Christopher Paolini "Eldest"

A young dragon rider named Eragon travels to the land of the elves to finish his training, so he can battle the forces of a mad and dangerous emperor, in the fantasy novel for young readers by Christopher Paolini called Eldest. It's the second volume of a trilogy that began with Paolini's 2003 book Eragon.

Sen. Trent Lott "Herding Cats"

As a boy growing up in very modest surroundings in Mississippi, Trent Lott hoped to one day be a lawyer, practicing quietly in his hometown. But circumstances intervened, Lott went to Congress, and he never did get around to being that hometown attorney. Lott's political memoir is called Herding Cats.

Stephen J. Cannell "Cold Hit"

A serial killer, a possible copycat, a ten-year-old cold case involving the death of a cop, and a claim of "national security" all figure into the picture for LAPD Detective Shane Scully, in Stephen J. Cannell's mystery Cold Hit. Trouble is, Scully's not sure that he's really going to be permitted to get to the bottom of things.

An Eclectic Three-Fer

Today's BOOKCAST is an eclectic three-fer -- three books, one theme. We'll be talking with the authors of a political book, a children's book, and a novel of love and loss. The titles of the books: The Pig Book .. Russell the Sheep .. and Wild Dogs.

Tom Oliphant "Praying for Gil Hodges"

1955 was a glorious year for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team, which included future Hall of Famers Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snider, as well as a rookie named Sandy Koufax, won the National League pennant and then went on to beat the Yankees in seven games in the '55 World Series. In fact, it was the first, and only, time the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series. Watching it all with the fascination of a 9-year-old was Tom Oliphant, today a Boston Globe political columnist and author of the book Praying For Gil Hodges.

Dorothea Benton Frank "Pawleys Island"

When someone new arrives in a small South Carolina town, complete with a load of baggage, it upsets the genteel equilibrium, in the novel by Dorothea Benton Frank called Pawley's Island.

Michael Phillips "The Gift of Valor"

One day in the spring of 2004, in a hard-fought-over Iraqi border town, a U.S. Marine corporal displayed a rarely-seen kind of bravery. When a live hand grenade threatened several servicemen, Corporal Jason Dunham, just inches away from the grenade, seconds from death, used his Kevlar combat helmet to absorb the blast, and save the other men's lives. His story is now told by journalist Michael Phillips in his book The Gift of Valor.

Lynn Nicholas "Cruel World"

From Norway to Spain, from Russia to England, millions of children were affected by the policies of the Nazis in World War Two. While German children were being drawn into Aryan Nazi culture, the children of Leningrad starved to death, Spanish youngsters were left homeless, and girls from Norway were brought to Germany to breed. Lynn Nicholas, author of the acclaimed Rape of Europa, now tells the story of the children of the war, in her book Cruel World.

Ted Bell "Pirate"

China poses the gravest threat the U.S. has ever had to face, in Ted Bell's thriller Pirate, but he also provides just the hero to neutralize the threat: intelligence operative Alex Hawke. Pirate is the third book in a series featuring Hawke, who this time out is called upon to stop a plot that could launch World War Three.

Deborah LeBlanc "Grave Intent"

An old man's greed comes swiftly back to haunt him, and his family, in the form of a gypsy curse, in the new thriller by Deborah LeBlanc called Grave Intent. And wait 'til you hear what she did in the name of research for this book!

Roxana Robinson "A Perfect Stranger"

It's been several years since Roxana Robinson last published a collection of short stories. Her last book was a novel, Sweetwater, published in 2003. Now, in her collection A Perfect Stranger, Robinson shows again why Publishers Weekly calls her "a master of the short story."

Rita Ewing "Brickhouse"

A woman fights hard to realize her dream of creating New York City's hottest gym, in Rita Ewing's novel Brickhouse. But when city politics gets involved, the dream could turn into a nightmare for Ewing's main character, Nona Simms.

Jennifer Holm & Jonathan Hamel

When a French-born counterspy now living in the United States returns to France with his adopted family, he becomes the target of a determined would-be assassin, and his family is threatened, too. Now, we should mention that the counterspy in this case is an unusual personality .. because this is a book for young readers. The hero is James Edward Bristlefur -- a Bengal cat otherwise known as Mr. Stink. The book by Jennifer Holm and Jonathan Hamel is called The Stink Files, Dossier 003: You Only Have Nine Lives.

Michele Borba "Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me"

Our kids are being teased and bullied like never before. But there are also a lot of kids who are simply having difficulty making friends, or just getting along with others. Dr. Michele Borba, an expert on parenting and violence prevention, has assembled a resource for parents whose kids need better friendship skills. It's a book she calls Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me.

Lucia St. Clair Robson & Charles Cerami

The theme today is patriots -- young patriots and shadow patriots. July of 1776 was a time when people's true loyalties were sometimes obscure. That's the world shown to us by Lucia St. Clair Robson in her historical novel Shadow Patriots. Then, in Charles Cerami's nonfiction Young Patriots, we are reminded that the two main architects of the Constitution -- James Madison and Alexander Hamilton -- were not old fogies, but energetic young guys.

Steven Heine "White Collar Zen"

There are all kinds of philosophies for succeeding in the modern workplace -- not sweating the small stuff, extreme success, how full is your bucket -- and then there are the ancient principles of Zen Buddhism. Steven Heine is a professor of religious studies and history at Florida International University and a prominent authority on Buddhism. His purpose in writing White Collar Zen was to show how Zen concepts can be much more useful than anything you picked up reading Dilbert.

Linda Greenhouse "Becoming Justice Blackmun"

As the U.S. Senate prepares to begin confirmation hearings for the president's Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, it's a good time to look back a few years, to the high court career of a Nixon appointee who achieved his greatest notoriety on the Supreme Court just three years into his 24-year tenure. Harry Blackmun died in 1999, leaving behind an astounding collection of paper that New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse has used in writing her new book Becoming Justice Blackmun.

Marc Romano "Crossworld"

Every day millions of Americans go through a common ritual, an intellectual exercise that is as addictive as it can be exhilarating -- or maddening. It's the crossword puzzle. Among its acknowledged devotees is writer Marc Romano, whose book is called Crossworld.

John Gartner "The Hypomanic Edge"

Have you ever seen that official-looking plaque you can buy at novelty stores that says, "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps"? Maybe you don't have to be crazy to succeed in America -- but apparently it helps, says John Gartner, a Johns Hopkins clinical psychologist. "Americans may have a lot of crazy ideas," he says, "but some of them lead to brilliant inventions." Gartner's new book is called The Hypomanic Edge.

Dr. Morris Chafetz "Big Fat Liars"

You're being lied to. So-called experts are bending the facts and twisting reality, then drawing fabulously wrongheaded conclusions based on the lies. And often the result is another new law, further restricting what Americans can and cannot do, even to themselves. Dr. Morris Chafetz, a longtime observer of science, government, the legal system, and the media, explains why we're letting them get away with it, in his book Big Fat Liars.

Yaroslav Trofimov "Faith at War"

While a small minority of violent and militant Muslims are waging a bloody war against the west, the faith itself is at war -- with itself, according to journalist Yaroslav Trofimov. He traveled the Muslim world, surveying the state of Islam for his book Faith at War.

Hendrik Hertzberg "Politics"

For nearly forty years Hendrik Hertzberg has been commenting on American politics, from his perch at the New Republic, the New Yorker, and even speechwriting for President Jimmy Carter. Now he has collected some of his favorite essays in a book that spans a turbulent period in American politics. His book is called Politics.

Isabel Losada "A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World"

It is much too easy in today's global community to assume that one person is, more or less, powerless to make very big changes. But that assumption is wrong, says English entertainer -- and activist -- Isabel Losada. When she adopted the cause of freedom for Tibet, she was hooked. Her book is called A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World.

Andrew Vachss "Two Trains Running"

A small, corrupt southern town is about to explode in violence, in the Andrew Vachss mystery Two Trains Running. It’s 1959, and the strongman who owns the town is facing several threats, including the Mafia and an Irish mob.

Adrienne Sharp "First Love"

Two young and promising ballet dancers meet and fall in love, in Adrienne Sharp's debut novel First Love. But ambition collides with romance, and circumstance and luck will place one of those two rising stars side by side with one of the ballet theater's most defining figures.

Jennet Conant "109 East Palace"

On this 60th anniversary of the world's first use of an atomic weapon in war, The Bookcast brings you a conversation with the granddaughter of one of those who worked feverishly, in top secret, in the 1940s to create the atomic bomb. Jennet Conant's book is called 109 East Palace.

Nicholas Ostler "Empires of the Word"

We often learn about the world's civilizations by reading their own words -- their books, their documents, their letters, their court decisions, even their recipes and songs and eulogies. But up until now, there had been no book that told the history of the world through its various languages. Why did English survive as an everyday language but not Latin? Why do some tribal lingos develop into popular languages while others do not? Linguist Nicholas Ostler tells us that history in his book Empires of the Word.

Helen Oyeyemi "The Icarus Girl"

A young girl born to a British father and a Nigerian mother is having difficulty fitting in, in the debut novel by Nigerian-born author Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl. Jessamy's parents decide that spending some time in Nigeria would do Jessamy some good. That's where Jess meets an odd girl about her age named TillyTilly. But just who is TillyTilly, anyway?

Bruce Campbell “Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way”

Can a successful B-movie actor find true happiness in a big-budget, mainstream Hollywood flick? That's the question facing B-movie star Bruce Campbell, as he portrays himself in his comic novel Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way. The book follows the fictional Campbell as he tries to navigate his way through a small part in a major motion picture.

Larry Diamond "Squandered Victory"

In the closing weeks of 2003, Stanford University professor Larry Diamond got a phone call from Condoleezza Rice, his former Stanford colleague, asking him to go to Iraq to help lay the foundation for a new, postwar democracy. Diamond was in Iraq from January to April 2004, and saw firsthand how the "regime change" effort was being conducted. He analyzes that effort in his book Squandered Victory.

Barry Eisler "Killing Rain"

Professional assassin John Rain makes a rare, and potentially fatal, mistake in the fourth book in the popular thriller series by Barry Eisler called Killing Rain. Eisler spent three years in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, before he started writing novels about the warriors who live in the shadows.