AN ACCIDENTAL ACTION HERO goes from movies to real life in this snappy, stylish thriller about a beloved spy franchise whose stars are meeting unfortunate deaths. High concept and high energy fun. A MINUS

JOVE BRAND IS NEAR DEATH
CamCat Books
2021

AN ENGLISHMAN IN JAPAN: CURIOSITY and culture clash abound in this witty, thoughtful, vividly detailed memoir of four years spent teaching English in Tokyo. Absolute must for anyone thinking of working abroad. A MINUS

CANNED COFFEE AND KIMONOS
i2i Publishing
2021

A NOW-FORGOTTEN POET’S DEATH by suicide, and the scandal that ensued, opens a window onto the complicated passions of Gilded Age California’s literary set. Fascinating history reads like a thriller! A MINUS

THE GILDED EDGE
Dutton
2021

SUBURBAN SECRETS AND MURDERS are dragged to light by an unexpected pair of New Jersey sleuths. Clever, funny, insightful, and surprisingly compassionate mystery. A MINUS

SUBURBAN DICKS
G.P. Putnam's Sons
2021

A PASSIONATE, SOMETIMES WRY novel about a woman’s search for the father she never knew and his homeland is both a powerful story about family and an unflinching object lesson on the long poison of colonialism. A MINUS

SANKOFA
Catapult
2021

WHY SCIENCE WORKS: an audacious examination of the rise of modern science characterizes it as a “knowledge machine” driven by an exclusive reliance on empirical observation. Fascinating and engagingly written. A MINUS

THE KNOWLEDGE MACHINE
Liveright
2020

THE ROAD TO GLOBAL CYBERCATASTROPHE laid out in a snappy near-ish future science fiction thriller. Sharp writing and strong characterization buoy a high-energy, high-concept plot. A MINUS

THE INSECURE MIND OF SERGEI KRAEV
Liu Book Group
2021

THE POWER OF HARM REDUCTION, and how it presents a compassionate, effective alternative to an unwinnable “war on drugs,” documented in a compelling, eloquent, deeply researched book that could not be more timely. A MINUS

UNDOING DRUGS
Hachette Go
2021

EVOCATIVE NOIR THRILLER, set at the beginning of Mexico’s 1970s “Dirty War” against political dissidents. Tense and action-packed, but with thoughtful characterization and a vivid sense of place. A MINUS

VELVET WAS THE NIGHT
Del Rey
2021

AN ENCHANTING PUZZLE OF A NOVEL ties together an apprentice lexicographer and her counterpart from 100 years earlier in a word-dazzled mystery. Brilliant, eloquent, warm-hearted. A MINUS

THE LIAR'S DICTIONARY
Doubleday
2021