PHILIP LEVINE’S PASSIONATE writing about poetry is a moving legacy and a testimony to the power of language. A MINUS

MY LOST POETS: A LIFE IN POETRY (HARDCOVER)
Knopf Publishing Group
2016

WARM-HEARTED BUT INCISIVE satire set in a town divided between past and future, comfort and exploration. A MINUS

CHARMED PARTICLES
Dzanc Books
2015

EFFORTLESSLY HEARTBREAKING MEMOIR of a hardscrabble childhood spent in the chaos of World War II Russia. A MINUS

THE GIRL FROM THE METROPOL HOTEL: GROWING UP IN COMMUNIST RUSSIA (PAPERBACK)
Penguin Books
2017

COMIC SCIENCE-FICTION THRILLER has a wonderfully complex plot, a believably dystopian near-future. A MINUS

THE BIG SHEEP
Thomas Dunne Books
2016

TENSE ENGLISH THRILLER plays on a vulnerable young mother’s worst fears. Lots of surprises! SOLID B

BLINK: A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER WITH A KILLER TWIST YOU’LL NEVER FORGET
Bookouture
2017

A NIGERIAN ÉMIGRÉ’S WITTY, touching, insightful, hilarious memoir of life and work in the US. B PLUS

NEVER LOOK AN AMERICAN IN THE EYE: A MEMOIR OF FLYING TURTLES, COLONIAL GHOSTS, AND THE MAKING OF A NIGERIAN AMERICAN
Soho Press, Incorporated
2016

BRILLIANTLY IMAGINED SF follows a brave, complex genius from an interstellar university back home to Earth. A MINUS

BINTI: HOME (PAPERBACK)
St. Martin's Press
2017

“HOW LIFE WORKS”: ambitious yet accessible book explains it well, from microbiomes to the global ecosystem. B PLUS

THE SERENGETI RULES: THE QUEST TO DISCOVER HOW LIFE WORKS AND WHY IT MATTERS
Princeton University Press
2016

UNSETTLING, POETIC FABLE of the tiny despairs that lie beneath modern life; an indie classic newly reissued. B PLUS

O FALLEN ANGEL (PAPERBACK)
Harper Perennial
2017

CLEVER, FAST-PACED COZY mystery sets a series of bizarre robberies against an even odder wedding. Fun! B PLUS

THE HONEYED TASTE OF DECEPTION: AN ANGEL LAKE MYSTERY (WALKING CALAMITY COZY MYSTERY BOOK 4)
CeeCee James
2017