THE INCREDIBLE FLORYNCE KENNEDY, pioneering leader in both the Black Power and Women’s Liberation movements. A MINUS

FLORYNCE “FLO” KENNEDY
University of North Carolina Press
2015

A LOVE LETTER TO CERVANTES from writer Ilan Stavans explores the complexity and impact of DON QUIXOTE. B PLUS

QUIXOTE
W. W. Norton & Company
2015

JAZZ AGE HARLEM and its cultural Renaissance are the backdrop to a gritty historical mystery. Vivid scenes. SOLID B

THE STRANGE CRIMES OF LITTLE AFRICA
Rothco Press
2015

A MAN DISPLAYED AT A ZOO: how early 20th century racism, colonialism, and pseudoscience destroyed a life. B PLUS

SPECTACLE
Amistad Press
2015

SLEEK, SPOOKY THRILLER with a San Francisco setting and a complicated, troubled protagonist. Haunting! B PLUS

THE POISON ARTIST
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2016

SHOCKING TRUE STORY of the abusive cult behind a prominent 1970s Christian rock group. Thoughtful journalism. B PLUS

FORTNEY ROAD: LIFE, DEATH, AND DECEPTION IN A CHRISTIAN CULT
Freethought House
2015

THE NEUROLOGY OF IRRATIONAL BEHAVIORS, from hallucinations to psychosomatic blindness. Engaging, informed! B PLUS

NEUROLOGIC : THE BRAIN’S HIDDEN RATIONALE BEHIND OUR IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Pantheon Books
2016

STILETTO-SHARP, WITTY, INSIGHTFUL examination of the world of America’s Black elites packs a punch. A MINUS

NEGROLAND: A MEMOIR
Pantheon Books
2015

INGENIOUS TIME-TRAVEL THRILLER plot could have benefited from richer characterization, a more careful edit. C PLUS

DIVIDED
Taitrina Falcon
2015

SWASHBUCKLING, EPIC ALT-HISTORY set in a New World war between Holland and France, with alchemical robots. B PLUS

THE RISING
Orbit
2015