INSECTS AS WEAPONS IN HUMAN WARS, from ancient times to present day, are the subject of this well-researched tome. SOLID B

SIX-LEGGED SOLDIERS: USING INSECTS AS WEAPONS OF WAR
Oxford University Press, USA
2008

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT by the last survivor of the German Army officers’ conspiracy to kill Hitler is spare, direct. SOLID B

VALKYRIE: THE STORY OF THE PLOT TO KILL HITLER, BY ITS LAST MEMBER
Knopf
2009

MURDER MYSTERY SET AT WRITERS’ CONFERENCE may be good fun for some, a bit too reliant on insider humor for others. SOLID B

DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK (A ST. JUST MYSTERY)
MIDNIGHT INK
2009

FANTASY GOES SOUTHERN GOTHIC in this spooky tale of a menacing sea goddess. Rich, evocative, languid, terrifying. SOLID B

FATHOM
Tor Books
2008

THOUGHTFUL NOVEL takes heroine from India to New York, looking for love and enlightenment, teaching yoga in prison. SOLID B

LUCKY EVERYDAY
Penguin Books
2009

CHATTY BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACCOUNT of how Pluto was downgraded from planet status collects documents, kids’ letters. SOLID B

THE PLUTO FILES: THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE PLANET
W. W. Norton & Company
2009

INTERESTING, LIGHTHEARTED LOOK at changes in Ireland’s pub industry, and in the international “Irish pub” industry. SOLID B

PINT OF PLAIN: HOW THE IRISH PUB LOST ITS MAGIC BUT CONQUERED THE WORLD
Walker & Company
2009

BIG-HEARTED, CLEAR-EYED MEMOIR of a poor white Georgia childhood offers humor, vivid characters, lots of insight. SOLID B

THE CRACKER QUEEN: A MEMOIR OF A JAGGED, JOYFUL LIFE
Gotham
2009

NEAR-FUTURE HORRORS fill a spooky suite of science fiction short stories, set in a world beset by an alien plague. SOLID B

A IS FOR ALIEN
Subterranean Press
2009

ANOTHER QUIRKY POLICE PROCEDURAL from a Dutch master of the genre. Believable characters, taut plotting. SOLID B #beachread

DEKOK AND THE DEAD HARLEQUIN (INSPECTOR DEKOK) (INSPECTOR DEKOK INVESTIGATES)
Speck Pr
2009