RACY, ENGAGING, SCHOLARLY but never dry, this history of 18th-century London’s red-light spots is eye-opening.

IMPRESSIONISTIC AND MOVING writer’s memoir of her 1960s fascination with male artists, her later self-discovery.

A YOUNG MAN’S EXPERIENCES of schizophrenia, told in his own words and by his journalist father. Deeply moving.

INTRIGUING BIOGRAPHY of Rome’s most (in)famous empress looks beyond the cartoon villainess of fiction and myth.

FASCINATING PERSONAL ACCOUNT of a journalist’s experience of “recovering” false memories of childhood abuse.

INTIMATE BUT NOT GOSSIPY memoir of a writer’s complex time with her mentor/quasi-mother-in-law, Susan Sontag.

BREEZY, OPEN-HEARTED memoir centers around yoga as a metaphor for life; introspection is balanced by light tone.

SNARKY, ODDLY SWEET memoir of a young woman’s days in the nerds-gone-Damon Runyon world of sports betting.

LIGHT-HEARTED COMPENDIUM of facts about science and superstition in ancient Greece and Rome is surprising fun.

MEMOIR OF A COMPLICATED girlhood in 1960s Buffalo and beyond has clarity and charm amid all the craziness.