A POET’S SEARINGLY BEAUTIFUL memoir of a childhood as an undocumented immigrant, and of a family separated by the US/Mexico border. Heartbreaking, simple, elegant prose. A MINUS

CHILDREN OF THE LAND
Harper
2020

DEATH IN A SCOTTISH CASTLE inspires a young socialite to turn sleuth. Charming 1920s cozy with a vividly drawn protagonist. B PLUS

MURDER BY MIDNIGHT (A MISS ALICE MURDER MYSTERY BOOK 1)
Blythe Baker
2020

SHIMMERING LIKE A HOLLYWOOD SUNSET, Eve Babitz’s essays capture both the glamour and the grit of the late 20th century. B PLUS

I USED TO BE CHARMING
NYRB Classics
2019

A ZANY TREASURE HUNT brings together a reclusive researcher and a troubled heir, as well as a crew of Boston eccentrics and a very helpful ghost. Lovely, expansive novel with a heart of gold. B PLUS

TUESDAY MOONEY TALKS TO GHOSTS
Mariner Books
2019

TENSE UK THRILLER centers on a woman haunted by the childhood abduction of a friend. Grim and evocative. SOLID B

DEAR LAURA
Independently published
2019

HARVESTING HISTORY FROM THE THAMES: a thoroughly delightful account of the riverside archaeology Londoners call “mudlarking”. B PLUS

MUDLARK
Liveright
2019

BANISHED FROM THEIR NATIVE ISLAND with an hour’s notice, the people of Diego Garcia try to make new lives in Mauritius. Sparse, impassioned novel sheds light on this historic injustice. B PLUS

SILENCE OF THE CHAGOS
Restless Books
2019

A FASCINATING LOOK AT NORTH KOREA’S autocrat Kim Jong Un shines brightest in its interviews with the leader’s former friends and refugees from his regime. B PLUS

THE GREAT SUCCESSOR
PublicAffairs
2019

THE SCIENCE OF AGING, DEMYSTIFIED by an expert journalist in conversation with top researchers in the field (and with people with aging-related illnesses as well). Concise, compelling, accessible. B PLUS

BORROWED TIME
Bloomsbury Sigma
2019

A GRUMPY OLD VETERAN AND AN ALIEN team up to defeat an interstellar threat to Earth. Comedy and worldbuilding combine for an entertaining adventure. SOLID B

JUNKYARD PIRATE
Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
2019