VIVID CHARACTERS and a strong spiritual message make this novel of African American women in crisis memorable. B PLUS

WILDFLOWERS
Broadway Books
2009

ANGRY, FUNNY, WISE journal of one woman’s experiences with diagnosis, treatment, and healing from breast cancer. B PLUS

THE ADVENTURES OF CANCER BITCH
University of Iowa Press
2009

INTRIGUING INSIDE LOOK at the Vatican’s program to train priests as exorcists follows a US pastor’s experiences. B PLUS

THE RITE: THE MAKING OF A MODERN EXORCIST
The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
2009

ENTERTAINING CAPER involving a missing dragon is the latest for Mike Resnick’s accidentally-paranormal detective. SOLID B

STALKING THE DRAGON: A FABLE OF TONIGHT: A JOHN JUSTIN MALLORY MYSTERY
Pyr
2009

BITING, HILARIOUS memoir of growing up deaf, queer, and over-the-top theatrical in Texas is beautifully written. A MINUS

MEAN LITTLE DEAF QUEER
Beacon Press (MA)
2009

FUNNY, ENDEARING stories about the animals (and humans) one veterinarian has cared for are told with lots of charm. B PLUS

ALL MY PATIENTS HAVE TALES: FAVORITE STORIES FROM A VET’S PRACTICE
St. Martin’s Press
2009

ADVICE COLUMNIST AMY DICKINSON’S candid, funny look at her life with daughter, sisters, and mother in her hometown. B PLUS

THE MIGHTY QUEENS OF FREEVILLE: A MOTHER, A DAUGHTER, AND THE TOWN THAT RAISED THEM
Hyperion
2009

AN ANTHROPOLOGIST’S FASCINATING TALE of her fieldwork in rural Nepal, and how it has changed her life in the US. B PLUS

THIN PLACES: A PILGRIMAGE HOME
Columbia University Press
2008

LUSHLY ELOQUENT novel portrays a Pakistani matriarch whose world is shaken by politics, her son’s Australian wife. A MINUS

THE HOUSE OF BILQIS: A NOVEL
Viking Adult
2009

MEMOIR OF A COMPLICATED LIFE from the son of a self-help guru and a psychologist, who had to find his own insight. B PLUS

LONG PAST STOPPING: A MEMOIR
William Morrow
2009