JESSICA MITFORD–journalist, activist, and one of six amazing sisters–shines through in well-researched bio. B PLUS

IRREPRESSIBLE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESSICA MITFORD
Counterpoint
2010

FANTASY ADVENTURE set in a magical world almost like Shakespearean England provides both laughs and thrills. B PLUS

WILL POWER
Tor Books
2010

OVERSTUFFED EPIC/COMIC vampire romance/thriller with a jazzy chick-lit twist is fun, but a bit too crowded. SOLID B

INSATIABLE
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

INFORMATIVE HISTORY of the US Epidemic Intelligence Service is a rich resource but not a compelling read. SOLID B

INSIDE THE OUTBREAKS: THE ELITE MEDICAL DETECTIVES OF THE EPIDEMIC INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2010

CANDID, CHARMING–if a bit precious–memoir by the child of two Jungian therapists whose work shaped his life. SOLID B

GROWING UP JUNG: COMING OF AGE AS THE SON OF TWO SHRINKS
W. W. Norton & Company
2010

THE MIDDLE-AGED BRAIN! Recent neuroscience focusing on the ways we get smarter as we age, presented engagingly. SOLID B

THE SECRET LIFE OF THE GROWN-UP BRAIN: THE SURPRISING TALENTS OF THE MIDDLE-AGED MIND
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE, 1890s style, profiles one bicyclist lost on a round-the-world tour, another who sought him. B PLUS

THE LOST CYCLIST: THE EPIC TALE OF AN AMERICAN ADVENTURER AND HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2010

THIRD IN A SERIES featuring feisty Connecticut landscaper/amateur sleuth Paula Holliday; tight plot, good fun. B PLUS

DEAD HEAD (DIRTY BUSINESS SERIES #3)
St. Martin’s Press
2010

FASCINATING LIFE of the most famous Shakespeare forger of all time is illuminating, surprisingly sympathetic. B PLUS

THE BOY WHO WOULD BE SHAKESPEARE: A TALE OF FORGERY AND FOLLY
Da Capo Press
2010

HORROR AND SNARK abound in this latest adventure of Bob Howard, computer geek/wizard/undercover agent. B PLUS

THE FULLER MEMORANDUM (LAUNDRY FILES SERIES)
Penguin Group (USA)
2010