FASCINATING LOOK AT the life of a “dance bar girl” in Mumbai, India, is alternately depressing and inspiring. B PLUS

BEAUTIFUL THING: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF BOMBAY’S DANCE BARS
Black Cat
2012

TEENAGE MONSTERS FACE challenges both ordinary and extraordinary; clever tale mixes fantasy with the mundane. B PLUS

HEMLOCK GROVE
FSG Originals
2012

MUMBAI’S SEEDY UNDERWORLD of opium dens, bordellos is the stage for a poetic magic-realist experimental novel. SOLID B

NARCOPOLIS: A NOVEL
Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
2012

COMPACT, GRIM THRILLER follows two young Englishmen through an adventure turned sour on the China/Burma border. B PLUS

BORDER RUN
Scribner
2012

THE FASCINATING WORLD of mushrooms and other fungi, explored in this chatty, readable book. Lots of fun! A MINUS

MYCOPHILIA
Rodale Books
2011

THE FALL OF ANNE BOLEYN, richly imagined with an unforgettable cast of characters, vivid details. Fascinating! B PLUS

BRING UP THE BODIES (A JOHN MACRAE BOOK)
Picador
2013

QUEEN OF AMISH ROMANCE Beverly Lewis’s latest has oodles of homespun charm and wisdom. Sweet as shoofly pie! SOLID B

THE FIDDLER (HOME TO HICKORY HOLLOW SERIES #1)
Baker Publishing Group
2012

POST-APOCALYPTIC PICARESQUE TALE follows survivors on a harrowing river journey through a shattered America. SOLID B

LOST EVERYTHING
Tor Books
2012

BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL novel traces a writer’s response to her father’s mental illness. B PLUS

NO ONE
Tin House Books
2012

TIGHT SPY THRILLER features lots of action, vivid China setting, but (alas!) a dull cast of characters. SOLID B

MINISTERS OF FIRE
Swallow Press
2014