PREPOSTEROUS, YET COMPULSIVELY READABLE thriller about a writer who discovers her husband’s deadly secrets. SOLID B

DIE FOR YOU
Shaye Areheart Books
2009

HIGHLY READABLE NOIR offers lots of Philadelphia detail, a gritty ex-cop PI hero; alas, it’s a bit predictable. SOLID B

FATHER’S DAY: A MYSTERY
Minotaur Books
2009

SELF-CONSCIOUSLY QUIRKY novel depicts two teens’ complicated relationships in flashbacks. Well-done but slight. SOLID B

MISCONCEPTION: A NOVEL
Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
2009

SNARKY, SOUR, patchily insightful memoir of a novelist’s days as an overachiever turned Ivy League misfit. SOLID B

LOST IN THE MERITOCRACY: THE UNDEREDUCATION OF AN OVERACHIEVER
Doubleday
2009

BITTERSWEET COMEDY OF (BAD) MANNERS follows the ambivalent friendship of two New York women to unlikely blowup. SOLID B

I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU: A NOVEL ABOUT BEST FRIENDS
Back Bay Books
2009

FUN AND FLUFFY chick-lit with a Hollywood setting is a goofy, delightful fairytale of a Cinderella cineaste. SOLID B

HOLLYWOOD IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY
Grand Central Publishing
2009

ENCYCLOPEDIC AND DETAILED, this look at the European revolutions of 1848 is informative, but a bit too dry. SOLID B

1848: YEAR OF REVOLUTION
Basic Books
2009

“LOST BOY” Brent Jeffs, nephew of FLDS cult head Warren Jeffs, tells a raw, true story of abuse and redemption. SOLID B

LOST BOY
Broadway Books
2009

TRIPPY FRENCH EXPERIMENTAL NOVEL is a creepy fantasia on the life of Paul Gauguin, colonialism, fashion, art. SOLID B

SAVAGE
Dalkey Archive Press
2009

TRULY OFFBEAT MEMOIR from an ex-greeting card writer in love with words. SOLID B

HOUSE OF CARDS: LOVE, FAITH, AND OTHER SOCIAL EXPRESSIONS
Riverhead Hardcover
2009