WELL-CURATED COLLECTION of the best American true crime writing covers three centuries of fascinating malefactions. B PLUS

TRUE CRIME: AN AMERICAN ANTHOLOGY
Library of America
2008

RICHLY IMAGINED FANTASY in this latest tale of Inspector Chen, who helps to police Heaven, Hell, and Singapore-3. B PLUS

THE SHADOW PAVILION: A DETECTIVE INSPECTOR CHEN NOVEL
Night Shade Books
2008

SHERLOCK HOLMES GOES SUPERNATURAL in this short fiction collection. All good; Barbara Hambly’s Peter Pan tale rules. B PLUS

GASLIGHT GRIMOIRE: FANTASTIC TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
2008

SNARKY, FUNNY, REFRESHINGLY INSIGHTFUL insider account of one woman’s life as a not-quite-star of TV, stage, screen. B PLUS

TAKE YOUR SHIRT OFF AND CRY: A MEMOIR OF NEAR-FAME EXPERIENCES
Bloomsbury USA
2009

SMART, MOPEY LAD-LIT with flashes of humor follows an angry blogger’s unrequited love for a brilliant older artist. B PLUS

GLOVER’S MISTAKE
Penguin Group (USA)
2009

THE GREAT UK INDIE-ROCK NOVEL delivers spot-on but warmhearted satire on music geeks and fandom culture. B PLUS #beachread

THE ALTERNATIVE HERO
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2009

REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE TALE of antiquities looting and Biblical forgeries is smart, fascinating, fast-paced. B PLUS #beachread

UNHOLY BUSINESS: A TRUE TALE OF FAITH, GREED AND FORGERY IN THE HOLY LAND
Smithsonian
2008

PERIOD PIECE about love, photography, and the dawn of girlie magazines in the 1940s has humor and charm. B PLUS #beachread

NOTHING BUT A SMILE
Pantheon Books
2009

JAM-PACKED WITH FASCINATING INFORMATION, surprisingly readable short history sheds new light on so-called Dark Ages. B PLUS

BARBARIANS TO ANGELS: THE DARK AGES RECONSIDERED
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2008

ASTONISHING STORY of the Russian nobleman who ruled Mongolia just after World War I. Well-researched, well-written. B PLUS

THE BLOODY WHITE BARON: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN WHO BECAME THE LAST KHAN OF MONGOLIA
Basic Books
2009