CHILLING EXPOSE OF the international trade in humans and their body parts. Not a fun read, but unforgettable. B PLUS

THE RED MARKET
William Morrow
2011

LOVE, LOSS, POETRY, neighborhood memories, and decaying illusions combine in a bittersweet cocktail of a novel. B PLUS

THE ASTRAL
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2011

HILARIOUS SLICE-OF-LIFE essays from the irrepressibly entertaining Laurie Notaro. Truly delightful! B PLUS

IT LOOKED DIFFERENT ON THE MODEL: EPIC TALES OF IMPENDING SHAME AND INFAMY
Villard
2011

UNCONVENTIONALLY EXPERIMENTAL BIO of writer Heinrich Mann, his wife, brother Thomas, and their circle in exile. SOLID B

HOUSE OF EXILE: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF HEINRICH MANN AND NELLY KROEGER-MANN
Farrar Straus Giroux
2011

CLASSIC HORROR TALE features a spooky house, missing children, the shadow of World War II, all the trimmings. SOLID B

THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL
Pan Books
2007

AN ORDINARY APARTMENT is a nexus for interdimensional beings in this edgy, witty speculative-fiction novel. B PLUS

CHASING THE MOON
Orbit
2011

A FAMILY SHAPED BY generations of guilt and shame gets the full saga treatment in this well-crafted #beachread. B PLUS

MAINE
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2011

QUIRKY, UPBEAT MEMOIR about expatriate life in China by an American journalist and musician offers nuanced fun. B PLUS

BIG IN CHINA: MY UNLIKELY ADVENTURES RAISING A FAMILY, PLAYING THE BLUES, AND BECOMING A STAR IN BEIJING
HarperCollins Publishers
2011

AN ‘ANIMAL FARM’ for the post-Communist era: wry, sharp fables of Soviet-bloc nations from Slavenka Drakulic. SOLID B

A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE MUSEUM OF COMMUNISM: FABLES FROM A MOUSE, A PARROT, A BEAR, A CAT, A MOLE, A PIG, A DOG, AND A RAVEN
Penguin Books
2011

INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING overview of the history and technology behind the coming electric car revolution. SOLID B

BOTTLED LIGHTNING
Hill and Wang
2011