POET/CULTURAL CRITIC Wayne Koestenbaum’s meditations on the Big Idea of “humiliation” are quirky, fascinating.

DREAMLIKE, HAUNTING TALE of parallel universes and crossed destinies from Haruki Murakami. Vast and astonishing!

COMPLEX, WELL-CONSTRUCTED SUSPENSE novel has plenty of chills and an interesting, troubled heroine. Spooky!

CHARMING HISTORICAL COZY features a group of spunky Georgia schoolteachers as sleuths, lots of WWII details.

APOSTATE FROM THE US’s Christian Right Frank Schaeffer looks at his childhood’s mixed messages on sex, love.

EMMY-WINNING COMIC actor Jane Lynch’s memoir! Candid, dryly funny; maybe a bit too detached for some readers?

COMIC WRITER AND ACTOR Mindy Kaling’s hilarious observations are a delicious cocktail of whimsy and snark.

TROUBLED ADULTS WITH childhood secrets are center stage in Laura Lippman’s latest, but Baltimore is the star.

VETERAN MYTH INVESTIGATOR Joe Nickell looks into many legends of supernatural critters with wit and insight.

MAGIC ON LONG ISLAND? Yes, and mythology too, in YA star Melissa de la Cruz’s engrossing debut for adults. SOLID B

WITCHES OF EAST END (BEAUCHAMP FAMILY SERIES #1)
Hyperion
2011