New books in January

Many books that I recently read were published in January,  They represent many styles and genres and view points  .I have included some here that caught my fancy.
NEPTUNE'S INFERNO, THE U.S. NAVY AT GUADALCANAL by James  D. Hornfischer, (Bantam
978-0-553-80670) is a nonfiction account of the bloody sea battles that occurred during the fight for the south Pacific and its islands.  This is a no frills look at the battle that shows both sides of the battle and the seeming lack of preparation that went into our effort.  The book whitewashes no one and is pitiless in its placing of blame, (rightly or wrongly). The book is stark and gruesome at times and is not for the faint of heart - or eye. From what I recall hearing and reading at this time (I probably 9 or 10 at the time) it is pretty accurate,  It seems a wonder that either side won.  Written in a rather dry and fact laden style, this is a lot of information about a defining  time of out history. Now we  would learn about everything instantaneously through the media.  Then we waited until it went through government hands, made it to newspapers and appeared in theaters in newsreels or on the radio.  Times as well as wars have changed.
From nonfiction gloom and global war to gloom and doom on a smaller scale.  CARIBOU ISLAND by David Vann, ( Harper, 978-0-06-187572-4) is a book full of darkness and despair.  Set in
Alaska ,this is the story of a failed marriage between two people who basically love each other but are totally unable to communicate  and who seem to aggravate and infuriate each other by just by being themselves. Irene, the wife, is melancholy and  her husband Gary is taciturn.  Irene is carrying a dark memory of her own family life and her mother. The daughter Rhoda is planning on marrying her long time love Jim who drifts into relationship with a visiting free spirit.  The family dynamics suggest tragedy is just around the corner at any time.  This is a book that peels away at layers if guilt and passion and reveals the true person.  The writing is precise and pristine.  Although the book is dark and sometimes depressing it is a gem of a read.
For a quick read you might want to gibe Laura Lippman's THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT  (William Morrow, 978-0-06-193836-8) a look.  This novel was originally serialized in the New York Times and now is a Harper trade paper. The book features a pregnant Tess Monaghan who has been ordered by her doctor to stay put.  So she has a kind of a "Rear Window" episode where she watches  through her window.  She notices a woman walking a feisty dog every day.  The woman is wearing a green raincoat.  And then, the woman is gone and the dog is out side alone.  Tess decides something is amiss and gets her household and her work associates involved in finding out why this dog is alone and where the woman is. 
Naturally, with Tess stirring the pot and her intrepid assistant, Mrs. Blossom, tracking down clues and doing the leg work, no crime can go undetected or unsolved.  Tess and Crow will become parents and life will be changing for Tess.  It will be interesting to see how Lippman handles the change of status of her independent strong woman private eye when she becomes an independent and strong mother with competing and complicating responsibilities and desire.  I am looking forward to the next  chapter in the saga.