DRYLY FUNNY, SERIOUSLY CURMUDGEONLY memoir offers off-beat perspective on teaching, mothering, loving, and living. SOLID B

I’M SORRY YOU FEEL THAT WAY: THE ASTONISHING BUT TRUE STORY OF A DAUGHTER, SISTER, SLUT, WIFE, MOTHER, ANDFRIEND TO MAN AND DOG
Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
2009

REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE TALE of antiquities looting and Biblical forgeries is smart, fascinating, fast-paced. B PLUS #beachread

UNHOLY BUSINESS: A TRUE TALE OF FAITH, GREED AND FORGERY IN THE HOLY LAND
Smithsonian
2008

RADIO PERSONALITY’S tale of drug abuse and recovery makes for an honest and even funny, but too rambling, memoir. B MINUS

COOKED IN LA: I SHOT FOR THE STARS AND HIT BOTTOM
Kunati Inc.
2009

PERIOD PIECE about love, photography, and the dawn of girlie magazines in the 1940s has humor and charm. B PLUS #beachread

NOTHING BUT A SMILE
Pantheon Books
2009

JANE WHITEFIELD GUIDES a new fugitive through this taut, suspenseful novel. Gritty, beautifully wrought. A MINUS #beachread

RUNNER (JANE WHITEFIELD NOVELS)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2009

JAM-PACKED WITH FASCINATING INFORMATION, surprisingly readable short history sheds new light on so-called Dark Ages. B PLUS

BARBARIANS TO ANGELS: THE DARK AGES RECONSIDERED
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2008

QUIET, ELOQUENT MYSTERY from Iceland’s master of police procedurals looks at the human toll of Cold War intrigue. A MINUS

THE DRAINING LAKE: A THRILLER (REYKJAVIK THRILLER)
Minotaur Books
2008

WALT WHITMAN AND HIS FAMILY come into vivid focus in this beautifully presented look at their Civil War letters. A MINUS

NOW THE DRUM OF WAR: WALT WHITMAN AND HIS BROTHERS IN THE CIVIL WAR
Walker & Company
2008

ASTONISHING STORY of the Russian nobleman who ruled Mongolia just after World War I. Well-researched, well-written. B PLUS

THE BLOODY WHITE BARON: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE RUSSIAN NOBLEMAN WHO BECAME THE LAST KHAN OF MONGOLIA
Basic Books
2009

ENGAGING, CANDID MEMOIR about divorce, teaching, recovery from drug abuse, and growing up with Mr. Spock for a dad. SOLID B

MY INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL, MISERABLE LIFE: AN ANTI-MEMOIR
Pocket
2009