A SUBURBAN AMERICAN family’s life before and after a sudden, heart-wrenching tragedy. Painful and poignant. B PLUS

EVERY LAST ONE
Random House
2010

JAMAICA’S 19TH CENTURY told by an unforgettable narrator’s stories of slavery, emancipation, freedom, old age. A MINUS

THE LONG SONG
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2010

NICELY HANDLED tale of a Hollywood assistant’s career and family crises; lots of wit, detail, strong characters. B PLUS

GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT
Touchstone Books
2010

INTERSTELLAR COLONIZATION and the perils of isolation explored in the sixth of an old-school spacefaring series. B PLUS

COYOTE DESTINY (COYOTE SERIES #6)
Penguin Group (USA)
2010

A KASHMIRI JOURNALIST’S eloquent, candid account of life in his embattled native land. Revelatory. B PLUS

CURFEWED NIGHT: ONE KASHMIRI JOURNALIST’S FRONTLINE ACCOUNT OF LIFE, LOVE, AND WAR IN HIS HOMELAND
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2010

AN AMERICAN WOMAN IN PARIS finds love, culture clashes, and new recipes in this better-than-the-usual memoir. SOLID B

LUNCH IN PARIS: A LOVE STORY, WITH RECIPES
Little, Brown & Company
2010

GRIMLY EVOCATIVE of 1901 London, historical thriller has memorable characters, tense–if a bit baroque–plot. B PLUS

THE BOHEMIAN GIRL
St. Martin’s Press
2010

A MEMOIR OF FAMILY SECRETS that turn out to be Family secrets, as in “Mafia”. Deftly written and insightful. SOLID B

NEVER TELL OUR BUSINESS TO STRANGERS: A MEMOIR
Random House Publishing Group
2010

WHIZBANG FANTASY THRILLER with a noir feel and a wisecracking, reluctantly magical hero. Second in a series. A MINUS

GAME OF CAGES: A TWENTY PALACES NOVEL
Del Rey Books
2010

FICTIONALIZED BIO of 1950s folk-country stars The Browns never quite catches fire, despite fascinating subject. B MINUS

NASHVILLE CHROME
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2010