An Absolute Scandal, by Penny Vincenzi (Doubleday, June). When Lloyds of London goes bust, Lucinda must decide between supporting her devastated husband or keeping an irresistible lover.

America America, by Ethan Canin (Random House, June). A yard-boy on the estate of a powerful New York family charms his way up society's ladder to become the confidante of a presidential candidate, until a crime threatens his downfall.

Beijing Coma, by Ma Jian (Farrar Straus Giroux, May). Felled by a bullet on Tiananmen Square, Dai Wei emerges from a coma to an utterly transformed China.

Blood Colony, by Tananarive Due (Atria, June). A new drug made from "the blood of immortals" prompts a powerful underground distributor to set out to cure AIDS.

Breath, by Tim Winton (FSG, June). On the desolate coast of Western Australia, two teenage thrill-seekers go to extremes.

Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey (Harper, May). The author of A Million Little Pieces tells of characters from far corners of the world who come together, seeking redemption.

Cost, by Roxana Robinson (FSG, June). When Julia learns that her son is a heroin addict, she mobilizes the entire family, including her ex-husband and her frail elderly parents, to help save his life.

The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie (RH, June). Alternating between Renaissance Florence and the court of the Mughal Empire, a novel of love and sorcery.

Enlightenment, by Maureen Freely (Overlook, May). The translator of Orhan Pamuk's Snow tells of first love and betrayal in Cold War Istanbul.

Exiles, by Ron Hansen (FSG, May). The shipwreck that prompted Gerard Manley Hopkins to unleash a dazzling torrent of poetry.

Friday Nights, by Joanna Trollope (Bloomsbury, May). Six women who value their regular Friday nights together risk losing them when one becomes entangled with an inappropriate man.

The Garden of Last Days, by Andre Dubus III (Norton, June). From the author of House of Sand and Fog, a disturbing tale about a Florida stripper.

The Girl With No Shadow, by Joanne Harris (Morrow, April). The writer who gave us Chocolat offers up a sequel about a chocolaterie in the bohemian quarter of Paris.

Good-Bye and Amen, by Beth Gutcheon (Morrow, July). Three children inherit their parents' property -- along with a host of problems.

The House on Fortune Street, by Margot Livesey (Harper, May). The author of Eva Moves the Furniture tells of two women and the tragedy that alters their friendship.

Lavinia, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt, April). In Vergil's Aeneid, the hero sets out to claim the king's daughter; in this book, we hear the story from her point of view.

The Lost Dog, by Michelle de Kretser (Little Brown, April). A professor searching for his dog in the Australian bush learns something about love between humans.

A Manuscript of Ashes, by Antonio Muñoz Molina; translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman (Harcourt, Aug.). Researching the life of an obscure poet, a student finds that the poet and his own uncle were in love with the same woman.

Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill (Pantheon, May). A Dutch banker stranded in post 9/11 Manhattan stumbles upon friendship in a community of multiracial immigrants.

The Other, by David Guterson (Knopf, June). One friend grows up to become a schoolteacher; the other heads for the woods as a very troubled recluse.

Peace, by Richard Bausch (Knopf, April). Three soldiers on a reconnaissance mission in war-torn Italy confront the monstrosities of war.

The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich (Harper, May). A mixed-race Ojibwe family learns that they are divided by a heinous crime, perpetrated generations ago.

Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian (Shay Areheart, May). An unlikely band of men and women fleeing across Europe in the last months of World War II struggles to keep body and heart whole.

Slumberland, by Paul Beatty (Bloomsbury, June). The author of The White Boy Shuffle tells of DJ Darky and his madcap hunt through Berlin for a reclusive jazz master.

Snuff, by Chuck Palahniuk (Doubleday, May). A porn queen's kinky ambition.

So Brave, Young, and Handsome, by Leif Enger (Atlantic Monthly, April). An aging train robber and a failed writer head west in search of renewal.

Something to Tell You, by Hanif Kureishi (Scribner, Aug.). A divorced psychoanalyst in London runs into his first love and revives a long-buried secret.

The Story of a Marriage, by Andrew Sean Greer (FSG, May). A dutiful '50s wife and her gradual epiphany about the husband she thought she knew.

Devil May Care, by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming (Doubleday, May). The author of Birdsong and Engleby renews the legend of James Bond.

Fractured, by Karin Slaughter (Delacorte, Aug.). When a stranger breaks into her house and holds her daughter hostage, Gailyn goes into a murderous rage.

The Girl of His Dreams, by Donna Leon (Atlantic, May). Commissario Guido Brunetti is back with another high adventure in Venice.

Killing Rommel, by Steven Pressfield (Doubleday, May). A writer of historical novels offers this thriller about a commando unit out to kill the legendary "Desert Fox."

Moscow Rules, by Daniel Silva (Putnam, July). In a Russia that cares for nothing so much as money, an ex- KGB agent plans to funnel his country's most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda.

Palace Council, by Stephen L. Carter (Knopf, July). A political thriller against the backdrop of Watergate and Vietnam, from the author of New England White.

Swan Peak, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster, July). The return of Dave Robicheaux, this time in the Rocky Mountains of Montana.

The Turnaround, by George Pelecanos (LB, Aug.). By the author of The Night Gardener, the story of a war veteran, an ex-convict and revenge on the streets of D.C.

Fine Just the Way It Is, by Annie Proulx (Scribner, Sept.). A new collection of Wyoming stories from the author who gave us The Shipping News.

Lost in Uttar Pradesh, by Evan S. Connell (Counterpoint, July). New and selected stories from the author of Mrs. Bridge.

By His Own Rules: The Story of Donald Rumsfeld, by Bradley Graham (PublicAffairs, July). A close-up of the controversial defense secretary, by a military affairs reporter with The Washington Post.

Franklin & Lucy: President Roosevelt, Mrs. Rutherfurd, and the Other

Remarkable Women in His Life, by Joseph E. Persico (RH, April). FDR's secret relationship with his wife's secretary, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd.

The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, by Alexandra Fuller (Penguin Press, May). By the author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, the story of a man, an oil field and the rugged terrain of Wyoming.

The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, by Daniel Mark Epstein (Ballantine, May). A witty, temperamental woman and her brooding and brilliant husband.

Shakespeare's Wife, by Germaine Greer (Harper, April). The author of The Female Eunuch recreates the great bard's enigmatic wife, Ann Hathaway.

Willie Nelson, by Joe Nick Patoski (LB, April). That heartbreakingly beautiful voice is a fine distillation of hard knocks.

Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, by Kevin Phillips (Viking, April). How bankers and financiers ruined America.

Good Guys & Bad Guys: Behind the Scenes with the Saints and Scoundrels of American Business (and Everything in Between), by Joe Nocera (Portfolio, May). The "good" business magnates turn out to be suspect, and the villains are really visionaries.

While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crises, by Roger Lowenstein (Penguin Press, May). The boomers are facing retirement in unprecedented numbers, and there's a pension and health care crisis ahead.

Armageddon in Retrospect, by Kurt Vonnegut (Putnam, April). Unpublished essays on war and peace, by the incomparable author of Slaughterhouse-Five.

Havanas in Camelot, by William Styron (RH, April). The late author of Lie Down in Darkness and Sophie's Choice ruminates on a variety of themes.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris (LB, June). The memoirist of Me Talk Pretty One Day unleashes his wit on some basic human truths.

The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia, by Tim Tzouliadis (Penguin Press, July). How thousands of ordinary Americans relocated to the Soviet Union during the 1930s on the promise of a better life.

Nixonland, by Rick Perlstein (Scribner, May). A comprehensive look at the politician who brought us current red state/blue state hostilities.

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War, by Michael Dobbs (Knopf, June). A veteran Post reporter taps into new sources.

Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire, by Alex Abella (Harcourt, May). The secretive think tank that has influenced the U.S. government for more than a half-century.

The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment, by Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich (Island Press, June). How we made it to the top -- and then began to destroy everything beneath us.

The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine, by Sherwin B. Nuland (RH, May). Forty years on the front lines of medicine. Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression, by James S. Gordon (Penguin, June). How to heal without antidepressants.

Audition, by Barbara Walters (Knopf, May). The first female cohost of a network news program tells what it's like to make it in a man's world.

Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History, by Ted Sorensen (Harper, May). JFK's closest advisor reveals his experiences at the frontier of history.

Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, by Nancy Pelosi (Doubleday, July). Speaking out from the highest office of any woman in American history.

The Sum of Our Days, by Isabel Allende (Harper, April). The novelist recounts her life after the tragic loss of her daughter, sharing thoughts about motherhood and spirituality.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel (Knopf, July). For a quarter century the writer has been running in marathons. They are the fuel of his inspiration.

A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father, by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin's, April). By the author of Running With Scissors.

Green Is the New Red, White, and Blue: America's Mission in a World That Is Hot, Flat, and Crowded, by Thomas L. Friedman (FSG, Aug.). An account of the current race to save the environment, by the author of The World Is Flat.

The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation, by Steven M. Gillon (Oxford Univ., June). They formed a secret bipartisan alliance for the good of the country, but after Monica, it turned into something else.

Untitled, by Ron Suskind (Harper, June). National security gaffes for us to contemplate before the election, by the author of The One Percent Doctrine.

Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry, by Ian O'Connor (Houghton Mifflin, April). Golf's great, 50-year rivalry.

The Best Game Ever: Giants vs Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL, by Mark Bowden (Atlantic Monthly, May). A different kind of action adventure from the author of Black Hawk Down.

Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, by David Maraniss (S&S, July). The games in a time of Cold War, feminist revolution and the struggle for civil rights.

Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, by J. Maarten Troost (Broadway, July). From the author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals, his daffy adventures in the Middle Kingdom.

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom, by Simon Winchester (Harper, May). Joseph Needham fell in love with a Chinese beauty, and a vast work of cultural history was born.

Out of Mao's Shadow, by Philip P. Pan (S&S, June). The battle for China's future, by The Post's former Beijing correspondent.

The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria (Norton, May). The rise of China, India, Brazil, Russia and other developing countries will soon redefine the globe.