FICTIONAL FANTASIA on the real-life, now lost, correspondence between Judge Roy Bean and Lillie Langtry. SOLID B

ROY & LILLIE: A LOVE STORY
Forge
2010

NIGERIAN POLICE PROCEDURAL tells a taut, tense story of murder and political corruption. SOLID B

TREACHERY IN THE YARD: A NIGERIAN THRILLER
Minotaur Books,US
2010

POSTAPOCALYPTIC POLICE THRILLER has some terrific action scenes, but suffers from an overcrowded premise. SOLID C

THE DOUBLE HUMAN
Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
2010

TRAVEL WRITER’S search for herself and the secret of love has great descriptions of place, not so much insight. B MINUS

ALL OVER THE MAP
Crown
2010

CHARMING, IMPECCABLY RESEARCHED history of electrical batteries is both educational and fun. B PLUS

THE BATTERY: HOW PORTABLE POWER SPARKED A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
Smithsonian
2010

RODDY DOYLE’S brilliant Henry Smart trilogy concludes with the exiled revolutionary returning home to Ireland. A MINUS

THE DEAD REPUBLIC
Viking Books
2010

TRUE STORY of a 19th-century bigamy scandal that shocked England and its social implications; well researched. SOLID B

WILD ROMANCE: A VICTORIAN STORY OF A MARRIAGE, A TRIAL, AND A SELF-MADE WOMAN
Walker & Company
2010

TRIPPY, EVOCATIVE novel about a collapsing family in 1980s California has both poignant and hilarious moments. SOLID B

MODEL HOME
Scribner Book Company
2010

POETIC MEMOIR by the great writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o about childhood during Kenya’s struggle for independence. SOLID A

DREAMS IN A TIME OF WAR: A CHILDHOOD MEMOIR
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2010

MARVELOUS POLICE PROCEDURAL with a surreal slant, set in fictional Mexican city full of characters. B PLUS #beachread

THE BLACK MINUTES
Grove Press
2010