GLITZY, JET-SET take on the family saga; witty shots at ’90s English politics, culture get lost in soap-opera plot. B MINUS

GODCHILDREN
St. Martin’s Press
2008

FAST-PACED, FUNNY, FACT-FILLED look at the history of TV infomercials. Lots of detail, interviews, witty writing. B PLUS

BUT WAIT … THERE’S MORE!: TIGHTEN YOUR ABS, MAKE MILLIONS, AND LEARN HOW THE $100 BILLION INFOMERCIAL INDUSTRY SOLD US EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK
HarperBusiness
2009

A JOURNALIST’S FIRST ENCOUNTER with his parents’ native Cuba. Vivid details and stories, but writing’s a bit logy. B MINUS

TAKE ME WITH YOU: A MEMOIR
Atria
2008

ASTONISHING, TOUCHING, HILARIOUS novel about a multicultural neighborhood in Rome shines in luminous translation. SOLID A

CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS OVER AN ELEVATOR IN PIAZZA VITTORIO
Penguin Group (USA)
2008

POLICE PROCEDURAL MEETS COZY MYSTERY with a touch of the X-Files in this latest tale of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. B PLUS

THE VICTORIA VANISHES: A PECULIAR CRIMES UNIT MYSTERY
Bantam
2008

IMAGE-RICH, SMART RETROSPECTIVE traces the origins of spy icon James Bond in the life of his creator, Ian Fleming. SOLID B

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: IAN FLEMING + JAMES BOND
Bloomsbury UK
2008

METAPHYSICAL FANTASIA on the Epic of Gilgamesh set in modern-day Montreal and Iraq has charm, but lacks substance. B MINUS

THE LAST DAYS OF THE LACUNA CABAL
Other Press
2009

SCHOLARLY BIO of the African woman exhibited in 19th-century Europe as “Hottentot Venus” is fact-filled, yet flat. B MINUS

SARA BAARTMAN AND THE HOTTENTOT VENUS: A GHOST STORY AND A BIOGRAPHY
Princeton University Press
2008

COMING OF AGE STORY set in then-remote Xinjiang Province during Mao’s Cultural Revolution is terrifying, touching. B PLUS

ENGLISH: A NOVEL
Viking Adult
2009

FICTIONAL GUIDE to the nitty-gritty of life on a future inhabited Mars offers food for thought along with laughs. SOLID B

HOW TO LIVE ON MARS: A TRUSTY GUIDEBOOK TO SURVIVING AND THRIVING ON THE RED PLANET
Crown Publishing Group
2008