HOW FACEBOOK BUNGLED its plan to launch an ambitious cryptocurrency: well researched, witty look at a complete business disaster. B PLUS

LIBRA SHRUGGED
Independently Published
2020

CHAMPION, CELEBRITY…SPY? Intriguing biography of Alice Marble, who was definitely a tennis great and maybe also a World War II secret agent. B PLUS

THE DIVINE MISS MARBLE
Dutton
2020

UNLIKELY VAMPIRE HUNTERS—a Romanian expat and a burned-out DC cop—unite in this fusion of horror, science fiction, and police procedural. Smart and well paced thriller. B PLUS

THE ALIGNMENT
W &amp
2020

A LEADING UK FORENSIC scientist examines and debunks some of the myths surrounding crime scene investigation, drawing on his experiences as researcher and expert witness in high-profile murders. Thoughtful, precise, revealing. B PLUS

MURDER UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Atlantic Books
2021

CHARMING ROMANTIC MYSTERY with a vivid Tennessee setting, an extravagant array of characters, and a preposterous yet somehow gripping plot. B PLUS

ENGAGEMENT AND ESPIONAGE
Cipher-Naught
2020

ELEGANT STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS NOVEL presents a young woman’s day, bit by bit, as her thoughts reveal anxiety, self-harm, infatuation, impatience, alienation, and trauma. Daring and resonant. B PLUS

LITTLE SCRATCH
Doubleday
2020

SCIENCE FICTION AND METAPHYSICS MEET in this whimsical, witty interdimensional adventure. Clever fun! B PLUS

OCCAM'S ODYSSEY (A QUANTUM HEART TRILOGY BOOK 2)
Antonis Tsagaris
2020

A GHANAIAN MARRIAGE STORY with a powerfully realized heroine captures some of the tensions between deep-rooted cultural traditions and global media ideals. Strong and evocative writing shines. B PLUS

HIS ONLY WIFE
Algonquin Books
2020

DURING SLAVERY AND AFTER, a small, entwined Black community seen through the eyes of its mother and daughter “conjure women.” Lush, powerful prose and indelible characters. B PLUS

CONJURE WOMEN
Random House
2020

BACK FROM HELL and having a tough time reintegrating into the land of the living, Sandman Slim faces down some very bad creatures. Richard Kadrey’s latest shows that he’s still the king of grunge punk metaphysical fantasy. B PLUS

BALLISTIC KISS
Harper Voyager
2020