Augusten Burroughs

St. Martin’s Press

$23.95, hardcover

When reading Augusten Burroughs’ latest collection of essays, Possible Side Effects may include laughter, pause for thought, more laughter and maybe a tear or two. Burroughs’ newest essays ruminate and expand on his harrowing childhood, which was chronicled in his bestselling memoir, Running with Scissors, with his eye set on the irony of things.

Possible Side Effects also focuses on Burroughs’ best subject, himself – or rather, the ability to lay his soul out on paper – and no subject is taboo. Whether it’s his serious struggle with alcoholism and social isolation or just surviving the everyday attempt to be a functioning member of society, Burroughs nails each self-deprecating piece of himself with hammer-like blows of comedy-infused drama. His “my life is an open book” writing persona invites readers to share in his penchant for choosing the wrong jobs, raising a new pup and endlessly surfing the Web; all the while turning the mundane moments that make up life as a whole into something fresh. His prose is at turns witty, cautionary and undeniably bitchy.

Burroughs is also the author of the aforementioned Running with Scissors, Dry, Sellevision: A Novel and Magical Thinking.

Michael Thomas Ford

Kensington

$23, hardcover (due out June 6)

Michael Thomas Ford’s third novel, Full Circle, chronicles the friendship of three men, which spans more than five decades. During the confining era of the 1950s and the turbulence of the 1960s, Jack Grace and Ned Brummel grew up together and fell in love. That is, until (cue the swelling soap opera music) they arrive at college and meet the “allegedly straight” fresh-off-the-farm hunk Andy.

The arrival of Andy splinters Jack and Ned’s birds-of-a-feather relationship and signals a period of backstabbing and deception that sends them scattering and then flocking back together over the years. From the days of free love in the City by the Bay to the ominous presence of AIDS, the trio is shaped by the events around them and by each other.

Fast forward to the present day, where Ned has been happily coupled for 12 years and receives word from his now estranged friend Jack that Andy is on his deathbed, which sends Ned to his side and on a trip down memory lane.

Ford’s first novel, Last Summer, was a recipient of Lambda Literary Award in 2004, and his second novel, Looking for It, has been deemed “an insightful and entertaining read.”

Hillary Carlip

Harper Collins

$13.95, paperback

Hillary Carlip grew up in the heart of L.A., but always felt herself taking up residence in its fringes, allowing others to typecast her as an outsider. Parlaying this isolated feeling into a wealth of different personas, she becomes the Sybil of discovering who she is through various jobs and experiences, until she realizes that it’s completely fine to be a unique individual.

Along the way, Carlip crosses paths with some Hollywood legends. She’s the middleman that teaches legendry funny lady Lucille Ball to juggle, an extra on the set of the legendarily bad Olivia Newton-John musical Xanadu, and becomes part of television history by getting the first-ever perfect score given by legendary queen Rex Reed on “The Gong Show.”

Carlip is also the author of Girl Power, a contributor on NPR, a performer and an artist. Queen of the Oddballs is a treasure trove of pop-culture sensibilities, one which Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman, calls “mandatory reading.”