Gayle Foreman: If I stay

A cold February morning...a snowy road....and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she''ll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all.

A fantastic read! This is a young adult novel, but it was so well-written that all adults would enjoy it. Moving, sad, but at the same time life-affirming and positive. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I went out to get the sequel, as I wanted to know how Adam's and Mia's story would continue.

Rowan Coleman: The memory book

When Claire starts to write her Memory Book, she already knows that this scrapbook of mementoes will soon be all her daughters and husband have of her. But how can she hold onto the past when her future is slipping through her fingers...?

A heart-breaking story about how a family is affected by early onset Alzheimer's disease. It tells the story from several characters' perspectives and shows how distraught a patient is, when life seems to slip away. A lovely story about love and motherhood.

Denis Avey: The man who broke into Auschwitz

This is the extraordinary true story of a British soldier who marched willingly into Buna-Monowitz, the concentration camp known as Auschwitz III. In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a POW labour camp, E715, near Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could. He hatched a plan to swap places with a Jewish inmate and smuggled himself into his sector of the camp. He spent the night there on two occasions and experienced at first-hand the cruelty of a place where slave workers, had been sentenced to death through labour. Astonishingly, he survived to witness the aftermath of the Death March where thousands of prisoners were murdered by the Nazis as the Soviet Army advanced. After his own long trek right across central Europe he was repatriated to Britain. For decades he couldn't bring himself to revisit the past, but now Denis Avey feels able to tell the full story - a tale as gripping as it is moving - which offers us a unique insight into the mind of an ordinary man whose moral and physical courage are almost beyond belief.

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Rachel Joyce: The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Cecelia Ahern: How to fall in love

Christine Rose is crossing the Ha’penny Bridge in Dublin late one night when she sees a stranger, Adam, poised to jump. Desperate to help, she talks him into a reckless deal: if he gives her two weeks – till his 35th birthday – she’ll prove that life is worth living. But as the clock ticks and the two of them embark on late-night escapades and romantic adventures, what Christine has really promised seems impossible...

An easy bath-tub read about falling in love when you least expect it. The story about Christine and Adam is a little predictable, but the conversations between Christine and her friends and family are written well, so that they do make for funny and relaxing reading. A very quick read and lovely chick-flick by Ahern again.

Karen Perry: The boy that never was

Three-year-old Dillon vanished in the middle of the night. His father Harry can't forgive himself for not protecting his only child. Yet Harry isn't blamed by his wife Robin: she bares her own secret guilt. Five years later, thousands of miles away, Harry spots an eight-year-old boy in a crowd - a boy he is convinced is Dillon. Desperate to find his missing son, Harry's obsession tears apart his marriage, exposing shameful secrets and shattering the one thing he and Robin had left - trust. Why won't Robin believe Harry? What is she hiding? Can the boy really be Dillon? And how far will Harry go to find their lost son?

This is another story about communication or the lack thereof in a relationship. Both Harry and Robin have their secrets and actually tear their relationship apart rather than attempting to fix it. The story is told from Robin's and Harry's perspective so that the reader can identify with both quite easily. I must admit that I do not really like Harry for his unfaithfulness, but his conviction and obsession to find the dead boy is amazing. Interesting story.

Emma Healey: Elizabeth is missing

Meet Maud. Maud is forgetful. She makes a cup of tea and doesn't remember to drink it. She goes to the shops and forgets why she went. Sometimes her home is unrecognizable - or her daughter Helen seems a total stranger. But there's one thing Maud is sure of: her friend Elizabeth is missing. The note in her pocket tells her so. And no matter who tells her to stop going on about it, to leave it alone, to shut up, Maud will get to the bottom of it. Because somewhere in Maud's damaged mind lies the answer to an unsolved seventy-year-old mystery. One everyone has forgotten about. Everyone, except Maud...

This was a fantastic story. Maud is a loveable character and her difficulties with her memory cause her and thus the reader great distress. The storyline is gripping, and as a reader I was keen to find out more about Elizabeth and why she is missing. The way the story is written is unique and it actually makes the reader feel as if you were the one that has got dementia, which is somehow a little disturbing, as it shows how other people around you will react to you, and how you feel when you are lost like Maud. A fantastic read!

Celeste Ng: Everything I never told you

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, James is consumed by guilt, Marilyn is determined to make someone accountable, Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest in the family - Hannah - who observes far more than anyone realises and who may be the only one who knows what really happened.

This is an interesting story about a family whose members keep their own wishes, wants and needs secret from everybody else. And so it happens that wishes are imposed on others and actions are interpreted wrongly, which in turn leads to further complications. A heart-felt story about communicating with your loved ones and how important it is to stay true to yourself. Hannah, who is the youngest and therefore not quite as adept at playing emotional games, turns out to be the most perceptive and honest character of them all. But then she also doesn't struggle to fit in, unlike Nath and Lydia whose looks make them stand out quite prominently. A great story.

Karen Joy Fowler: We are completely beside ourselves

This is the story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way. Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sister Fern, and our narrator, Rosemary, who begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons...

I was ready to give up on this story. I had gotten to page 75 or so, and I still couldn't really understand why this book had been praised so much recently. Well on page 77 came the revelation and this changed the nature of the book so that actually I was eager to find out the full story about Rosemary, Lowell and Fern. A fantastic read and I would love to be able to discuss this with a range of people in a book club or so.

Erica James: Precious Time

In order to spend more time with her four-year-old son Ned, Clara Costello trades in her secure, well-paid job and two-seater sports car for a camper van called Winnie, and the three of them set off on a mystery tour of England. Of course, her friends and family think she's gone mad. But when they arrive in Deaconsbridge, a small market town on the edge of the Peak District, Clara and Ned become drawn into the lives of the locals. Two in particular seem destined to get under Clara's skin: Gabriel Liberty, a cranky widower who terrifies his family; and Archie Merryman, a local dealer in second-hand furniture who possesses a heart of gold.

A very pleasant and easy read. It's quite predictable, but the dialogues and funny jokes running between Clara and Gabriel make for entertainment anyway.

Roisin McAuley: Singing Bird

Twenty-seven years after she adopted her baby in Ireland, Lena Molloy receives a call from the nun who set up the adoption. Sister Monica claims that she wants merely to tie up loose ends in her old age, but Lena becomes frightened that something more threatening lies behind the call, and she sets off on a journey to Ireland, with her best friend, to find her daughter's birth parents - little knowing the extraordinary truths which she will uncover.

Although I initially thought this was going to be a somehow boring story, I was soon taken by it and could not wait to find out more about the Molloy's adoption story. It does get quite unlikely at times, but nevertheless a heart-rendering, inspiring and uplifting story about asking too many questions and not quite getting the answers you might expect.

Karen Swan: Christmas in the snow

In London, the snow is falling and Christmas is just around the corner - but Allegra Fisher barely has time to notice. She's pitching for the biggest deal of her career and can't afford to fail. And when she meets attractive stranger, Sam Kemp, on the plane to the meeting, she can't afford to lose her focus either. She learned to shut off her emotions long ago and only her sister and best friend Isobel knows why. But when Allegra finds herself up against Sam for the bid, their passion quickly turns sour. In Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, a long-lost mountain hut is discovered in the snow after sixty years and the last person expecting to become involved is Allegra - she hasn't even heard of the woman they found inside. But it soon becomes clear the two women are linked and, as she and Iz travel out to make sense of the mystery, hearts thaw and dark secrets are uncovered, long buried by the snow.

This is a great story as a women's fiction story, but quite predictable at times. The few phrases that were translated into German were quite infuriatingly badly translated - Google translator? Other than that, the descriptions of Zermatt and the life in Switzerland were quite well thought through. A good bath-tub read...

Sheila Hocken: Emma & I - The beautiful labrador who saved my life

As a girl, Sheila never let her gradual descent into blindness prevent her from trying to do everything a sighted person could do. Then at 17, unable to see to find her way around the house she grew up in, she found herself dreading her future in an 'ever darkening vacuum'. But then the remarkable Emma enters her life, and Sheila begins a journey that brings her the independence, love and happiness she never dreamed possible. Emma and I is the moving and inspirational story of the unique bond between Sheila and her dog, and shows that, sometimes, miracles do happen.

This was a great memoir and I was able to read it at a time, when I myself was physically weak and considering the acquisition of an assistance dog in the future. I learnt about the processes of assistance dogs and was very impressed in that respect to "see" with the help of a guide-dog.

Cecilia Ahern: The year I met you

Jasmine loves two things: her sister and her work. And when her work is taken away she has no idea who she is. Matt loves two things: his family and the booze. Without them, he hits rock bottom. One New Year’s Eve, two people’s paths collide. Both have time on their hands; both are at a crossroads. But as the year unfolds, through moonlit nights and suburban days, an unlikely friendship slowly starts to blossom. Sometimes you have to stop still in order to move on…

A lovely story about endings and new beginnings in life and how some seemingly horrible situations might actually be the beginning of something good. There are some predictable aspects to the story line but the characters were well developed and that drove the story on. A lovely Christmas story really. And it did make me cry, too.

Jodi Picoult: Leaving time

Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing. Over ten years have passed, and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother's journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there, in the meticulous recording of her scientific research with elephants. Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective - and a psychic. Jenna knows her mother loved her. She knows she would not leave her. And she will not rest until she finds out what happened that night.

Jodi Picoult does not disappoint, but this is one of her best books ever. As always, I could not wait to get my hands on this new novel and once I started I could not put it down. Jenna, Serenity, Virgil and Alice are all interesting characters and piecing their stories together from each individual's viewpoint makes for gripping reading. I would love to see this story as a film, as I can imagine it to be a fantastic movie with great twists and turns. Although I had expected some odd turns, I could not predict the ending. And the stories Picoult researched around the elephants and their behaviours regarding grieving and mothering also makes you want the book to go on for longer. Fantastic and I cannot wait for the next Picoult novel to come out...

John Green: The fault in our stars

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

What a fantastic YA read. This is a funny, poignant tear-jerker about Hazel, Isaac and Augustus. The storyline was somehow predictable in a way, and yet this is still a fascinating read and very insightful as far as the Professionally Sick are concerned...

Sarah Rayner: Another night, another day

Three people, each crying out for help..... There's Karen, worried about her dying father; Abby, whose son has autism and needs constant care; and Michael, a family man on the verge of bankruptcy. As each sinks under the strain, they're brought together at Moreland's Clinic. Here, behind closed doors, they reveal their deepest secrets, confront and console one another and share plenty of laughs. But how will they cope when a new crisis strikes?

Having read Sarah Rayner's other two books about the characters in Brighton, I felt I needed to read this one, too. And I was not disappointed. Reading about Karen, Anna and Lou is great, as the characters have moved on from their last experiences, but have not necessarily moved on in a positive way. Karen is still struggling to come to terms with her serious loss and so mental health issues are covered in a gentle but fascinating way. Everybody can suffer depressions, everybody may need help. Moving and yet uplifting.

Nathan Filer: The Shock of the Fall

‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

This book reminded me of Mark Haddon's "Incident with the dog in the night-time" in that we are given a perspective that we cannot usually see - that of a person suffering from a mental health issue. The story is easy to follow despite the many voices and jumps, as we grow used to the workings of Matthew's mind. A fascinating, but sad and yet strangely uplifting read.

Jane Shemlit: Daughter

THE NIGHT OF THE DISAPPEARANCE: She used to tell me everything. They have a picture. It'll help. But it doesn't show the way her hair shines so brightly it looks like sheets of gold. She has a tiny mole, just beneath her left eyebrow. She smells very faintly of lemons. She bites her nails. She never cries. She loves autumn, I wanted to tell them. She collects leaves, like a child does. She is just a child.

ONE YEAR LATER: Naomi is still missing. Jenny is a mother on the brink of obsession. The Malcolm family is in pieces. Is finding the truth about Naomi the only way to put them back together? Or is the truth the thing that will finally tear them apart?

After "Before I go to sleep" this book was not as chilling and thrilling, but the characters were well developed and you could identify with the family and each member. I was disappointed with the ending though, as this was a little too stilted and unrealistic in my view.

S J Watson: Before I go to sleep

What if you lost your memories every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.... Welcome to Christine's life!

A fantastic read and great thriller. I woke up one night thinking I was Christine myself. This really was chilling. And the ending is just as great....