Happy New Year! In the world of books, we get to celebrate the new year with lots of terrific new books; we hope you'll join us as we partake of some great fiction, as well as some entertaining and enlivening non-fiction.

One new release that is already making a splash is People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her last book, March, and this one is every bit as riveting and compelling. It's the story of an Australian rare-book expert given the job of analyzing a famous illuminated Jewish book, the Sarajevo Haggadah. The history of the book is revealed through a backwards journey in time, from the book's salvation to its creation.

In Bleeding Kansas, Sara Paretsky (author of the V.I. Warshawski detective series) takes us to the Kaw River Valley, where the lives of three farm families are interwoven over the course of several generations. With modern day pressures—the war in Iraq for example—set against a backdrop of fundamentalist belief, the conflict between the families grows to a fever pitch, proving America's heartland can be every bit as terrifying as the most dangerous inner city.

Sue Grafton is also back, with T is for Trespass. Kinsey Mulhone isn't the only voice we hear, as the author allows the chilling sociopath, Solana Rojas, to be heard in her own voice. As the terrifying conclusion looms, the reader is able to foresee the horror ahead, while hoping that Kinsey will see it too, in time to avert tragedy.

Another reliable writer, W.E.B. Griffin, gives us the fourth in his Presidential Agent Series, The Shooters. The story begins in Argentina, where Delta Force Officer Charley Castillo is cleaning up from a previous mission. He is suddenly hurled into the next, unscheduled assignment searching for a missing DEA agent who has apparently been abandoned by his own government.

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner is part political tome and part humor, as he takes us around the world in search of the happiest places—Iceland is one, Denmark another, but America not so much. The book is a mixture of travel, psychology, science and more—and its fun despite Weiner's admission that he's a grouch ("I'm already unhappy. I have nothing to lose.").

In Defense of Food is Michael Pollan's latest. The author of The Omnivore's Dilemma gives us a food manifesto, summed up quite simply: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." In this book, he answers a lot of the questions he posed in The Omnivore's Dilemma, and suggests that we can help ourselves and our world by buying better, well-grown food—and less of it.

The Fighting 69th: One Remarkable National Guard Unit's Journey from Ground Zero to Bagdad, by Sean Michael Flynn, is the moving story of how one National Guard regiment, New York City's Fighting 69th Infantry, not considered fit for duty on the even of September 11, 2001, is transformed. Most of the 69th were immigrants with no military experience—Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians, African Americans, Russians, Poles, Koreans, Chinese—a ragtag bunch of ill-prepared recruits just interested in a paycheck. How they were transformed into tough soldiers at work in one of Bagdad's toughest areas—the Airport Road—is a story of extraordinary courage and relentless determination, where the street wisdom of New York City turns out to be some of the best equipment these soldiers could ever have.

Sweeney Todd by Mark Salisbury and Tim Burton has a scary Johnny Depp on the cover, but this book is a lavish hardcover companion volume to the film—a film which many reviewers are calling one of the best of the season. Over 200 photos, concept drawings and production designs show how the play became a movie—and now a book. This is a terrific inside look at moviemaking.

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman is not a new book, but with the movie out there has been renewed interest in this exquisite piece of literature. This is part of the trilogy known as His Dark Materials (The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), and while it is aimed at young adult readers, it will appeal to anyone who loves finely written, beautiful prose with a compelling plot, unforgettable characters, and a deeply layered fantastical world. The books have been criticized as anti-religion, but the best way to decide is to read them for yourself.

Sherman Alexie won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and it was well-deserved. In his first book for young adults, Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Junior leaves the Rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school's mascot. Funny, touching, beautifully written—with drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney—this book is nothing short of wonderful.

There are also many books on the horizon that our readers will enjoy. In the coming weeks and months, Bernard Cornwell brings us Sword Song, Rita Mae Brown gives us The Purrfect Murder, and Russell Banks brings us The Reserve. John Grisham's newest is The Appeal and Martha Grimes brings back Andi Oliver in Dakota. In non-fiction, Michael Scheuer, a veteran CIA counterterrorism analyst, gives us his take on what the Iraq war has cost us, in Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq.

If you're a Maisie Dobbs fan, you'll be happy to learn that in February she reappears in Jacqueline Winspear's An Incomplete Revenge. And Jodi Picoult fans have Change of Heart to look forward to, as once again the author taps into her familiar themes of loss, redemption and the overarching power of love.

Young adult author Stephanie Meyer (New Moon, Eclipse) has written her first adult novel, The Host, a tense, scary story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake. In any other author's hands, this might sound trite, but she puts a spin on things that is truly original.

These are only a few of the many new and exciting books that will be released during the spring and summer. Hold on to your hats—it's going to be quite a ride!