SMALL-TOWN TEXAS SHERIFF Dan Rhodes returns in this well-plotted mystery with dry humor and barbershop harmony. SOLID B

MURDER IN FOUR PARTS (DAN RHODES SERIES #16)
St. Martin’s Press
2009

WARM-HEARTED, FUNNY, TOUCHING MEMOIR by writer whose life with a developmentally disabled sister sparked activism. B PLUS

THAT WENT WELL: ADVENTURES IN CARING FOR MY SISTER
Hyperion
2009

THE ORIGINAL ANTARCTICA MARATHON’S human story, from a journalist who ran the mind-boggling polar race in 2005. SOLID B

THE COOLEST RACE ON EARTH: MUD, MADMEN, GLACIERS, AND GRANNIES AT THE ANTARCTICA MARATHON
Chicago Review Press
2009

RADIO, PUNK ROCK, MESOAMERICAN CULTURE and the supernatural blend in this spooky, gripping debut novel. A MINUS #beachread

GHOST RADIO
HarperCollins Publishers
2008

FAST-PACED MYSTERY is one of the best ever Sherlock Holmes pastiches AND one of the best Jack the Ripper stories. B PLUS

DUST AND SHADOW: AN ACCOUNT OF THE RIPPER KILLINGS BY DR. JOHN H. WATSON
Simon & Schuster
2009

INTERESTING LOOK by Sherry Turkle and other MIT social scientists at the impact of computer simulation on design. SOLID B

SIMULATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS (SIMPLICITY: DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS, LIFE)
The MIT Press
2009

FUNNY, ACTION-PACKED FANTASY CAPER about a convenience store cashier turned monster-hunter. Good times. A MINUS #beachread

MONSTER
Orbit
2009

IMPRESSIVELY RESEARCHED, if a bit dry, bio of the Sundance Kid sheds light on 19th-century West, outlaw culture. SOLID B

THE SUNDANCE KID: THE LIFE OF HARRY ALONZO LONGABAUGH
University of Oklahoma Press
2009

RACY 1920s ARISTOCRAT SLEUTH Phryne Fisher returns in a very bohemian mystery. Period cozy with a bit of sizzle. SOLID B

MURDER IN THE DARK (PHRYNE FISHER SERIES #16)
Poisoned Pen Press
2009

QUIRKY, HILARIOUS, SWEET novel about brotherhood and love and hobby magazines. Big-hearted guy lit. A MINUS #beachread

THE ENTHUSIAST: A NOVEL (P.S.)
Harper Perennial
2009