On the red carpet

With the Oscar nominations announced last week , the countdown to the gala awards ceremony on Feb. 25 has begun. Tapping into the emotional overdrive of that starry night are two new books, by a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and a British fashion writer.

Jane Smiley, author of closely observed novels about thoroughbred horse racing and academia, turns her sharp wit on Hollywood in "Ten Days in the Hills ," coming out in February. On the morning after the 2003 Academy Awards, as the United States invades Iraq, 10 friends, family members, and lovers gather at the home of an Oscar-winning director past his prime. Lest anyone forget the novel's California setting, the son of the director's lover is majoring in hedonism at UC Davis.

In "Made for Each Other: Fashion and the Academy Awards," Bronwyn Cosgrave captures moments of sartorial splendor and disaster since the first Oscars ceremony, in 1929. When Bette Davis wore an outfit made for her role in "Housewife" to the 1936 ceremony, her frumpy attire galled the editor of Photoplay. Following Davis, winner of the best actress award for "Dangerous," into the powder room, the editor shouted, "How could you? You don't look like a Hollywood star! You could be dressed for a family dinner."

Thriller writer Lisa Gardner returns to Boston as the setting for "Hide," out next week. In the novel, a mass grave is discovered on the grounds of an abandoned mental institute in Mattapan. In the acknowledg ments, Gardner thanks three Boston police detectives, a forensic anthropologist, and a former admitting nurse at a state mental hospital in Boston for their advice. Gardner, who lives in Jackson, N.H., knows her way around the city, but she also singles out for praise a friend who helped with the driving.

After "The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade" was published last year , author Ann Fessler heard from hundreds of adoptive parents, adoptees, and mothers who gave up a baby for adoption. Fessler is an adoptee herself and a professor at Rhode Island School of Design . Her book has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award , and she is making a documentary based on it.

Novelists Ha Jin and Jennifer Haigh and poets Robert Pinsky and Louise Glück are participants in the annual faculty reading at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Boston University, 595 Commonwealth Ave.

"Deep Storm," by Lincoln Child (Doubleday)

"White Lies," by Jayne Ann Krentz (Putnam)

"Star Wars: Allegiance," by Timothy Zahn (Del Rey)

Pick of the week

Eric Wilska, owner of the Bookloft in Great Barrington, recommends "Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird" (Grove): "We ritualistically release pigeons to symbolize peace and harmony. We also shoot them, poison them, and eat them. What's up with our love-hate relationship with this creature? Great Barrington author Andrew D. Blechman gives us the scoop in this smartly written and entertaining book."

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

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