THE TOO-SHORT LIFE of ’70s music superstar Karen Carpenter is illuminated in this deeply researched biography. B PLUS

LITTLE GIRL BLUE: THE LIFE OF KAREN CARPENTER
Chicago Review Press
2010

STRONG CHARACTERIZATION does a lot to redeem the overused “cat and mouse game with a serial killer” plot here. SOLID B

ON THE LINE (LYDIA CHIN AND BILL SMITH SERIES #10)
St. Martin’s Press
2010

COMPLICATED EXPERIMENTAL novel is as much about the idea of narrative as it is about a high-school sex scandal. B MINUS

THE REHEARSAL
Hachette Book Group
2010

STYLISH CAPER, third in a series, features an English thief-turned-writer and his loyal agent trapped in Vegas. SOLID B

THE GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE TO VEGAS (GOOD THIEF’S GUIDES)
Minotaur Books
2010

JESSICA MITFORD–journalist, activist, and one of six amazing sisters–shines through in well-researched bio. B PLUS

IRREPRESSIBLE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JESSICA MITFORD
Counterpoint
2010

FANTASY ADVENTURE set in a magical world almost like Shakespearean England provides both laughs and thrills. B PLUS

WILL POWER
Tor Books
2010

OVERSTUFFED EPIC/COMIC vampire romance/thriller with a jazzy chick-lit twist is fun, but a bit too crowded. SOLID B

INSATIABLE
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

INFORMATIVE HISTORY of the US Epidemic Intelligence Service is a rich resource but not a compelling read. SOLID B

INSIDE THE OUTBREAKS: THE ELITE MEDICAL DETECTIVES OF THE EPIDEMIC INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2010

CANDID, CHARMING–if a bit precious–memoir by the child of two Jungian therapists whose work shaped his life. SOLID B

GROWING UP JUNG: COMING OF AGE AS THE SON OF TWO SHRINKS
W. W. Norton & Company
2010

THE MIDDLE-AGED BRAIN! Recent neuroscience focusing on the ways we get smarter as we age, presented engagingly. SOLID B

THE SECRET LIFE OF THE GROWN-UP BRAIN: THE SURPRISING TALENTS OF THE MIDDLE-AGED MIND
Penguin Group (USA)
2010