THE FASCINATING LIFE OF country megastar Tammy Wynette, told in a well-researched (despite hokey prose) book. SOLID B

TAMMY WYNETTE: TRAGIC COUNTRY QUEEN
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

BEAUTIFUL WRITING, as always from DeLillo, but an affectless, vague tale. Best stuff is describing others’ art. B MINUS

POINT OMEGA
Scribner
2010

LARGER-THAN-LIFE CHARACTERS abound in this inside look at NASCAR’s legendary 1979 breakout season. B PLUS #beachread

HE CRASHED ME SO I CRASHED HIM BACK: THE TRUE STORY OF THE YEAR THE KING, JAWS, EARNHARDT, AND THE REST OF NASCAR’S FEUDIN’, FIGHTIN’ GOOD OL’ BOYS PU
Little Brown and Company
2010

ALTERNATING REPORTAGE, SHORT STORIES, mostly about Texas, feels a bit gimmicky; some of the true stuff is good. SOLID B

NOTHING HAPPENED AND THEN IT DID: A CHRONICLE IN FACT AND FICTION
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2010

WELL-RESEARCHED BUT DREARY historical novel suffers from too much information, not enough characterization. SOLID C

REBELS AND TRAITORS
St. Martin’s Press
2010

ESSAYS ON VIDEO GAME art, culture are intriguing, if highfalutin; best when describing a player’s experience. SOLID B

EXTRA LIVES: WHY VIDEO GAMES MATTER
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2010

DELIGHTFUL ENGLISH CHICK LIT: frothy fun as three wedding planners find the loves of their lives. B PLUS #beachread

WEDDING SEASON
St. Martin’s Press
2010

BRIEF LIVES ON THE EDGE of ’30s celebrity: joint bio of writer Nathanael West, New Yorker muse Eileen McKenney. SOLID B

LONELYHEARTS: THE SCREWBALL WORLD OF NATHANAEL WEST AND EILEEN MCKENNEY
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2010

FAST-PACED POLICE PROCEDURAL set at the Jersey Shore features beachfront skullduggery, local flavor. B PLUS #beachread

ROLLING THUNDER: A JOHN CEEPAK MYSTERY
Pegasus Books
2010

FASCINATING ESSAYS, mostly from the New Yorker, about crime, obsession, and offbeat passions. B PLUS #beachread

THE DEVIL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES: TALES OF MURDER, MADNESS, AND OBSESSION
Doubleday Books
2010