THE GLOBAL RECYCLING INDUSTRY, explored in unexpectedly entertaining depth. Informative, but never dry! B PLUS

JUNKYARD PLANET: TRAVELS IN THE BILLION-DOLLAR TRASH TRADE
Bloomsbury Press
2013

SEXUAL POLITICS IN the Arab world, presented in depth (via years of interviews), with compassion, with wit. B PLUS

SEX AND THE CITADEL
Pantheon
2013

TAUT, FAST-PACED THRILLER combines non-stop action, a gripping plot, and plenty of local Boston detail. B PLUS

BROTHERS AND BONES
James Hankins
2012

A MONTAGE OF MEMORIES, a love letter to New York; Roger Rosenblatt’s latest memoir is bittersweet, thoughtful. B PLUS

THE BOY DETECTIVE : A NEW YORK CHILDHOOD
Ecco Press
2013

INSIDE THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY, from midocean boredom to pirate watch to shipwreck. Great, engaging reporting! B PLUS

NINETY PERCENT OF EVERYTHING
Metropolitan Books
2013

ENCHANTING BIOGRAPHY OF Marianne Moore reveals the rich inner life of this famously reserved poet. Wonderful! B PLUS

HOLDING ON UPSIDE DOWN
Farrar
2013

THOUGHTFUL TRUE CRIME reporting traces the lives of five women whose bodies were found on Long Island. B PLUS

LOST GIRLS : AN UNSOLVED AMERICAN MYSTERY
HarperCollins
2013

FASCINATING, CHALLENGING OVERVIEW of research into Alzheimer’s Disease, its possibilities and limitations. B PLUS

THE ALZHEIMER CONUNDRUM: ENTANGLEMENTS OF DEMENTIA AND AGING
Princeton University Press
2013

EGYPTOMANIA! FROM ANCIENT ROME to Napoleon to Hollywood, an entertaining exploration of a cultural obsession. B PLUS

EGYPTOMANIA: OUR THREE THOUSAND YEAR OBSESSION WITH THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS
Palgrave Macmillan
2013

ODD, ELEGAIC PARABLE is vintage Coetzee, and has a distant moral resonance, like a sermon heard in a dream. B PLUS

THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS
Viking Books
2013