THE BEST KIND OF HISTORICAL novel: a gripping adventure that’s built on solid research. Bravo! J’adore! A MINUS

AN OFFICER AND A SPY
Knopf Publishing Group
2014

A BEAUTIFUL, DELICATE, ECCENTRIC Korean fable about love and belonging. Sweet but not cloying. B PLUS

THE HEN WHO DREAMED SHE COULD FLY
Penguin Books
2013

THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE TRUE STORY of Stax Records and its role in the explosion of soul music in the 1960s US. SOLID B

RESPECT YOURSELF
Bloomsbury USA
2013

A SHY, QUIRKY WOMAN’S mostly entertaining reflections on how and why her 25 years have been free of romance. B PLUS

NEVER HAVE I EVER : MY LIFE (SO FAR) WITHOUT A DATE
Grand Central Publishing
2014

FOUR FRIENDS GATHER together in a time of crisis. Some well-drawn characterization, a bit too much melodrama. SOLID B

LIVING SEPARATE LIVES
Thy Word Publishing
2013

IN CELEBRATION OF TIME, English novelist Penelope Lively reflects on memory, antiquities, her own 80 years. B PLUS

DANCING FISH AND AMMONITES
Viking Adult
2014

A GLORIOUS LOVE LETTER to George Eliot’s MIDDLEMARCH, and to the lasting power a beloved book can hold. A MINUS

MY LIFE IN MIDDLEMARCH
Crown
2014

AN INTRIGUING TAKE ON SUPERHEROES also shines as a study of family dynamics and generational clashes. Fun! B PLUS

DREAMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE
Tor Fantasy
2014

DREAMLIKE, STIRRING NOVEL from Norway traces the impact of a series of arsons on a close-knit community. B PLUS

BEFORE I BURN: A NOVEL
Graywolf Press
2014

FOUR WORLD CITIES on key thresholds: East/West, tradition/modernity, heritage/globalism. Brilliant, complex! SOLID A

A HISTORY OF FUTURE CITIES
W. W. Norton & Company
2013