MODERNIST NOVELIST JEAN RHYS and her work explored in a scholarly bio. Well-written but badly edited–typos abound. B PLUS

THE BLUE HOUR: A LIFE OF JEAN RHYS
W. W. Norton & Company
2009

NEAR-FUTURE DYSTOPIA focuses on an isolated private school. Smart, insightful, chilling look at what could be. B PLUS

ENCLAVE
Tor Books
2009

WACKY, LIGHTHEARTED CAPER novel with a gay angle and a bit of Hollywood glitz, glam. Over-the-top fun! SOLID B #beachread

STRAIGHT LIES
Kensington
2009

CHARMING, TOUCHING funny memoir by a 20-something who found her path to cooking after a stroke. Great recipes, too! A MINUS

COOKING AND SCREAMING: FINDING MY OWN RECIPE FOR RECOVERY
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2009

JUICY TRUE STORY of a scandal and court case involving one of Queen Elizabeth’s 18th-century ancestors. B PLUS #beachread

WEDLOCK: THE TRUE STORY OF THE DISASTROUS MARRIAGE AND REMARKABLE DIVORCE OF MARY ELEANOR BOWES, COUNTESS OF STRATHMORE
Crown
2009

A LOOK AT STAMP COLLECTING branches out to a meditation on mid-life crises, infidelity, and fear of tall buildings. A MINUS

THE ERROR WORLD: AN AFFAIR WITH STAMPS
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
2009

THE GREATEST MULTICULTURAL SPACE OPERA ever written continues with this gritty, action-packed adventure. A MINUS #beachread

SLY MONGOOSE
Tor Books
2008

POTENTIALLY INTERESTING fictional look at Detroit politics from an insider’s perspective, doomed by turgid prose. C MINUS

STREET JUDGE
Strebor Books
2008

SARCASTIC, RUEFUL, ridiculous, sad memoir of a girlhood in a dysfunctional family of devoted Jehovah’s Witnesses. B PLUS

I’M PERFECT, YOU’RE DOOMED: TALES FROM A JEHOVAH’S WITNESS UPBRINGING
Touchstone Books
2009

SAVVY, FUNNY look at the history and spirit of the Guinness Book of Records, and the author’s own two world records. B PLUS

GETTING INTO GUINNESS: ONE MAN’S LONGEST, FASTEST, HIGHEST JOURNEY INSIDE THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS RECORD BOOK
Harper
2008