ENTHRALLING, SUSPENSEFUL true story of the 2008 climbing disaster on K2, the world’s second highest mountain. B PLUS

NO WAY DOWN: LIFE AND DEATH ON K2
Harper
2010

WELL-CRAFTED SPY THRILLER draws added prestige and credibility from its author, MI5’s first woman director. B PLUS

DEAD LINE (LIZ CARLYLE SERIES #4)
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2010

THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy goes out on a fittingly grim note. Memorably dystopian setting for teen heroics. B PLUS

MOCKINGJAY (HUNGER GAMES SERIES #3)
Scholastic, Inc.
2010

ACERBIC, THOUGHTFUL look at the culture of scandal name-checks Freud, Goffman, and Jay Leno with equal ease. B PLUS

HOW TO BECOME A SCANDAL: ADVENTURES IN BAD BEHAVIOR
Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
2010

FUNNY, IRREVERENT, very personal look at rock (and pop, and hip-hop, and soul) music and the power of fandom. B PLUS

ROCK AND ROLL WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE: A BOOK BY AND FOR THE FANATICS AMONG US (WITH BITCHIN’ SOUNDTRACK)
Random House
2010

PHANTASMAGORICAL, SURREALIST Irish tragicomic novel is 600+ pages of wild characters and hilarious metaphysics. B PLUS

SKIPPY DIES
Faber and Faber
2010

HOLLYWOOD DEMYSTIFIED–its financial ins and outs, in any case–in clear, detailed prose. Eye-opening! A MINUS

THE HOLLYWOOD ECONOMIST: THE HIDDEN FINANCIAL REALITY BEHIND THE MOVIES
Melville House Publishing
2010

APPEALING, thought-provoking history of marriage counseling in the US, from its 1930s origins to today. B PLUS

MORE PERFECT UNIONS: THE AMERICAN SEARCH FOR MARITAL BLISS
Harvard University Press
2010

FASCINATING TRUE TALE of an unsung Civil War hero–a daring spy for the Union whose 1911 suicide made headlines. B PLUS

DOUBLE DEATH: THE TRUE STORY OF PRYCE LEWIS, THE CIVIL WAR’S MOST DARING SPY
Walker & Company
2010

MURIEL SPARK illuminated in this intensely researched bio of the famously enigmatic Scottish writer. B PLUS

MURIEL SPARK: THE BIOGRAPHY
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2010