Rowling's Harry, Noir McCarthy, Shadid's Iraq: July Paperbacks

Rowling's Harry, Noir McCarthy, Shadid's Iraq: July Paperbacks

July 5 (Bloomberg) -- J.K. Rowling's second-to-last Harry Potter, Cormac McCarthy's bloody road novel, and Anthony Shadid's superb look at the war in Iraq -- these are among the July paperback highlights.

``Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic). Here's the penultimate installment of the boy wizard's boarding-school adventures -- and Rowling has forecast the demise of two main characters in the finale.

``No Country for Old Men'' by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage). The novelist's most accessible book yet is a bloody noir thriller about a Texas man who stumbles across a pickup full of heroin, cash and dead bodies and then tries to outrun a trio of relentless pursuers.

``Espresso Tales: The New 44 Scotland Street Novel'' by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor). This is the second volume in the Scottish author's soap-operatic series about the residents of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh.

``No Direction Home'' by Marisa Silver (Norton). Much like the film ``Crash,'' this debut novel depicts the intersecting stories of families who converge on Los Angeles and struggle to stay emotionally and physically connected.

``Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War'' by Anthony Shadid (Picador). In one of the best books to come out of the war so far, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter offers an Iraqi man-on-the street perspective on the invasion and occupation.

``Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of America's Power'' by David Rothkopf (PublicAffairs). Drawing on interviews with notable insiders, including Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Henry Kissinger, the former Clinton staffer delivers a history of one of the most powerful and enigmatic organizations in the U.S. government.

``Chatter: Uncovering the Echelon Surveillance Network and the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping'' by Patrick Radden Keefe. (Random House). A young journalist visits clandestine ``listening stations'' and talks with shadowy surveillance experts while trying to discover the methods used by governments to spy on their citizens.

``Happiness: Lessons from a New Science'' by Richard Layard (Penguin). An economist marshals insights from psychology, neuroscience, sociology and applied economics to offer a definition of happiness and advice on how we can achieve it.

``Confessions from the Velvet Ropes: The Glamorous, Grueling Life of Thomas Onorato, New York's Top Club Doorman'' by Glenn Belverio (St. Martin's Griffin). Gossip and anecdotes reflect a decade manning the door at some of Manhattan's hip nightclubs, fashion shows and celebrity parties.

``Sacco and Vanzetti Must Die!'' by Mark Binelli (Dalkey Archive). This cerebral black comedy recasts the doomed anarchists as a comedy duo on the vaudeville circuit who work their way up to starring in slapstick movies and opening for Bob Hope on USO tours.

``Epileptic'' by David B. (Pantheon). The true story of a French boy, his epileptic brother and their parents' desperate efforts to find a cure is featured in this exceptional graphic- novel

``Istanbul: Memories and the City'' by Orhan Pamuk (Vintage). Turkey's best-known writer delivers a memoir of life in the city and an eloquent meditation on Istanbul's almost palpable air of melancholy.

(Edward Nawotka is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)