In with the new

The final installment of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series may be the most eagerly awaited popular book of 2007, but the new year also brings many other intriguing offerings.

Several popular novelists, including locals Alice Hoffman and Robert B. Parker, have new books. Hoffman's "Skylight Confessions" (Little, Brown) will be published this month, and Parker's Jesse Stone mystery "High Profile" (Putnam) in February .

Norman Mailer's first major work of fiction in more than a decade , "The Castle in the Forest" (Random House), is out this month . Next month sees publication of "Ten Days in the Hills," by Jane Smiley (Knopf) .

Coming in March are "When the Light Goes," by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster) and "You Don't Love Me Yet" (Doubleday), by Jonathan Lethem.

Also being published in January is "The Bastard of Istanbul" (Viking), by Elif Shafak. The Turkish writer got into legal trouble last year (the case against her was eventually dismissed) in her homeland over a mention in the novel of the genocide of Armenians.

Pauline W. Chen's "Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality" (Knopf), out this week, is the first of three books by local doctors. Jerome Groopman's "How Doctors Think" (Houghton Mifflin) arrives in March, and Atul Gawande's "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance" (Metropolitan) in April.

In a lighter vein, Mike O'Connor, owner of the Bird Watcher's General Store, in Orleans , takes flight in April with "Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Headaches?: And Other Bird Questions You Know You Want to Ask" (Beacon ).

Many literary luminaries -- among them Arthur Golden, Leslie Epstein, and Linda Barnes -- live in Brookline. Now the town's public library is offering a hand to lesser-known authors.

During a celebration Jan. 20-21, 13 writers will read from their works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on subjects as diverse as the founder of Dunkin' Donuts, the dreams of Russian immigrants, and the rise and stumbles of the Dream Works movie studio . Details at www.brooklinelibrary.org .

Theodore Sedgwick, a speaker of the US House of Representatives, and Edie Sedgwick, a muse of Andy Warhol, are among the individuals portrayed in "In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family," by John Sedgwick. The local author speaks at 7 p.m. Thursday at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Cambridge.

"The Terror," by Dan Simmons (Little, Brown)

"Exile," by Richard North Patterson (Holt)

"Plum Lovin', " by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's)

Jill Cadogan of Willow Books and Café, in Acton, recommends "The Alibi Club" (Bantam), by Francine Mathews . "This World War II thriller takes place in the days just before the German Army reaches Paris. It is part mystery, part survival story, and part historical fiction. Mathews manages to capture the mood of a city that knows an army is coming but can't quite believe it."

Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.