THE SCIENCE AND STUDY OF DREAMS, from neuroscience labs to informal groups. Engaging and thought-provoking. B PLUS

WHY WE DREAM : THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF OUR NIGHTLY JOURNEY
Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2018

A BAGHDAD CHILD’S TALES of her neighborhood as it dissolves under the strains of war. Beautiful, dreamlike novel. B PLUS

THE BAGHDAD CLOCK (HARDCOVER)
ONEWorld Publications
2018

FAST-PACED COMIC FANTASY: a group of mythological beings descend on a small college town to battle over a god’s remains. Lots of fun! B PLUS

OVER A GOD’S DEAD BODY: A SUPERNATURAL COMEDY
Joel Spriggs
2018

IN A POST-APOCALYPSE WORLD where women are scarce, one group rebels against a society’s strictures. Fascinating, edgy SF. A MINUS

BEFORE SHE SLEEPS (HARDCOVER)
Delphinium
2018

FEAR, FOOD, AND HOPE, and how they shaped a writer’s childhood of alternative medicine and “healing diets.” Kindly but harrowing memoir. B PLUS

CRAVE : A MEMOIR OF FOOD AND LONGING
St. Martin’s Press
2018

THE ROOTS OF GENTRIFICATION in one Chicago neighborhood, traced back to 20th century “urban renewal” and “neighborhood conservation” initiatives. Insightful social history! B PLUS

THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN PARK: URBAN RENEWAL AND GENTRIFICATION IN CHICAGO
Belt Publishing
2018

TWO EXPATRIATES IN PARIS, an American historian and a young Moroccan student, haunted by history—and perhaps actual ghosts. SOLID B

PARIS ECHO
Henry Holt & Company
2018

A FIERCE WOMAN DETECTIVE fights and sleuths her way through a smuggling scheme in 1887’s Washington Territory. Vivid and exciting! A MINUS

THE BEST BAD THINGS (HARDCOVER)
MCD
2018

STYLISH ENGLISH THRILLER starts with a playground friendship, ends in some very troubled places. B PLUS

THE BEST FRIEND
Bookouture
2018

A LIGHT-HEARTED HISTORY OF CHILI peppers offers surprising insights culinary, botanical, cultural, and historical. SOLID B

THE DEVIL'S DINNER (HARDCOVER)
St. Martin's Press
2018