INFURIATINGLY SELF-INDULGENT book offers some fun stories about the butcher’s craft, too much angsty wallowing. C PLUS

CLEAVING: A STORY OF MARRIAGE, MEAT, AND OBSESSION
Little, Brown and Company
2009

INSIDE STORY of a frequent book thief and the booksellers who brought him to justice is packed with interviews. B PLUS

THE MAN WHO LOVED BOOKS TOO MUCH: THE TRUE STORY OF A THIEF, A DETECTIVE, AND A WORLD OF LITERARY OBSESSION
Riverhead Hardcover
2009

SPOOKY, EVOCATIVE HORROR story about food, family, and femininity, told in shiveringly gorgeous prose. A MINUS

WHITE IS FOR WITCHING
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2009

GENTLE AS A WARM EDINBURGH AFTERNOON, the latest adventure of Isabel Dalhousie features toddlers, high finance. B PLUS

THE LOST ART OF GRATITUDE: AN ISABEL DALHOUSIE NOVEL
Pantheon Books
2009

BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, excruciatingly candid memoir of a complicated widowhood, and coping with betrayal and loss. B PLUS

PERFECTION: A MEMOIR OF BETRAYAL AND RENEWAL
Voice
2009

BRASH, SALTY AUSSIE private-eye caper reads like a grimmer, raunchier Carl Hiassen. Loads of gritty fun. B PLUS

I’M DYING HERE
Point Blank
2009

FASCINATING, DETAILED look at how gourmet delicacy foie gras sparked controversy, became political football. A MINUS

THE FOIE GRAS WARS: HOW A 5,000-YEAR-OLD DELICACY INSPIRED THE WORLD’S FIERCEST FOOD FIGHT
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2009

ATMOSPHERIC NOVEL set in 1992 Havana has some vivid detail, but an annoying protagonist and convoluted plot. B MINUS

HAVANA LUNAR
Akashic Books
2009

ENGAGING LOOK AT CHINATOWNS across the US mixes interviews with cultural history for some surprising insights. B PLUS

AMERICAN CHINATOWN: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF FIVE NEIGHBORHOODS
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2009

ENCYCLOPEDIC AND DETAILED, this look at the European revolutions of 1848 is informative, but a bit too dry. SOLID B

1848: YEAR OF REVOLUTION
Basic Books
2009