WITTY SHAKESPEAREAN ADVENTURE sets up the Bard’s creation Ancient Pistol as a spy for hire. Clever riff on a colorful character and a satisfying mystery plot. B PLUS

ALL WIND AND PISTOL (ANCIENT PISTOL SAGA BOOK 1)
Roger Butters
2020

A NINETEENTH-CENTURY NATURALIST’S life fascinates a science writer; inspired by his commitment to science, appalled by his endorsement of eugenics, she sees his work as a fight against overwhelming chaos. B PLUS

WHY FISH DON'T EXIST
Simon & Schuster
2020

LEGENDARY WOMEN MERCENARIES search for a lost friend and battle a dangerous cult in this witty, action-packed, occasionally raunchy epic fantasy. Lots of fun, fascinating world-building. B PLUS

SHE COURTS DARKNESS (BARTRAM'S MAW BOOK 2)
Morgan Stang
2020

FIVE WOMEN IN SEOUL, each chasing a different dream, are brought together in loneliness and help each other find their paths. Lovely, dynamic prose captures life for the have-nots in a wealth-obsessed city. B PLUS

IF I HAD YOUR FACE
Ballantine Books
2020

SHARP LOVECRAFT PREQUEL, set just after the American Revolution, sets a resourceful Black veteran against the fiendish cultists of Arkham. Nice mix of history and horror. B PLUS

BORNE OF THE DEEP (THE SALEM HAWLEY SERIES BOOK 2)
High Fever Books
2020

A ROGUE “CONVERSION THERAPY” camp hides even darker secrets than its destructive practices suggest. High-energy YA/New Adult thriller with a strong gay voice. B PLUS

SURRENDER YOUR SONS
Flux
2020

A SUDDEN ICY APOCALYPSE sweeps North America, and a woman fights to stay alive and find her family. Tense, well plotted disaster thriller. B PLUS

WHAT WE BECOME
Vulpine Press
2020

A META-MYSTERY; AN ANTI-MYSTERY; a fable of loneliness, daydreams, inanition, and the impossibility of knowing anything. Gorgeously written, but not for everybody. B PLUS

DEATH IN HER HANDS
Penguin Press
2020

A KURDISH WOMAN’S JOURNEY through ethnic and gender oppression to becoming an advocate for her people. Thoughtful novel portrays a complex historical and political crisis through memorable characters. B PLUS

DAUGHTERS OF SMOKE AND FIRE
The Overlook Press
2020

A DYING TOWN MESMERIZED by a preacher, a young girl looking for her mother, a house that’s a haven from the desert: lovely, dreamlike story both parable and brilliantly unique. B PLUS

GODSHOT
Catapult
2020