INTRIGUING INSIDE LOOK at the Vatican’s program to train priests as exorcists follows a US pastor’s experiences. B PLUS

THE RITE: THE MAKING OF A MODERN EXORCIST
The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
2009

ANGRY, FUNNY, WISE journal of one woman’s experiences with diagnosis, treatment, and healing from breast cancer. B PLUS

THE ADVENTURES OF CANCER BITCH
University of Iowa Press
2009

FUNNY, ENDEARING stories about the animals (and humans) one veterinarian has cared for are told with lots of charm. B PLUS

ALL MY PATIENTS HAVE TALES: FAVORITE STORIES FROM A VET’S PRACTICE
St. Martin’s Press
2009

ADVICE COLUMNIST AMY DICKINSON’S candid, funny look at her life with daughter, sisters, and mother in her hometown. B PLUS

THE MIGHTY QUEENS OF FREEVILLE: A MOTHER, A DAUGHTER, AND THE TOWN THAT RAISED THEM
Hyperion
2009

AN ANTHROPOLOGIST’S FASCINATING TALE of her fieldwork in rural Nepal, and how it has changed her life in the US. B PLUS

THIN PLACES: A PILGRIMAGE HOME
Columbia University Press
2008

MEMOIR OF A COMPLICATED LIFE from the son of a self-help guru and a psychologist, who had to find his own insight. B PLUS

LONG PAST STOPPING: A MEMOIR
William Morrow
2009

SPOOKY THRILLER about mysterious lights seen in a small Texas town, and the havoc they wreak on witnesses’ lives. B PLUS

THE SHIMMER
Vanguard Press
2009

SMART, DETAIL-RICH LOOK at an outbreak of mass hysteria in 16th-century Germany, when 100+ people danced for days. B PLUS

THE DANCING PLAGUE: THE STRANGE, TRUE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY ILLNESS
Sourcebooks, Inc.
2009

CANDID, GONZO memoir from a well-known tattoo artist offers oodles of charm and eloquent insights into his world. B PLUS

TATTOO MACHINE: TALL TALES, TRUE STORIES, AND MY LIFE IN INK
Spiegel & Grau
2009

WELL-DONE installment of the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell pastiche series takes on esoteric cults and charlatans. B PLUS

THE LANGUAGE OF BEES (MARY RUSSELL NOVELS)
Bantam
2009