There's no stopping these female novelists

Each of five prominent, popular and prolific female writers has added one more novel to her resume -- bringing their combined total to 139!

Those novels -- by Danielle Steel, Belva Plain, Jude Deveraux, Anne Tyler and Anita Brookner -- are among the latest hardcover books.

Among new nonfiction titles are a history of the National Security Agency, a gastronomical tour of France, Tom Brokaw's third "Greatest Generation" volume, and an insider's view of Washington.

"Lone Eagle" (Delacorte)

By Danielle Steel

A woman's up-and-down relationship with an aviator is featured in Steel's 51st novel. It begins in 1974 when Kate learns that Joe, her soul mate for more than 30 years, has been killed testing an experimental airplane. Kate reminisces about their lives together, from the day they met in 1940 at a ball in New York, when she was a debutante and he was Charles Lindbergh's protege.

"Looking Back" (Delacorte)

By Belva Plain

Betrayal and infidelity flourish in Plain's 19th novel, about three women who were college roommates and have remained friends. Things unravel when Amanda, married to Norma's brother, becomes bored with the marriage and has an affair (and a son) with her widowed father-in-law. Norma, trying to help her dispirited brother, gives him architectural plans she stole from Cecile's husband.

"The Summerhouse" (Pocket)

By Jude Deveraux

Another trio of women star in Deveraux's 34th novel. To celebrate their 40th birthdays -- all on the same day -- they reunite at a summerhouse in Maine. All three have regrets, due to bad choices and bad luck, in career and romance. Then Madame Zoya offers them the chance to relive any three weeks from the past, while retaining all the knowledge and experience they have accumulated.

"Back When We Were

Grownups" (Knopf)

By Anne Tyler

Rebecca "Beck" Davitch, 53, a widow with four daughters and a catering business in Baltimore, begins to wonder how and why she became the person she is. What would have happened if she had taken the other fork? In Tyler's 15th novel, a near-disaster at a family picnic -- Beck rescues a young boy she almost drowned -- drives her attempt to reclaim the life she had 30 years earlier.

"The Bay of Angels"

(Random House)

By Anita Brookner

In Brookner's 20th novel, teen-ager Zoe Cunningham is pleased when her widowed mother remarries, even though it requires mom to move from their London home to a French villa owned by her new husband, Simon. When Simon dies in an accident, Zoe and mom learn some disturbing news -- he was not as wealthy as he pretended to be. Not only was he nearly broke when he died, the villa wasn't his.

"Body of Secrets" (Doubleday)

By James Bamford

Bamford updates the activities of the National Security Agency, the world's most secretive and advanced intelligence organization, which he first examined in his 1982 book, "The Puzzle Palace." He exposes the NSA's role in various Cold War conflicts and the Vietnam War, and describes its technological advances. His research includes thousands of documents, many only recently declassified, and interviews with NSA officials, code breakers, linguists and field operatives.

"French Lessons" (Knopf)

By Peter Mayle

Mayle, author of the "Provence" books and a resident of the South of France, celebrates the country's food and drink in his "Adventures With Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew." He travels all over France, visiting out-of-the-way restaurants, three-star establishments, local village markets, festivals and vineyards. He devotes a weekend to escargots -- snails to most of us -- and attends Mass in a small village church where thanks are given for the extraordinarily expensive black truffles.

"An Album of Memories"

(Random House)

By Tom Brokaw

In Brokaw's recent books, "The Greatest Generation" and "The Greatest Generation Speaks," the NBC newsman honored ordinary Americans who survived the Great Depression and World War II, and helped build today's America. This album contains readers' responses to those books -- letters, photos and memorabilia, including documents, telegrams, newspaper clippings and a war ration book.

"Washington" (Public Affairs)

By Meg Greenfield

Greenfield, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with The Washington Post, covered the capital for 40 years, during eight administrations -- from Kennedy to Clinton. She wrote this book secretly during the last two years of her life (she died in 1999). It explores how Washington works and looks at the people who pull the strings. Greenfield reveals why so many Americans hate Washington and how some of those who work in government manage, despite many obstacles, to accomplish some good.

"Country Matters"

(HarperCollins)

By Michael Korda

Korda recalls his transformation from city slicker to country gentleman, complete with tractor, horses and pigs. In 1979, he and wife Margaret left urban life in New York and headed 90 miles north, to a rundown farmhouse on 20 acres in Duchess County. Korda describes how he handled wary neighbors, trespassers, rusted plumbing, frayed wiring, a leaking roof, and the problem of the septic tank.

Other new books:

Fiction

-- "Carry Me Across the Water" (Random House) by Ethan Canin. A man flees Nazi Germany and makes a fortune in America.

-- "Sharpe's Trafalgar" (HarperCollins) by Bernard Cornwell. England's Ensign Sharpe participates in the battle of Cape Trafalgar in 1805.

-- "Rose of Nancemellin" (St. Martin's) by Malcolm Macdonald. A maid's talent for mimicry gets her fired when she impersonates the daughter of the estate.

-- "Bad Girl Creek" (Simon & Schuster) by Jo-Ann Mapson. A wheelchair-user's life blossoms when she inherits a flower farm.

-- "Detachment Bravo" (Pocket) by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman. The "Rogue Warrior" and his Navy SEALs battle a high-tech terrorist group attached to the IRA.

-- "Empire Falls" (Knopf) by Richard Russo. A man confronts his problems, past and present, in a declining blue-collar town in Maine.

-- "Warlock" (St. Martin's) by Wilbur Smith. In ancient Egypt, a reclusive magician tries to save his beloved queen's dynasty.

-- "Thief of Time" (HarperCollins) by Terry Pratchett. The creation of the first accurate clock spells trouble in this latest "Discworld" fantasy.

Nonfiction

-- "A Pitcher's Story" (Warner) by Roger Angell. The career of baseball's David Cone.

-- "Killing Pablo" (Atlantic Monthly) by Mark Bowden. The rise and fall of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

-- "As Good as I Could Be" (Simon & Schuster) by Susan Cheever. The joys and challenges of single-motherhood.

-- "Oh, Waiter! One Order of Crow!" (Putnam) by Jeff Greenfield. CNN anchor's observations about the 2000 presidential election.

-- "Seek" (HarperCollins) by Denis Johnson. Novelist's essays and articles on various topics.