'Tis the Season...For Great New Books!

With rain and snow falling hard across the north east for days on end, it certainly feels a little more like December than March.  While December means that at least you have the holidays to look forward to, March usually brings nothing but confusing weather patterns and far-off dreams of summer.  But for me, the beginning of March brings something else entirely.  No, not just midterms or high anticipation for spring break (which is a tad consuming I'll admit).  This year, the month of March means the release of several new books by some of my all-time favorite authors.  Christmas hath come again for me.  Let's take a look:

Hitting the shelves tomorrow, March 2, is the latest sure-to-be tear jerker (as all her books are) from New England native Jodi Picoult, called House Rules.  Usually centered around an issue and involving a court case, Picoult's books are the kind that deliver intensely researched information and social commentary, wrapped within a heart-warming story.  In House Rules, Picoult takes on the currently high-profile issue of autism, in which a young autistic boy is accused of murder.  I've managed to read all but four of her novels, and some of the best include The Pact (teen suicide), Nineteen Minutes (school shooting), Change of Heart (the death penalty), and My Sister's Keeper, which was recently made into a movie starring Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz (who actually did a great job).  I have no doubt that House Rules will have me glued to my nook while sitting poolside in the Bahamas next week.  I'll try to keep the tears to a minimum.

Several weeks later on March 23, the next addictive book from Harlan Coben arrives in stores across the US.  And when I say addictive, I mean addictive.  Caution: be prepared to devote every waking minute to reading once you have started.  From the first page of one of Coben's books, the reader is like a fish on a hook, completely at the mercy of Myron Bolitar or one of Coben's other great characters.  Not until the end, when the reader is deliriously dizzy from all the twists and turns he manages to create, is the reader able to put the book down and go about his or her normal life.  I've read every one of Coben's books (usually the day they're released) and I've never been disappointed.  This next one, Caught, certainly won't be any different.  With missing people, real and faked murders, confusing clues and a never-ending array of witty characters, Coben's thrillers are definite must-reads.

Though her list of novels isn't as long as that of Ms. Picoult or Mr. Coben, Emily Giffin is another one of my favorite authors who has a new release coming out this spring.  While Giffin's novels can be categorized as "chick-lit," they are definitely the cream of the crop in their category.  Her previous four novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Love the One You're With, and Baby Proof, are each easily devoured in one delicious sitting, leaving the reader wanting more.  Fortunately, Giffin delivers on this need with the release of Heart of the Matter on May 11.  I'm sure that she'll once again have us wishing that she could write faster.  At least we have the big-screen production of Something Borrowed to look foward to next year, and hopefully it's sequal Something Blue not long after.


So readers, do you have a favorite book by these amazing writers? Who are some of your favorite authors?