THE SCIENCE OF AGING, DEMYSTIFIED by an expert journalist in conversation with top researchers in the field (and with people with aging-related illnesses as well). Concise, compelling, accessible. B PLUS

BORROWED TIME
Bloomsbury Sigma
2019

A GRUMPY OLD VETERAN AND AN ALIEN team up to defeat an interstellar threat to Earth. Comedy and worldbuilding combine for an entertaining adventure. SOLID B

JUNKYARD PIRATE
Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
2019

AN 18TH-CENTURY MEDICAL MARVEL, transformed into not just a masterful historical novel, but a timely parable about the limits of enlightenment. A MINUS

MARY TOFT; OR, THE RABBIT QUEEN
Pantheon
2019

BRILLIANTLY HUMDRUM EXISTENTIAL fable about women with boring jobs and unsatisfying lives, with incisive humor and spot-on observation to add some spice. B PLUS

THE NEW ME
Penguin Books
2019

WARM-HEARTED STEAMPUNK SUPERNATURAL creates an alternate England with little refuge for a traumatized veteran of an imagined war to end all wars. Lovely, compassionate writing. A MINUS

THE APPLE-TREE THRONE
Premee Mohamed
2018

CHARMING COZY MYSTERY set in a California beach town, where a tea maven and a Tarot reader try to solve the murder of the realtor who ripped them off. Fast pace, lots of fun. B PLUS

STEEPED IN MURDER
misterio press
2019

FROM PUERTO RICO TO MIAMI BEACH, a writer’s complicated girlhood shaped by love and friendship, as well as by poverty, racism, and sexism. Lyrical writing, full of anger and hope. A MINUS

ORDINARY GIRLS
Algonquin Books
2019

IN A LAND OF ANCIENT MAGIC, a young woman’s extraordinary powers are tested by deadly strife. Richly imagined high fantasy. B PLUS

SIEGE OF SHADOWS (THE KEEPER CHRONICLES SERIES BOOK 3)
JA Andrews
2019

“DR. SPACE JUNK”: how a little girl watching the stars in rural Australia grew up to become one of the world’s first space archaeologists. Delightful, brilliant, and thought-provoking. A MINUS

DR SPACE JUNK VS THE UNIVERSE
The MIT Press
2019

A DEBUTANTE TURNED DETECTIVE faces a murder at her aunt’s English country house. Smart, polished cozy mystery with plenty of charm. B PLUS

MURDER IN BLACK TIE
McGuffin Ink
2019