A look ahead

Near the beginning of each month, the National Post’s Paul Taunton previews books that will be talked about over the next few weeks. Here’s what readers can look forward to this December:

How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by David France (Signal) 640 pp; $34.95; Nov. 29.

In the 1980s, Randy Shilts’s And the Band Played On famously exposed the history of inaction with the AIDS epidemic. Likewise, David France’s How to Survive a Plague tells the sweeping story of how successful HIV/AIDS treatments were often made available — or even possible — by grassroots movements. This is a hugely dramatic story that we take for granted.

Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran (HarperAvenue) 352 pp; $19.99; Nov. 29.

A collection of columns is usually a yawn of a book — but not so in the case of Caitlin Moran. Students are actually studying her Twitter feed in Britain. Like her bestselling Moranthology, this collection is curated with a lot of new material, including three new pieces exclusive to the book.

George Lucas: A Life by Bryan Jay Jones (Little, Brown) 560 pp; $42; Dec. 6. Though lacking in the steamy Harrison Ford-Carrie Fisher gossip you’re hoping for, George Lucas: A Life is a revealing, in-depth look at the man behind Star Wars. We know it as the biggest entertainment franchise now — and seemingly forever — but Lucas wasn’t even convinced Star Wars would be a hit when lines were around the block opening day. Science fiction films tended to have strong openings before falling off, he warned. Away put your modesty, George.

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid (Grove/Atlantic) 400 pp; $36.50; Dec. 16.

Val McDermid returns with her series featuring Detective Karen Pirie in Out of Bounds. When a teenager is left in a coma after joyriding a stolen car, a DNA test sheds light on a cold case from years before. It probably goes without saying that someone is going to try to keep the secret under wraps by any means necessary. Curl up and enjoy the fact that your boring life is still preferable to those of most people in books.

The Twilight Wife by A.J. Banner (Touchstone) 304 pp; $20; Dec. 27.

This high-concept thriller from Banner begins with a young marine biologist suffering from memory loss after a diving accident. It seems as though she’s settling into the stability of her new life when, in flashes, she starts to remember her life before the accident, and realizes that what’s right in front of her isn’t what it purports to be.

Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace by Christine Porath (Grand Central) 240; $32.50; Dec. 27.

Though the political process south of the border can at times seem to exemplify a lack of civility, it’s not hard to find the same behaviour creeping into the workplace. Christine Porath argues that while it may hurt our feelings, it also hurts the bottom line. Obviously this is a great gift idea: something for your colleagues to read, definitely not you.