AN ASTRONOMER, BRILLIANT AND UNSTABLE as the stars she studies, breaks down. Grueling yet poetic novel. SOLID B

BINARY STAR
Two Dollar Radio
2015

IN A NEAR-FUTURE WORLD of high-tech surveillance and reality-show diplomacy, an ambassador runs for her life. SOLID B

PERSONA
Saga Press
2015

A FASCINATING HISTORY OF PALEOANTHROPOLOGY emphasizes the huge impact of new discoveries and technologies. A MINUS

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE RICKETY COSSACK
St Martins Pr
2015

ON A HARSH, NEWLY settled planet, a leader—warrior, mother, hunter, conservationist—fights for her people. B PLUS

ARCHANGEL
Resurrection House
2015

GRITTY, TENSE MYSTERY, a U.K. bestseller, features lots of revved-up action but perhaps a bit too much plot. SOLID B

EENY MEENY (HELEN GRACE SERIES #1)
Penguin Publishing Group
2015

SLICK, STYLISH THRILLER stars a duo of globetrotting supercriminals, but fear, desperation are vividly evoked. B PLUS

VANISHING GAMES
Knopf Publishing Group
2015

FASCINATING TRUE STORIES of space projects that never were, from a 1960s moon base to a monkey space station. SOLID B

FALSE STEPS
None
2015

GLOSSY, CLEVER, SURPRISINGLY complex novel about a woman whose upscale life is haunted by a past tragedy. B PLUS

LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE A NOVEL
SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE
2015

MAXINE KUMIN’S MEMOIR is as terse, elegant, and full of love as any of the late Pulitzer Prize winner’s poems. B PLUS

THE PAWNBROKER’S DAUGHTER
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2015

CHARMING “OLD HOLLYWOOD” novel captures the wild life of Olive Thomas, a winsome star of the silent film era. B PLUS

THE FORGOTTEN FLAPPER
None
2015