FICTION

THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED by Anne Rice (Ballantine: $5.95). Rice breathes life into the majestic Akasha, who awakens from a 6,000-year slumber to challenge Lestat, in this third installment of the vampire chronicles.

FINAL FLIGHT by Stephens Coonts (Dell: $5.95). Capt. Jake Grafton of “The Flight of the Intruder” transfers to an aircraft carrier stalked by Arabs seeking its nuclear weapons.

THE ANNA PAPERS by Ellen Gilchrist (Little, Brown: $8.95). At her funeral, family, friends and lovers ponder the suicide of successful and attractive writer Anna Hand.

SO WORTHY MY LOVE by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (Avon: $10.95). Errors and subterfuge result in a romantic encounter between two members of warring families.

S. by John Updike (Fawcett Crest: $4.95). Diary of a suburban doctor’s wife who sends missives on her way to an Arizona ashram.

NONFICTION

THE QUEEN OF MEAN: The Unauthorized Biography of Leona Helmsley by Ransdell Pierson (Bantam: $4.95). Pierson’s initial investigation of the Helmsleys was the first salvo in a legal assault that led to the current indictments.

ONE OF THE GUYS: The Wising Up Of An American Man by Harry Stein (Pocket: $7.95). Stein, through the process of self-examination, interviews and research provides a portrait of the evolving, contemporary American male.

DON’T BEND OVER IN THE GARDEN GRANNY, YOU KNOW THEM TATERS GOT EYES by Lewis Grizzard (Ballantine: $4.95). Southern humorist’s reflections on the mating habits, foibles, miscalculations and myths.

LIMITS TO FRIENDSHIP: The United States and Mexico by Robert A. Pastor and Jorge G. Castaneda (Vintage: $10.95). Authors examine the social, political, and economic issues that overlap between these two countries.

YOU COULD LOOK IT UP by William Safire (Holt: $12.95). These pensive essays on the peculiarities of English originated in Pulitzer Prize-winning Safire’s column, “On Language” for the New York Times.

SELF-HELP / REFERENCEWINNING MOVES by Jane Ciabattari (Penguin: $8.95). Surviving shake-downs which may be the result of a new boss, merger or restructuring within your organization.

MAKING SENSE OF ADOPTION: A Parent’s Guide by Lois Ruskai Melina (Perennial: $8.95). Second book on the subject of adoption includes the issues of birthparents, revealing troubling information, surrogate parenting and in vitro fertilization.