FASCINATING TRUE CRIME story of an 1874 kidnapping–the first recorded kidnap for ransom in the US. Chilling!

GRANT MORRISON’S TRIPPY meditation on the psychology, sociology, and spirituality of comics is one wild ride!

FUNNY, FUNKY, CUTE, and sometimes bittersweet memoir from an “Art Star” of the Lower East Side’s arts heyday.

OVERVIEW OF THE “9/11 Truth” movement has some interesting interviews, but flounders in off-topic axe-grinding.

IMPECCABLY REPORTED HISTORY of Scientology gives airtime to both adherents and opponents of the faith.

MASTERFUL RETELLING OF a murder case that grabbed headlines in 1897 New York is rich in detail and drama.

PUBLIC HEALTH VISIONARY Paul Farmer’s wrenching look at Haiti’s progress, challenges since 2010’s earthquake.

INSIDE CUBA TODAY with a pioneering dissident blogger; insightful and moving prose in unobtrusive translation.

A THOUGHTFUL INVESTIGATION into the mythology of the chupacabra provides context for the legend’s how and why.

ACERBIC, ICONOCLASTIC, WITTY take on free-market economists’ dogmas from a University of Cambridge economist.