The People of the Book / Geraldine Brooks
One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries or purges, wars, and inquisitions thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to save it.  Brooks, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent history.  In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the book in 1996 Sarajevo, its yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts-an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair.  While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history, through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically  and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of preserving this sacred volume.  A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book is my favorite book so far in 2008. 

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte / Laura Roh Rowland
Rowland, the author of the acclaimed Sano Ichiro samurai detective series, turns her gift for historical fiction to Victorian England in The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, a thriller starring the legendary 19th century author Charlotte Bronte and her equally famous family.  Upon learning that she has been falsely accused of breaching her publishing contract, the normally mild-mannered Charlotte sets off for London with her sister Anne to clear her name.  But when she unintentionally witnesses a murder, she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events.  With the assistance of her sisters Emily and Anne, and the services of a mysterious handsome stranger, Charlotte works to unravel a deadly web of intrigue that threatens not only her own safety but the very fabric of the British Empire.  

The Good Rat / Jimmie Breslin
Veteran journalist and writer Breslin revisits the mob milieu in this collection of stories and anecdotes about the wise guys.  His writing breezily transitions from humorous to horrendous as he recounts tales of police corruption, mistaken identity, snitches and murder.  Unlike those cultural touchstones of American culture such as "The Godfather" and "The Sopranos", however, Breslin sees only evil and good, with very little gray area.  The nicknames are half the fun of reading this book as it takes a look at the hotspots of New York's five boroughs in its mafia heyday. The Good Rat is a great look at the ugly and anything-but-glamorous truth of organized crime.

To the Tower Born: a Novel of the Lost Princes / Robin Maxwell
Maxwell reaches back into English history to examine the antecedents of the Tudor era, the equally exciting days of the House of York in To the Tower Born:  a Novel of the Lost Princes. In one of the most curious episodes from English history she examines the murder of the boy-king Edward V and his little brother in the Tower of London.  The story unfolds from the point of view of Nell Claxton, the quick-witted independent daughter of England's first printer and best friend to Princess Bessie, sister to the princes.  Did Richard III, the little princes' usurping uncle, murder them, as has long been speculated?  In this fictional solution, Maxwell offers a brand-new twist on this often told story, and provides a lusty backdrop which helps make the story accessible to readers who aren't versed in the finer points of British history. 

The Senator's Wife / Sue Miller
In The Senator's Wife Sue Miller once again provides us with a powerful story, this time about two unconventional women who unexpectedly change each other's lives.  Meri is in her mid-30's, newly married, pregnant, and standing on the cusp of her life as a wife and mother, concerned about her newly-found career and having it all.  Celia is in her mid-seventies, their next-door neighbor, long estranged from her philandering husband, an ex-senator and charismatic figure in D.C. politics.  Despite the complexity of their relationship, Celia and Tom's bond remains strong, and when he suffers a crisis, Delia is the one to whom he turns.   What keeps people together even in the midst of betrayal?  How can a journey forged in compromise and disappointment culminate in healing and grace.  Delia and Meri find themselves leading strangely parallel lives, both reckoning with the contours and mysteries of marriage, one having been through the trials by fire, the other barely begun.  Yet the impact the two characters have on each other's lives will take your breath away. 

Home:  a Memoir of My Early Years / Julie Andrews
In Home:  a Memoir of My Early Years Julie Andrews, the beloved star of stage and screen takes readers on a warm, moving and often humorous journey from a difficult childhood in war-torn England to the brink of international stardom in America.  Spanning events from her 1935 birth to the early 1960's, she covers her rise to fame and ends with Walt Disney casting her in Mary Poppins. She balances the sad struggles of relatives with drinking problems with humorous tales of taking voice lessons amid rationing and the London Blitz.  A BBC appearance at the age of twelve led to her first London musical and she became the toast of Broadway at the tender age of eighteen when she starred in The Boyfriend, followed by the 1956 triumph of My Fair Lady.  Her encounters with Richard Burton, while rehearsing Camelot, and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, are alone worth the price of admission.   Andrews' tale is filled with backstage anecdotes and antics, public triumphs and private pain, all in a voice that is as warm, charming and "loverly" as the lady herself.  

Desert Cut / Betty Webb
Scottsdale-based private investigator Lena Jones and her movie director boyfriend stumble across the corpse of a horribly mutilated little girl in the Arizona desert. Once she learns that the child suffered sexual mutilation the incident instantly becomes personal; as fans of the four previous Jones' books know, Lena suffered horrific abuse in foster homes of her own childhood.   Her investigations turn up the horrifying fact that genital mutilations are being performed in the immigrant community; more girls go missing, including the daughter of a charismatic local preacher who seems strangely familiar to Lena.  As Lena works to find the Cutter, secrets to her own past are slowly revealed. Desert Cut is a thought-provoking tale of a horrendous practice that is still extant in many parts of the world, including the United States, as well as a penetrating look at today's clash of cultures.