Cities of the Dead by Joseph Roach

I found this book both helpful and intriguing. Roach posits that we gain a lot by investigating what he calls circum-Atlantic culture. He is particularly interested in memory, performance, and grief--and the way these three topics are related by the process of surrogation. Although the book centers around New Orleans and London, it allows its focus to encompass broader areas of inquiry as they're applicable, and, perhaps as a result, the organization of the text isn't quite as clear. Still, Roach's book gives a fresh approach to theorizing questions of race and cultural interactions in the (here, mostly anglophone) Atlantic world.

The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes

In this book there was a lot less jumping around and fewer subplots than in the past few New Jedi Order books. Tahiri, Corran, Nom Anor, and some rouge Yuuzhan Vong go to Zonama Sekot, where we (the readers) get this close to finding out what's going on, and then the character who's figured it out dies. There's another battle at Bilbringi, but you can tell that the plot's just marking time while the Zonama Sekot stuff happens. A quick read. I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out in the last book.

The Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather

I found this account of the Salem Witch Trials fascinating. Mather's position (as one of the religious elite at the time, and strongly in favor of the trials, but not actively involved in them himself) is quite interesting because by the time he writes this account public (and official) opinion, which initially supported the investigations has started to sour. Mather gives a very careful justification of the trials in his introduction, and then proceeds to make cases against five people accused of witchcraft. You can easily see (if you choose to read the trials in this manner) what the community and accusers stand to gain politically and socially through these accusations, and this text also does a great job of supporting the idea that the witch trials are the interior, psychological twin of the religious fight for the community's soul that manifests externally as the Maine wars with the Native Americans.

The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

In this mystery Maisie faces a lot of changes as Maurice's health begins to fail, Billy's wife comes home after her stay in an institution, and James Compton comes back to town. She's liaising with Scotland Yard in this case, which is one of the better ones as far as the murder mystery parts of this series go, to try to figure out why an American working with a British cartography unit was murdered in the trenches during World War I. I also liked the final developments in Maisie's personal life--they made her seem more human.

Force Heretic III: Reunion by Sean Williams and Shane Dix

In this book the Tahiri split personality plot (finally) comes to an end, Jag, Jaina, Han, and Leia hold off an invasion of a communications outpost with Admiral Pellaeon's help and some Ryn back up, and Jacen, Mara, and Luke finally find Zonama Sekot. I really liked the Zonama Sekot parts (especially the news that Anakin Skywalker had been there before). I'm also glad that this series is slowly, but surely, winding down--I think it wears on one's patience a bit...

Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford

This book contains William Bradford's retrospective account of the Pilgrims' settlement at Plymouth Plantation. The beginning portions of the book, which give the account of how the Pilgrims came to New England via Leyden in Holland, and their struggles in the first winter, and their dealings with the Native Americans through Squanto's help were all familiar to me as they match (more or less) the story that gets told about the Pilgrims. The later parts, including all the difficulties in dealing with the investors in England, the bad behavior of some of the colonists (which ends up being presented in surprising detail), and the growth of the colony (and of people coming to other places in New England) was more of a surprise. The prose is remarkably clear to the modern ear.

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

In this mystery Maisie Dobbs gets called in to help Scotland Yard defuse a terrorist threat to London. I particularly enjoyed the back and forth between Scotland Yard and MI-5 and the introduction of Inspector MacFarland. I thought there was a bit more wrapping up after the mystery had been solved than was really necessary, although I liked the twist at the end.