Dear Burning Questions,

I have very much enjoyed Randy Wayne White's books based in the islands off Florida's west coast. I hope he will be writing a new book soon starring Doc. Could the BQ detectives investigate this for me?

Ruth J. Hamilton
Madison, Ohio

The BQ detectives had no trouble closing this case: Randy Wayne White's 14th novel starring marine biologist (and amateur detective) Doc Ford, Hunter's Moon (Putnam), will be on sale March 22. This time, Ford is in the right place at the right time to save a former U.S. president from being assassinated. But his act of courage uncovers a government plot, one that he must thwart with the help of an old flame and a deposed Central American dictator.

MAN OF MYSTERY

Dear Burning Questions,

I love the up-to-date info in BookPage! My question is: When is John Twelve Hawks—author of The Traveler—coming out with his next book?

Vki
Belleville, Illinois

We managed to get an answer about this extremely reclusive author (yes, John Twelve Hawks is a pseudonym—just like Vki, we assume) who prides himself on living "off the grid." Luckily for us, his publicist doesn't share that philosophy: Todd Doughty at Doubleday tells BQ that the next book in the Fourth Realm Trilogy, The Dark River, is scheduled for publication in September 2007. Details are scarce, but in a rare interview, Twelve Hawks had this to say about the new book: "It's dark. . . . In The Traveler, I established the world and the characters. Now, I'm going to give them a great many problems."

WINNER'S CIRCLE

'Saint' Sweepstakes

Joseph Kershenbaum of Lowell, Massachusetts, received a $500 Visa gift card as the Grand Prize Winner in the Saint Sweepstakes sponsored by WestBow Press. Saint is the latest suspense novel by best-selling author Ted Dekker. Two other winners, Caroline Vierling of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Lindsay Laird of Edwards, California, received a library of Dekker's works.

BEST OF 2006

Our personal favorites

As 2006 came to a close, BookPage staffers and contributors looked back at our favorite hardcover and paperback releases of the year. Here's a rundown of our selections:

Water for Elephants
By Sara Gruen
"This novel hooked me from the prologue and delighted me all the way to the end. What a wonderful, unique story!"
Julia Steele, Associate Publisher

"I thirsted for more. It's a great love story."
Angie Bowman, Advertising Manager

Adverbs
By Daniel Handler
"Handler is best known as children's writer Lemony Snicket, and he carries his playful intelligence and dark humor over to his work for adults. This thought-provoking story collection—or is it a novel?—explores the ups and downs, and twists and turns, of love in all its forms."
Trisha Ping, Assistant Editor

The Virtu
By Sarah Monette
"Felix and Mildmay continue their quest in the sequel to Monette's debut fantasy, Melusine. I've never before felt so much equal dread or delight; an excellent, suspenseful, daring read."
Caroline Richardson, BookLetters Customer Service

The Man Who Smiled
By Henning Mankell
"Swedish writer Henning Mankell cranks the suspense up, up, up with this new installment in the Kurt Wallander series. Dark Scandanavian mystery at its best."
Michael Zibart, Publisher

Istanbul: Memories and the City
By Orhan Pamuk
"Pamuk perfectly captures the haunting quality of Istanbul as he explores its layers of East and West, ancient and modern, along with his own family's history."
MiChelle Jones, Assistant Editor

The Road
By Cormac McCarthy
"McCarthy's portrayal of a grim post-apocalyptic world is the most powerful and disturbing novel I've read in years. Brilliant, but not for the faint of heart."
Lynn Green, Editor

The March
By E.L. Doctorow
"Doctorow's Civil War novel is a refreshing re-examination of historic events."
Alice Fitzgibbon, Customer Service

Inés of My Soul
By Isabel Allende
"Adventurous and fast-moving historical fiction based on a Spanish woman who helped found Santiago, Chile. Reading about this strong, resourceful character and her often fantastic ways of adapting to a constantly changing path was a pleasure."
Kay Morreale, Controller

William James
By Robert D. Richardson
"One of the best books I've read about the always fascinating James family. An exhilarating biography."
Roger Bishop, Contributor

Eat, Pray, Love
By Elizabeth Gilbert
"A travel memoir that's a charming, light-filled journey by a young woman to find herself."
Barbara Samuel, Romance columnist

Reading Like a Writer
By Francine Prose
"The novelist and critic offers a compulsively readable crash course in how writers can learn by reading the great writers who have come before them. Not just for writers, but for anyone who loves to read."
Robert Weibezahl, Well Read columnist

Suite Française
By Irene Nemirovsky
(Favorite audiobook)
"Nemirovsky's long-lost fiction is truly extraordinary, and the readings, by two different people, are perfectly matched."
Sukey Howard, Audio columnist

Jamie's Italy
By Jamie Oliver
(Favorite cookbook)
"That naked chef has really gotten smart. And he has an incredibly chatty way of explaining how you cook these delicious Italian dishes."
Sybil Pratt, Cooking columnist

The Hummingbird's Daughter
By Luis Alberto Urrea
"In San Francisco's One City One Book selection for 2006, Luis tells the story of his great-aunt, the renowned healer and mystic Teresita, with passion, grace and humor."
Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry, The Author Enablers

Everyman
By Philip Roth
"This remarkably skillful, economical, perceptive and quietly daring novel about old age, infirmity, isolation, and the inevitable yet always surprising fact of our personal extinction, proves that Roth is only getting better as he gets older."
Alden Mudge, Contributor