“The One-Way Bridge,” by Cathie Pelletier, May 2013, Sourcebooks, 287 pages, hardcover, $24.99. The rule is simple. If two drivers approach opposite ends of the one-way bridge in Mattagash, Maine, whoever touches their tires to the bridge first has the right-of-way. And in such a small town, everyone knows proper ...

Can religion be a double-edged sword? Atlanta author Jeffrey Small delves into the debate between science and religion in his second novel, “The Jericho Deception,” a thriller about a scientist who creates a God machine that can bring about religious ecstasy and madness. His first novel, “The Breath of God,” ...

“Out of Nowhere,” by Maria Padian, Feb. 12, 2013, Random House, 352 pages, hardcover, $16.99. New students are flooding to Maquoit High School each semester, and most of them only speak a few words of English. Changes are afoot in Ennison, Maine, the fictional setting for Maria Padian’s new young ...

ROCKLAND, Maine — Maine Authors Publishing recently announced that 13 of their published authors recently received awards in the 2012 New England Book Festival competition. One author was named runner-up for his children’s books, and 11 authors received honorable mentions. Categories were diverse and well represented by all. An awards ...

“Strangers on the Beach” by Joshua Pahigian, October 2012, Islandport Press, 282 pages, hardcover, $22.95. A man rescues a woman floundering in the surf off Old Orchard Beach. Nearby, a boy meets a stranger lurking in the dunes. A blood-caked mask washes ashore. And so the mystery of “Strangers on ...

“MAINE: The Wilder Half of New England” by William David Barry, Tilbury House, Publishers, 290 pages, $30. Why would anyone take the time to write a history of a state? Finding historical similarities between Madawaska and Kittery, which must have a lot more in common with Portsmouth, N.H., is a ...

BOON ISLAND: A TRUE STORY OF MUTINY, SHIPWRECK, AND CANNIBALISM by Andrew Vietze and Stephen Erickson, Globe Pequot Press, November 2012, 244 pages, paperback, $16.95. In a raging storm on Dec. 11, 1710, the Nottingham Galley slammed into Boon Island, just six miles off the coast of Maine, and broke ...

FINDING YOUR INNER MOOSE: IDA LECLAIR’S GUIDE TO LIVIN’ THE GOOD LIFE by Susan Poulin, September 2012, Islandport Press, 256 pages, paperback, $16.95. Ida LeClair isn’t a real person, but she is a true character. And as a recently minted “Certified Maine Life Guide,” she offers practical ways to live ...

LONDON — After months of hype and anticipation, J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults has appeared, swept into the arms of hopeful booksellers and an army of grown-up Harry Potter fans eager to find out what his creator has done next. A gritty and darkly humorous tale of ugly realities ...

“Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up,” edited by Leah Odze Epstein and Caren Osten Gerszberg; Seal Press (268 pages, $16) Everyone, it seems, has a drinking story, even teetotalers, and in this anthology of essays, 28 women tell theirs. “Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up,” edited ...

LAST TO DIE by Tess Gerritsen, August 2012, Ballantine Books, 338 pages, hardcover, $27. The 10th book in Camden author Tess Gerritsen’s “Rizzoli and Isles” saga — detailing the exploits of homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles — is as suspenseful and nail-biting as any of her ...

SARAH3112: JOURNEY THROUGH VIRTUAL MADNESS by William White, July 2012, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 518 pages, paperback, $17.65. Former Bangor resident Bill White was a man dying to get out of an abusive marriage. He was a man dying to end his depression and loneliness. Little did he know that ...

PUCKERBRUSH REVIEW, Spring/Summer 2012; edited by Sanford Phippen; University of Maine English Department/Puckerbrush Press Inc., Orono; 144 pages, large format perfect bound, $10. The big literary news revealed in the summer 2012 issue of Puckerbrush Review, the longstanding central organ for UMaine-associated belles lettres and beyond, is that its editor ...

“Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child” (Knopf), by Bob Spitz Before Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse, before Gordon Ramsay and Rachael Ray, before Lidia Bastianich and Anthony Bourdain, there was Julia Child. Child made her TV cooking debut in 1962, in black and white, and by the time she’d ...