When a person receives a heart transplant, does that recipient take on some of the memories, characteristics and attitudes of the original owner? That's the scenario posited here by Debra Ginsberg (The Neighbors Are Watching).

Eden Harrison needs a heart transplant. Her fiancé, Derek, cares for her while she is waiting for a heart to be found and when she recuperates after surgery. Then life becomes complicated: Eden has terrible nightmares about a mountain road in a deluge, pulls away from Derek's attentions and, finally, breaks the engagement. She has always loved the misty skies of Portland, Ore.--but now she's inexorably drawn to the sunny climes of San Diego.

She takes a job in a restaurant that seems somehow familiar to her, where she meets a frequent customer named Darcy. Darcy is a gorgeous, wealthy young widow but she is also friendless and alone, still brooding over the fact that she allowed her husband to abuse her. She zeroes in on Eden and invites her to live with her. The suspense is heightened on every page as these two play a push-me/pull-you game: How much they can trust one another? How much can either tell the other? Most importantly, what does Darcy want from Eden?

Questions multiply: What happened to Darcy's husband? Whose heart does Eden have? The reader is kept guessing--until Ginsberg's carefully crafted ending. Psychologically taut, alternately menacing and benign, What the Heart Remembers is an entirely believable story of one possessed--but by whom or what? --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.

A land war in a Florida coastal town during the First World War is the setting of Michael Morris's Man in the Blue Moon. Ella Wallace's gambling, opium-addicted husband has disappeared, leaving her to raise three young sons and keep her general store out of foreclosure. She is forced to choose between making a partial payment on the property or paying the freight charges for a fancy clock her husband must've ordered before he vanished in the hope reselling it might pay off her debt.

Ella's decision complicates matters in the quiet little town. Then Lanier Stillis, a distant cousin of Ella's absent husband, shows up under mysterious circumstances, and her dilemma takes some more surprising twists and turns. Is this man, with his "Samson-like" blond hair and eyes that sparkle with "either hope or mischief," running from trouble? When Lanier miraculously heals one of Ella's sons and makes a lame mule walk, Ella suspects he might be an answer to her prayers, but others perceive him as a charlatan. His presence exacerbates the land battle, especially between the local preacher and a conniving banker.

Spiritual undercurrents abound in this well-plotted novel, as Morris raises provocative questions about faith and providence. With astute perception, he has crafted a story (rooted in actual events) about survival in the early 20th century, with a plausible evocation of small-town life--and the judgments and modus operandi found therein. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

In NW, her third novel since White Teeth, Zadie Smith uses lean stream-of-consciousness narration tethered to taut skeins of dialogue to portray a trio of characters who have migrated varying distances from their shared roots in a northwest London housing estate. Smith's characters are ethnically diverse, but the subject of her novel is more existential than multicultural--all three principals struggle to inhabit their adult, free-will professional and personal lives with conviction after emerging from childhoods confined by cultural norms, familial expectations, geographical allegiance and immigrant anxiety.

Leah Hanwell and Natalie De Angelis have been friends from age four to their present mid-30s; Felix Cooper is a contemporary who lives in their periphery and whose noble story bridges their sections. The novel illuminates contemporary cultural frictions by investigating the progress of Leah's and Natalie's relationships and careers. Felix's quest takes the reader across London and depicts the fraught pressures of modern manhood.

Readers seeking a conventional narrative may be frustrated by NW's challenging stream-of-consciousness segues, hodgepodge typography, dearth of dialogue tags and fungible structure, but only about 10% of the text requires actual puzzling out.

By limiting most of her authorial prose to character thought and by delivering gobs of visceral dialogue, Smith virtually embeds the reader alongside her broad cast of NW residents. One does not read NW so much as eavesdrop on it. Smith has moved beyond the somewhat hyper comic tone of White Teeth and the descriptive indulgences of On Beauty to write her most empathetic, humanly vulnerable novel to date. --Holloway McCandless, blogger at Litagogo: A Guide to Free Literary Podcasts

Since her son's tragic death, Claire Baumsarg has struggled to keep her family together as she runs a California citrus ranch with her husband. Even while fighting cancer, she refuses to sell the ranch, though her marriage has already crumbled and the ranch is struggling financially. When Minna, a young Caribbean woman, appears out of nowhere to become Claire's caretaker, her presence seems like a miracle. But is it a curse instead?

In her second novel, The Forgetting Tree, Tatjana Soli vividly evokes the fertile earth, ripe fruits and wild brush of the Baumsargs' isolated ranch, and its magnetic pull on Claire. She explores the fissures between Claire, her ex-husband and their two daughters--now grown but still scarred and haunted by the death of their brother. The ties of land and family are Claire's greatest treasures, but circumstances and the enigmatic Minna may be conspiring to dissolve both relationships.

Claire and Minna are strong, complex characters, and Minna in particular becomes infinitely more interesting as Soli reveals her true history. As Claire becomes increasingly dependent on Minna, though, she turns a willfully blind eye to the idea that her companion may not be what she seems. Thus their mutual downward spiral is compelling, but frustrating, to watch, and the ending feels both melodramatic and unsatisfying.

A haunting exploration of the bonds that bring us together and the tragedies that threaten to rip us apart, The Forgetting Tree, like its characters, is complicated, evocative and memorable. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

"History is filled with ironies," writes Tan Twan Eng in The Garden of Evening Mists, a novel that touches upon an often overlooked episode in the history of the World War II: the enslavement of, and cruelty visited upon, Chinese and European citizens during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. What results is a quiet but forceful examination of the power of memory to sustain anger and to nurture forgiveness as it dissembles.

In 1951, Teoh Yun Ling, the sole survivor among her family of a brutal Japanese internment camp, arrives at the Malaysian home of Magnus Pretorious, a family friend and surrogate father, hoping to convince his neighbor, the exiled gardener Aritomo, to create a Japanese garden in her sister's memory. Instead, Aritomo apprentices Yun Ling so that she can learn and apply the principles of shakkei, "borrowed scenery," to construct her own garden. Yun Ling's imprisonment has driven her toward hatred and vengeance. Over time, however, she develops an intimacy with her teacher, as Malaysia disintegrates into political uncertainty.

Tan Twan Eng's second novel (after the Man Booker-longlisted The Gift of Rain) is lush with poetic resonance, an emotional but staid masterpiece of yearning for a stunted past and for connections that can never be. "A garden borrows from the earth, the sky, and everything around it, but you borrow from time," Tan writes. "Memories are a form of shakkei, too. You bring them in to make your life feel less empty." --Nancy Powell, freelance writer

As D.E. Johnson's Detroit Breakdown begins, Elizabeth Hume is abruptly called to the Eloise Insane Asylum, and her friend--and former fiancé--Will Anderson drives her there in his electric Model T (it's 1912, after all). When they arrive at the forbidding asylum, Elizabeth is told that her cousin, Robert Clarke, a patient there, is suspected of murder--but a distraught Robert swears he didn't kill anyone, that "the Phantom" did it. The hospital administrator scornfully dismisses this as the ravings of a lunatic who has recently read The Phantom of the Opera, but Elizabeth is convinced her cousin is incapable of such violence and attempts to intercede.

Though she is forced to leave without her cousin, Elizabeth begins investigating as well as she can from the outside. Will, however, takes a riskier route--going undercover as an amnesiac. Incarcerated in Eloise, Will endures dreadful conditions as the psychologists experiment on him. But primitive treatments for mental illness such as "radiation therapy" are not all Will has to suffer; he's also at risk from fellow patients--and from the rumored Phantom.

Johnson brings early 20th-century Detroit vibrantly to life with his descriptions of the terrible traffic, fashions of the era and Eloise's medical treatments. There are frequent references to Will and Elizabeth's earlier adventures (in The Detroit Electric Scheme and Motor City Shakedown); but this story can be fully enjoyed independently of the other two. Fans of historical mysteries and turn-of-the-century Americana will love Detroit Breakdown. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm

In Bill and Hillary, Duke University history professor William H. Chafe (Never Stop Running) draws a powerful connection between the political careers of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their personal relationships, tracing the lives of the former U.S. president and the current Secretary of State through their troubled childhoods, their college years and into the political tempest of the 1990s.

Chafe emphasizes throughout his book that the Clintons' personal lives--independently and together--cannot be separated from their public political work. Both experienced childhoods that left them with a profound respect for social justice and for creating change within the political system. Bill's personal struggles over whether or not to go to Vietnam deeply affected his college years, as did Hillary's commitment to seeking a calm middle ground amid the often-radical political demands of the 1960s. It was the tension of the Clintons' marriage as much as the professional powerhouse they assembled that catapulted Bill up the political ranks, from Arkansas attorney general to governor to the presidency, Chafe explains--and it was the couple's personal response to the Lewinsky scandal that finally gave Hillary the emotional and intellectual freedom to become a political force in her own right. Bill and Hillary is a nuanced and compassionate testament to the inseparability of public and private life. --Dani Alexis Ryskamp, blogger at The Book Cricket

For many Americans, the most they know about South Africa is the story of Nelson Mandela. Although his contributions changed that nation forever, Mandela has retired from public life, and other leaders, including his successor Thabo Mbeki and current president Jacob Zuma, have taken his place. After Mandela is Douglas Foster's highly readable examination of the changes and struggles faced by South Africa in the post-Apartheid era.

Foster summarizes the history of South Africa, emphasizing its complicated origins and makeup, then raises questions about the myriad issues facing the country now. During a six-year period of extended research trips, he interviewed hundreds of South Africans, from politicians and wealthy businessmen to street orphans and HIV-positive teenagers. Their voices express both deep struggle and fierce hope.

Though South African politics struggles with deep racial and socioeconomic division, Foster presents a balanced view of the major parties and leaders. He praises positive developments, such as the distribution of antiretroviral medication for AIDS patients, but no politician--not even Mandela himself--is guiltless. As Foster struggles to fully explain the tangled web of political relations, it's clear that the fledgling democracy must still contend with backstabbing, corruption and favoritism.

From vibrant, cosmopolitan cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg to rural "homelands" still governed by ancient traditions, Foster ably evokes the multilayered, multicultural voices of South African society. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Since 2003, brothers Keith and Kent Zimmerman have operated a writing program at California's San Quentin prison based on the principles that prisoners who practice the writing habit might acquire a love of learning that leads them away from crime and that the work they produce can be as vital and meaningful as any other work by a published writer. In H-Unit, the authors describe their journey in tight, unobtrusive prose that, like their teaching style, is devoid of posturing. Samples of students' writings demonstrate the Zimmermans' methods to great effect throughout, and here, too, the unadorned prose achieves a certain gritty poetry, a level of self-reflection and self-knowledge that makes for riveting reading.

"The dust settles months later," Willie W. writes movingly of what is lost after incarceration. "Where the once wise witness of the sea had been, in its place the walls of a cell hold me. No more beauties, no more whiskey, no more sacraments." One of the best writing exercises the Zimmermans devise is an exercise in riffing off "My Favorite Things," as demonstrated by Bobby F.: "Mom's hugs. My cat's attitude. Lightning in the middle of New Mexico at night. My wife's head on my chest when she's sleeping, listening to her breathe and feeling her heartbeat. Watching someone rushing on Meth."

There are voices in H-Unit well worth hearing and lessons well worth teaching. --Donald Powell, freelance writer

The Guys Read series has consistently offered terrific short reads, ideal for kids who don't necessarily think of themselves as "readers." The latest, The Sports Pages, is no exception. As with the earlier titles, author and editor Jon Scieszka has selected a theme (humor with Funny Business; goosepimply chills in Thriller) and authors (David Lubar, Anthony Horowitz, Dan Gutman) with instant kid appeal and name recognition.

Stories that spotlight sports, from baseball to martial arts, as well as two autobiographical sketches, provide wide-ranging material for middle grade readers. In a funny tale about the 1986 World Series and a grapefruit, Dan Gutman shows just how far a fan's imagination will take him. Another of Jacqueline Woodson's great kid characters, Cashew (started as Cashay, ended as a nut) learns an important lesson about running track and living life. Gordon Korman's "The Trophy" presents two teams of city kids who, by vying for possession of a basketball award, deliver a lot of laughs while defining the mystique of the sport. A line from Joe Bruchac's "Choke" ("This time, fish, I'm going to gut you") will keep readers devoted to this story where mixed martial arts creates a hero with the confidence to face down a bully.

These 10 short pieces will provide middle school kids with food for thought, more than a few good laughs and hours of enjoyable reading. --Ellen Loughran, reviewer