FIFTH IN CORNWELL’S “Saxon Tales” may be the best yet, as our 9th-century warlord hero questions his alliances. SOLID B

THE BURNING LAND (SAXON TALES #5)
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

COMPELLING, HYPNOTIC novel traces a woman’s lifetime quest to connect with her troubled, alcoholic father. A MINUS

FATHER OF THE RAIN
Atlantic Monthly Press
2010

INSIGHTFUL LOOK at clothes and the people who love them; the star is an Auschwitz survivor turned fashionista. B PLUS

THE THOUGHTFUL DRESSER: THE ART OF ADORNMENT, THE PLEASURES OF SHOPPING, AND WHY CLOTHES MATTER
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2010

HAPLESS PRIVATE EYE Stanley Hastings is back in rare form in this tautly plotted yarn. Plenty of plot twists! B PLUS

CAPER (STANLEY HASTINGS SERIES #17)
Pegasus Books
2010

CANDID AND EYE-OPENING but never voyeuristic look at the complicated life, loves of writer W. Somerset Maugham. B PLUS

THE SECRET LIVES OF SOMERSET MAUGHAM: A BIOGRAPHY
Random House Publishing Group
2010

NINE FAMOUS HYPOCHONDRIACS, from Darwin to Nightingale to Proust to Warhol, illuminated in thoughtful essays. B PLUS

THE HYPOCHONDRIACS: NINE TORMENTED LIVES
Faber & Faber
2010

MEGACHURCH SOAP OPERA, deftly handled and with precisely observed detail, as usual from Kimberla Lawson Roby. B PLUS

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

WELL-CRAFTED, if a bit fluffy, saga of a woman trying to cope with her indie musician husband’s sudden stardom. B PLUS

LAST NIGHT AT CHATEAU MARMONT
Atria Books
2010

INSIDE JERRY FALWELL’S megachurch with a secular writer who starts out undercover, ends up enamored. SOLID B

IN THE LAND OF BELIEVERS: AN OUTSIDER'S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
Metropolitan Books
2010

INFORMATIVE, FUNNY, good-natured history of childbirth looks at changes in attitudes and technologies. B PLUS

GET ME OUT: A HISTORY OF CHILDBIRTH FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO THE SPERM BANK
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2010