UNCONVENTIONALLY EXPERIMENTAL BIO of writer Heinrich Mann, his wife, brother Thomas, and their circle in exile. SOLID B

HOUSE OF EXILE: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF HEINRICH MANN AND NELLY KROEGER-MANN
Farrar Straus Giroux
2011

CLASSIC HORROR TALE features a spooky house, missing children, the shadow of World War II, all the trimmings. SOLID B

THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL
Pan Books
2007

AN ORDINARY APARTMENT is a nexus for interdimensional beings in this edgy, witty speculative-fiction novel. B PLUS

CHASING THE MOON
Orbit
2011

A FAMILY SHAPED BY generations of guilt and shame gets the full saga treatment in this well-crafted #beachread. B PLUS

MAINE
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2011

QUIRKY, UPBEAT MEMOIR about expatriate life in China by an American journalist and musician offers nuanced fun. B PLUS

BIG IN CHINA: MY UNLIKELY ADVENTURES RAISING A FAMILY, PLAYING THE BLUES, AND BECOMING A STAR IN BEIJING
HarperCollins Publishers
2011

AN ‘ANIMAL FARM’ for the post-Communist era: wry, sharp fables of Soviet-bloc nations from Slavenka Drakulic. SOLID B

A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE MUSEUM OF COMMUNISM: FABLES FROM A MOUSE, A PARROT, A BEAR, A CAT, A MOLE, A PIG, A DOG, AND A RAVEN
Penguin Books
2011

INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING overview of the history and technology behind the coming electric car revolution. SOLID B

BOTTLED LIGHTNING
Hill and Wang
2011

BREEZILY ROMANTIC CONFECTION follows the connections between three Parisians and the Americans they tutor. SOLID B

FRENCH LESSONS
Random House Publishing Group
2011

AUSTRALIAN FAMILY SAGA’S quirky characterizations and local color redeem its soap-operaesque plot. SOLID B #beachread

AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS
Ballantine Books
2011

ENCHANTING, LUMINOUS NOVEL about the power (and limitations) of love and of stories. Haunting and delightful.