AN INGENIOUS TIME TRAVEL yarn stars Harriet Tubman, waking up in 2014 with all of her trademark courage. B PLUS

THE CROSSING HOUR
None
2015

AN EPIC MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE follows the French scoundrel-poet François Villon on a risky quest to Jerusalem. B PLUS

THE BROTHERHOOD OF BOOK HUNTERS
Europa
2014

BLACK VISIONARIES, Douglass to King to Malcolm X: powerful conversation from Cornel West, Christa Buschendorf. B PLUS

BLACK PROPHETIC FIRE
Beacon Press (MA)
2014

RIVETING FAMILY SAGA sweeps readers from Guyana to London, from the 1930s to the present. Unforgettable! A MINUS

THE SMALL FORTUNE OF DOROTHEA Q: AN EPIC PAGE-TURNING FAMILY SAGA
Bookouture
2015

ANIMAL EMOTIONS EXPLORED in this far-ranging book that examines mental health and illness in all creatures. B PLUS

ANIMAL MADNESS
Simon & Schuster
2014

WOMEN AND UNREQUITED LOVE, seen through personal stories, sociology, psychology. Interesting but unfocused. SOLID B

UNREQUITED
Harpercollins
2015

A PAIR OF LIFE STORIES about recovery from childhood abuse offer warmth, candor, frank Christian faith. SOLID B

GHOST NO MORE: A MEMOIR
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
2014

ABSOLUTELY MASTERFUL SHERLOCKIAN pastiche set in the turmoil following the events at the Reichenbach Falls. A MINUS

MORIARTY
Harper
2014

FINNISH SCIENCE FICTION sets family conflict against a backdrop of environmental disaster. Poetic, scary. B PLUS

THE BLOOD OF ANGELS
Peter Owen Publishers
2014

HIGH-STAKES SUSPENSE WITH a touch of futuristic nanotechnology combine in a fast-paced young adult novel. SOLID B

NANOVISION: WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH X-RAY VISION?
Sphere Publishing, LLC
2014