SPECULATIVE THRILLER about a future US torn by Anglo-on-Hispanic violence, repression is intriguing but fumbling. B MINUS

AMERICA LIBRE
Grand Central Publishing
2009

A NURSE’S MEMOIR of her drug addiction and its consequences offers honesty, recovery wisdom, but a familiar tale. B MINUS

IMPAIRED: A NURSE’S STORY OF ADDICTION AND RECOVERY
Kaplan Publishing
2009

RADIO PERSONALITY’S tale of drug abuse and recovery makes for an honest and even funny, but too rambling, memoir. B MINUS

COOKED IN LA: I SHOT FOR THE STARS AND HIT BOTTOM
Kunati Inc.
2009

SPOOKY, MEANDERING, evocative horror-fantasy offers real chills and nightmares, but suffers from lack of focus. B MINUS

DOMINO MEN
HarperCollins Publishers
2009

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

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

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

PRIVATE-EYE ROMP with wisecracking Latina detective scores on charm, originality, but the plot never catches fire. B MINUS

LIVING THE VIDA LOLA: A LOLA CRUZ MYSTERY (LOLA CRUZ MYSTERIES)
Minotaur Books
2009

FUNNY VIGNETTES of Hollywood helicopter parents and media madness offer laughs, insights, but don’t hold together. B MINUS

MOTHER ON FIRE: A TRUE MOTHER F%#$@ STORY ABOUT PARENTING by Sandra Tsing Loh
New York: Crown
August 2008