CANDID, SURPRISINGLY FUNNY memoir by a writer and comedian about living with a rare autoimmune disease. B PLUS

ARE YOU MY GURU?: HOW MEDICINE, MEDITATION & MADONNA SAVED MY LIFE
New American Library
2010

ANCIENT ATHENS goes noir in this Periclean private-eye yarn featuring a flip, jaded tough-guy Greek sleuth. B PLUS

THE PERICLES COMMISSION
St. Martin’s Press
2010

QUIRKY CHARM, offbeat structure are at the heart of this sweet, poignant novel about love, loss, and lightning. B PLUS

THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS
Crown Publishing Group
2010

AMERICANA CHARM and a World War II setting make this small-town mystery a delightful read. B PLUS

MISS DIMPLE DISAPPEARS
St. Martin’s Press
2010

THE TOO-SHORT LIFE of ’70s music superstar Karen Carpenter is illuminated in this deeply researched biography. B PLUS

LITTLE GIRL BLUE: THE LIFE OF KAREN CARPENTER
Chicago Review Press
2010

JESSICA MITFORD–journalist, activist, and one of six amazing sisters–shines through in well-researched bio. B PLUS

IRREPRESSIBLE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESSICA MITFORD
Counterpoint
2010

FANTASY ADVENTURE set in a magical world almost like Shakespearean England provides both laughs and thrills. B PLUS

WILL POWER
Tor Books
2010

REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE, 1890s style, profiles one bicyclist lost on a round-the-world tour, another who sought him. B PLUS

THE LOST CYCLIST: THE EPIC TALE OF AN AMERICAN ADVENTURER AND HIS MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2010

THIRD IN A SERIES featuring feisty Connecticut landscaper/amateur sleuth Paula Holliday; tight plot, good fun. B PLUS

DEAD HEAD (DIRTY BUSINESS SERIES #3)
St. Martin’s Press
2010

FASCINATING LIFE of the most famous Shakespeare forger of all time is illuminating, surprisingly sympathetic. B PLUS

THE BOY WHO WOULD BE SHAKESPEARE: A TALE OF FORGERY AND FOLLY
Da Capo Press
2010