THE BROWSER

by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, 272 pages, $24.99).

This latest from the author of "The Notebook" and "At First Sight" features hunky veterinarian Travis Parker and his new next-door neighbor, Gabby Holland, a physician's assistant. They are drawn to each other, yet kept apart by blunder and misunderstanding. You can just picture Sparks earnestly plotting this out: Motivation. Check. Surprise twist. Check. Heartwarming and vaguely religious ending. Check. In between plot points, he has tedious dialogue, augmented with pointless action that takes the story nowhere: "Gabby made her way to the produce section, where she collected some fresh green beans and the makings for a salad. Moving quickly, she located a box of pasta and some croutons, then headed toward the rear of the store." Sparks has a formula that has worked well for him. But, sadly, he doesn't know how to bring his characters to life or animate his story.

LAURIE HERTZEL, PROJECTS EDITOR

by Steve Martin (Scribner, 209 pages, $25).

With this memoir, Martin lets readers in on how to be a successful comedian: work like crazy. And at times it feels like work as we read Martin's accounts of "observing, analyzing, judging [and] worrying" about his performance techniques. Who knew so much thought went into putting on an arrow hat or screaming "Excuuuuse me!"? Quoted portions of his wild and crazy routines are still hilarious, but offset by odd asides, as when he considers and decides against stealing a valuable book from a library. There are too few tales about his contemporaries, and Martin is overly scrupulous in giving credit where it is no doubt due. But overall it is fascinating to read how a very intent little 10-year-old lucked into a job at Disneyland, grew up to enjoy years of white-hot success as a touring stand-up comic and then chucked it all to branch out into film, literature and art collecting. This year Martin was among the five performing artists to receive a Kennedy Center Honor.

KATHE CONNAIR, FEATURES COPY EDITOR

by Meg Cabot (Avon, 280 pages, $13.95).

MARCI SCHMITT, FEATURES LAYOUT EDITOR

by John Sandford (Putnam, 373 pages, $26.95).

If you follow John Sandford's road map, I-90 heading west from Worthington will take you directly into "Stark County," edge-of-the-prairie, small-town Minnesota where everybody knows everybody else's business. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Virgil Flowers takes that route, sent to investigate a double murder -- with roots decades in the past -- that quickly turns into a number of other murders. Sandford's tale has a nice sense of place, a fine shoot-'em-up sequence, a neat plot twist at the end and a little Lucas Davenport for fans of the author's "Prey" series. Virgil, however, could use a little more imagination in his descriptions of women and should knock off writing on his laptop about his investigation as if it were a novel. And what's with all those "musical T-shirts" (from Sheryl Crow to Franz Ferdinand) that Virgil wears? He must spend half his downtime shopping for them.

STEVE RIEL, WORLD AND NATION EDITOR

by Drs. Sampson David, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt (Riverhead, 272 pages, $24.95).

TERRY COLLINS, STAFF WRITER

by Lloyd Jones (Dial Press, 256 pages, $20).

On a war-torn, unnamed South Pacific island in the 1990s -- where everyone with the means to do so has fled or joined the rebels -- everyday life has lost its cadence. Then, the only white man left on the island agrees to reopen the school. "I am no teacher, but I will do my best," Mr. Watts tells the eager kids. "I believe with your parents' help, we can make a difference to our lives." And so he begins reading aloud "Great Expectations." Told through the eyes of Matilda, a precocious 11-year-old, "Mister Pip" is a celebration of narrative's ability to transport the reader to other places and times. As the army and rebels alternately harass the village, Matilda finds solace in Pip's ability to survive. "Mister Pip" transports the reader to the isolated world of a tropical island, much as "Great Expectations" helps the island's residents find a place away from their fear and desperation. It's a lovely story about the victory of ideas over the ugliness of war.

SHARON S. KESSLER, COPY EDITOR