FICTIONANY OLD IRON by Anthony Burgess (Washington...

FICTION

ANY OLD IRON by Anthony Burgess (Washington Square: $5.95). Two families, one Welsh, the other Jewish, are tied throughout a century by an unrequited love.

DRUGSTORE COWBOY by James Fogle (Delta: $9.95). Celluloid version was voted best movie of 1989 by the National Society of Film Critics, but the novel went rejected and unpublished until Hollywood beckoned.

MILE ZERO by Thomas Sanchez (Vintage: $10.95). Key West is the converging point for a mismatched band, for whom the tip of the continent also represents their last hope.

LAIR OF THE FOX by Daniel Pollock (Harper: $4.95). Welsh activist and Hollywood actress offers herself in exchange for film crew taken hostage by Kurdish terrorists.

HIGHER GROUND by Caryl Phillips (Penguin: $8.95). History’s vicissitudes are backdrop for pivotal actions taken by the subjects in each of the three stories.

NONFICTION

FARM: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer by Richard Rhodes (Touchstone: $9.95). Pulitzer Prize-winning author pays homage to a Missouri family which typifies the constant struggle and success in America’s bread basket.

AND A VOICE TO SING WITH: A Memoir by Joan Baez (Signet: $5.95). Baez exposes the sides of her personality that buy into her own P.R. and that could warrant the moniker “Saint.”

IN THE NAME OF GOD: The Khomeini Decade by Robin Wright (Touchstone: $10.95). Examination of Iran’s knack for manufacturing external hostilities to deflect attention from debilitating domestic conditions.

THE MYSTERIOUS LANDS: An Award-Winning Naturalist Explores the Four Great Deserts of the Southwest by Ann Haymond Zwinger (Plume: $10.95). Study of each area’s land formations, climate and wildlife.

YOU GOTTA HAVE WA by Robert Whiting (Vintage: $10.95). Juxtaposes baseball as played by the Japanese, who insist on unity and self-sacrifice, and the Americans, who exhibit individuality and greed.

SELF-HELP / REFERENCE

THE OLD FARMER’S 1991 Almanac by Robert B. Thomas, edited by Judson Hale ($2.50). New additions to the usual planting, recipes and folklore are features on tracking lost pets through the lost and found ads, predicting earthquakes and classic child-rearing advice.

WEATHER WISDOM: Facts and Folklore of Weather Forecasting by Albert Lee (Congdon & Weed: $7.95). Observations of nature that allow short-term weather predictions.