Books: June 17, 2011

The Disappearing Spoon
Sam Kean
Science
Kean explains the periodic table of elements with such aplomb that material normally as heavy as lead transmutes into gold. A-

The Frozen Rabbi
Steve Stern
Novel
Stern’s comic romp follows the exploits of a 19th-century Hasidic rabbi — preserved in a block of ice — who becomes a New Age guru after he’s thawed.

The Last Detective
Peter Lovesey
Mystery
The first volume in Lovesey’s beloved Peter Diamond series has a handsome new 20th-anniversary edition.

The Taken
Inger Ash Wolfe
Mystery
If you like your mysteries really creepy, look no further than Wolfe’s Hazel Micallef series.