Reading this book will actually make you feel sorry for the person arrested at the end of George’s With No One As Witness. I don’t know how she does it as an American but her depiction of lower class London society seems “spot on”!

If you are at all interested in reading about the post Cultural-revolutionary politics in China this is a must read book. The author is a Pen/Faulkner award winner for her first book (short stories). Like Ha Jin she writes in her non-native language. Her characters are so believable and their lives enormously sad except when touched by the kindness of a fellow citizen. This is a chance to learn more about a topic seldom explored in our fiction. Highly recommended.

Later editions of this one were called either Ten Little Indians or And Then There Were None.

This one is for my book group. I have mixed feelings about it. I really couldn’t identify with the writer because his background and challenges were so totally different than mine. Although this was also true of the author of The Glass Castle, Walls made it much easier to feel for her circumstances.

Perhaps this is the British title. I read it under Cloud of Unknowing.

Another well-plotted Hayder mystery. This one is a stand alone thriller. Although I figured out part of the ending I sure didn’t figure out everything which provided me with a nice twist (“nice”?) at the end.

This is the second book in Mo Hayder’s Jack Caffery series, after The Birdman. It’s another well-plotted mystery, this time with an excruciating ending.

I decided to read this because I like to read the book before seeing the movie. I’m now looking forward to Kate Winslet’s performance. I have German friends who’ve spoken about second generation guilt. This is a beautifully written and morally complex book. It has given me a lot to think about.

I devoured this book. I can’t ever remember having gotten so immersed in a storyline that I had to remind myself a couple of times that I was not living it!

If you can put up with the underbelly of society and the gore this is a very cleverly plotted book. Just when you’re thinking OK mystery solved so why are there still another 100 pages to read you find that things are more complicated than they seemed!