ENTERTAINING MEMOIR of the author’s years as a DJ and factotum aboard ship for “pirate” station Radio Caroline. B PLUS

SHIPROCKED: LIFE ON THE WAVES WITH RADIO CAROLINE
Liberties Press
2009

TRUE 1920s TALES of celebrity bridge experts and a headline-grabbing murder are woven together in engrossing read. B PLUS

THE DEVIL’S TICKETS: A NIGHT OF BRIDGE, A FATAL HAND, AND A NEW AMERICAN AGE
Crown
2009

AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP between two women–a Nigerian refugee and an English journalist–is based on shared horror. B PLUS

LITTLE BEE: A NOVEL
Simon & Schuster
2009

LOOPILY ENGAGING tale of a Manhattan woman watching her family from the afterlife, trying to solve her own murder. B PLUS

THE LATE, LAMENTED MOLLY MARX
Ballantine Books
2009

ZIPPY ACCOUNT of headline-grabbing 1920s murder of a much-married femme fatale whose lawyer was Jesse James’s son. B PLUS

THE LOVE PIRATE AND THE BANDIT’S SON: MURDER, SIN, AND SCANDAL IN THE SHADOW OF JESSE JAMES
Union Square Press
2009

A WRITER SCRUTINIZES her parents’ failed marriage and family histories, to which both race and secrets are keys. B PLUS

WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT?: A PERSONAL HISTORY
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2009

INTRIGUING, WELL-RESEARCHED book offers insight on the life and work of famously private songwriter Joni Mitchell. B PLUS

WILL YOU TAKE ME AS I AM: JONI MITCHELL’S BLUE PERIOD
Free Press
2009

QUIRKY, TOUCHING novel about a 20-something teacher sorting through her feelings for a boyfriend serving in Iraq. B PLUS

MISS HARPER CAN DO IT
Penguin Group (USA)
2009

WISTFUL, CLEAR-EYED, LOVING look by food writer Ruth Reichl at her mother’s life, hopes, and frustrated dreams. B PLUS

NOT BECOMING MY MOTHER: AND OTHER THINGS SHE TAUGHT ME ALONG THE WAY
Penguin Press HC, The
2009

VIVIDLY IMAGINED, rich with 15th-century detail, this novel follows Edward IV’s queen through war, court intrigue. B PLUS

THE WHITE QUEEN: A NOVEL (COUSINS’ WAR (TOUCHSTONE HARDCOVER))
Touchstone
2009