up family dynamics, media frenzy...