NINE FAMOUS HYPOCHONDRIACS, from Darwin to Nightingale to Proust to Warhol, illuminated in thoughtful essays. B PLUS

THE HYPOCHONDRIACS: NINE TORMENTED LIVES
Faber & Faber
2010

MEGACHURCH SOAP OPERA, deftly handled and with precisely observed detail, as usual from Kimberla Lawson Roby. B PLUS

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
HarperCollins Publishers
2010

WELL-CRAFTED, if a bit fluffy, saga of a woman trying to cope with her indie musician husband’s sudden stardom. B PLUS

LAST NIGHT AT CHATEAU MARMONT
Atria Books
2010

INSIDE JERRY FALWELL’S megachurch with a secular writer who starts out undercover, ends up enamored. SOLID B

IN THE LAND OF BELIEVERS: AN OUTSIDER'S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
Metropolitan Books
2010

INFORMATIVE, FUNNY, good-natured history of childbirth looks at changes in attitudes and technologies. B PLUS

GET ME OUT: A HISTORY OF CHILDBIRTH FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO THE SPERM BANK
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2010

LIFE IN NORTH KOREA, revealed through chilling interviews with six defectors from the totalitarian regime. B PLUS

NOTHING TO ENVY: ORDINARY LIVES IN NORTH KOREA
Spiegel & Grau
2009

POET, ESSAYIST, and undertaker Thomas Lynch collects his short stories: best stuff is about the Michigan woods. B MINUS

APPARITION & LATE FICTIONS: A NOVELLA AND STORIES
W. W. Norton & Company
2010

RURAL CHINA in the 1970s, brought vividly to life in the interlocking tales of three sisters. Astonishing. A MINUS

THREE SISTERS
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2010

NINE SHORT STORIES from one of SF’s most innovative voices, most set in cyberspace and virtual worlds. Gripping! B PLUS

THE GREEN LEOPARD PLAGUE AND OTHER STORIES
Night Shade Books
2010

ENGAGING TOUR of the world’s most advanced scientific installations and the people revolutionizing physics. B PLUS

THE EDGE OF PHYSICS: A JOURNEY TO EARTH’S EXTREMES TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2010