WITTY SHAKESPEAREAN ADVENTURE sets up the Bard’s creation Ancient Pistol as a spy for hire. Clever riff on a colorful character and a satisfying mystery plot. B PLUS

ALL WIND AND PISTOL (ANCIENT PISTOL SAGA BOOK 1)
Roger Butters
2020

A NINETEENTH-CENTURY NATURALIST’S life fascinates a science writer; inspired by his commitment to science, appalled by his endorsement of eugenics, she sees his work as a fight against overwhelming chaos. B PLUS

WHY FISH DON'T EXIST
Simon & Schuster
2020

LEGENDARY WOMEN MERCENARIES search for a lost friend and battle a dangerous cult in this witty, action-packed, occasionally raunchy epic fantasy. Lots of fun, fascinating world-building. B PLUS

SHE COURTS DARKNESS (BARTRAM'S MAW BOOK 2)
Morgan Stang
2020

FIVE WOMEN IN SEOUL, each chasing a different dream, are brought together in loneliness and help each other find their paths. Lovely, dynamic prose captures life for the have-nots in a wealth-obsessed city. B PLUS

IF I HAD YOUR FACE
Ballantine Books
2020

THE WEBS OF INTRIGUE SPUN by Thomas Cromwell at the court of Henry VIII begin to tangle. Satisfying, vibrant conclusion to Hilary Mantel’s brilliant Tudor trilogy. A MINUS

THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT
Henry Holt and Co.
2020

SHARP LOVECRAFT PREQUEL, set just after the American Revolution, sets a resourceful Black veteran against the fiendish cultists of Arkham. Nice mix of history and horror. B PLUS

BORNE OF THE DEEP (THE SALEM HAWLEY SERIES BOOK 2)
High Fever Books
2020

A ROGUE “CONVERSION THERAPY” camp hides even darker secrets than its destructive practices suggest. High-energy YA/New Adult thriller with a strong gay voice. B PLUS

SURRENDER YOUR SONS
Flux
2020

A SUDDEN ICY APOCALYPSE sweeps North America, and a woman fights to stay alive and find her family. Tense, well plotted disaster thriller. B PLUS

WHAT WE BECOME
Vulpine Press
2020

A UGANDAN WOMAN’S SEARCH for her mother, her bonds with her two grandmothers and her aunts, her friendships with other women—beautiful, sweeping, evocative novel tells generations of women’s stories. A MINUS

A GIRL IS A BODY OF WATER
Tin House Books
2020

A META-MYSTERY; AN ANTI-MYSTERY; a fable of loneliness, daydreams, inanition, and the impossibility of knowing anything. Gorgeously written, but not for everybody. B PLUS

DEATH IN HER HANDS
Penguin Press
2020