GRIPPING TRUE STORIES of crime, politics, and corruption in Los Angeles of the 1920s and 30s. Fascinating! A MINUS

A BRIGHT AND GUILTY PLACE: MURDER, CORRUPTION, AND L.A.’S SCANDALOUS COMING OF AGE
Doubleday Books
2009

GRIMLY EVOCATIVE but oddly flat book about a desert town haunted by fears of aliens, apocalypse. SOLID B

WORMWOOD, NEVADA
St. Martin's Press
2009

A FIELD BIOLOGIST’S chatty, engaging take on unusual and surprising interactions in the animal and plant worlds. B PLUS

SEXY ORCHIDS MAKE LOUSY LOVERS & OTHER UNUSUAL RELATIONSHIPS
University of Chicago Press
2009

FAST-PACED MYSTERY with a feisty “ski diva” detective offers tight plotting, vivid Vermont ski-resort detail. B PLUS

DOUBLE BLACK (SKI DIVA MYSTERY SERIES)
St. Martin’s Press
2010

ENGAGINGLY WRITTEN look at how the brain sees in 3-D by a scientist who lacked that ability until her late 40s. SOLID B

FIXING MY GAZE: A SCIENTIST’S JOURNEY INTO SEEING IN THREE DIMENSIONS
Basic Books
2009

CHARMING, IF SLIGHT, story of a very English boy coping with the woes of his French and Bangladeshi parents. SOLID B

CORNER SHOP
St. Martin's Press
2009

HAUNTING FABLE of lonely people on a mysterious island paints vivid pictures of a unique landscape, creatures. A MINUS

THE GIRL WITH GLASS FEET
Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
2010

INFORMATIVE LOOK AT ANTI-AGING medicine and technology reports on cutting-edge research in a flip, breezy tone. SOLID B

ETERNITY SOUP: INSIDE THE QUEST TO END AGING
Random House USA Inc
2010

LIFE OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS is rich in detail and unbiased, but lacks the passion of more partisan biogs. B PLUS

THE LIFE OF MARY: QUEEN OF SCOTS: AN ACCIDENTAL TRAGEDY
Pegasus Books
2009

SWEET, IF A BIT SLIGHT, memoir about a 40-something urbanite going home to her Mennonite Brotherhood family. SOLID B

MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS: A MEMOIR OF GOING HOME
Henry Holt & Company
2009