Celia Rees: Witch Child

Mary's grandmother is executed for witchcraft, and Mary is forced to leave her home to avoid the same fate. At first she flees to the English countryside, but when the atmosphere of superstition and suspicion becomes all consuming she leaves on a boat for America in the hope that she can start over and forget her past. But during the journey, she realises that the past is not so easy to escape.

This is a gripping story about people's superstitions and the preacher's fear to lose their sheep to the so-called witches. The storyline hinted at Salem, but it would have been nice had that been followed up more rigorously.

Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson

The Lightning Thief - The Sea of Monsters - The Titan's Curse - The Battle of the Labyrinth - The Last Olympian
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive.

This series of Young Adult books is gripping for its storyline, and at the same time it is a great introduction to the Greek mythology. Many of the stories are quite commonly known, however, there are some less popular and famous Greek myths that have also been interwoven. Although the thought of the Greek Gods interfering with today's civilisation sounds far-fetched, it is carried off feasibly in this series.

Donna Leon: Brunetti 19 - A question of belief

Venice is sweltering in a heat wave, and Leon's doughty copper is looking forward to getting away from the city and relaxing with his family in the relative cool of the mountains. But his colleague Ispettore Vianello has other things on his mind than the weather; his aunt, seemingly befuddled by an obsessive belief in horoscopes and astrology, has been siphoning off considerable amount of cash from the family business. Vianello asks Brunetti if it would be possible to trail her -- and this unorthodox investigation points the detectives in the direction of one Stefano Gorini. This beneficiary of the aunt’s largesse is not everything that he seems. At the same time, it appears that there have been irregularities in the courts. At the Tribulane, an usher with a previously spotless reputation, Fontana, has been involved in suspicious business with a judge, Luisa Coltellini -- it appears that justice has a price. And then Fontana is brutally killed. Brunetti and Vianello now have more than enough problems to keep them even busier than usual.

Another Brunetti-story, which is entertaining for both the crime story and the treatise of Italian life and society. I read this story at a time, when personally visiting Venice, which made it the more real and accessible...

Monica Ali: Brick Lane

Nazneen is a teenager forced into an arranged marriage with a man considerably older than her--a man whose expectations of life are so low that misery seems to stretch ahead for her. Fearfully leaving the sultry oppression of her Bangladeshi village, Nazneen finds herself cloistered in a small flat in a high-rise block in the East End of London. Because she speaks no English, she is obliged to depend totally on her husband. But it becomes apparent that, of the two, she is the real survivor: more able to deal with the ways of the world, and a better judge of the vagaries of human behaviour. She makes friends with another Asian girl, Razia, who is the conduit to her understanding of the unsettling ways of her new homeland.

This is an interesting story about Asian culture and life-style in a western country. Although for a western reader it is difficult to follow in places due to the cultural differences, the book provides a brilliant insight into the trials of an Asian and half-Asian family making their way in England.

Roopa Farooki: Bitter sweets

Shona Karim is in love. When she first sets eyes on Parvez at the age of ten, she knows he is the man of her dreams. Just like her father – tricked into marriage by her shamelessly deceitful mother – she is a hopeless romantic. Years later, lying to themselves and their families, the young lovers elope to start a new life above a sweet shop in south London. But Shona’s inheritance is one of double lives and complicit deception. As time passes, and her children are born, it appears that she too has dark secrets that are about to be exposed. Can a family built on lies ever shake off its legacy? And can love ever be strong enough to right the wrongs of the past?

This is an epic story about Asian people living between two cultures and trying to find their way in western civilisation. At the same time, it is about Shona learning to deal with truth and lies. A brilliant read...

Paul Torday: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist - for whom diary - notable events include the acquisition of a new electric toothbrush and getting his article on caddis fly larvae published in 'Trout and Salmon' - who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen - a project that will change his life, and the course of British political history forever.

This was a brilliant read with a great choice of texts presented to illustrate Fred's dryness, Peter Maxwell (the helmsman)'s self-confidence, the obscure workings of bureaucratic Britan and Mary's and Hillary's approach to their respective relationships. It's funny, wicked, brilliant, sarcastic, but in a way I get the feeling that - although there is so much in that novel - it will not be one that stays with you forever. A great, relaxing summer read!

Giselle Green: Little Miracles

Julia Fearon arrives in Spain with fiance Charlie and their 18-month old son Haydn, excited to meet his family and plan their forthcoming wedding. But Julia's happiness is short-lived as she must grapple with a clan steeped in tradition, ritual and Catholicism and a day at the beach leads to a terrible tragedy. A freak storm causes chaos and amidst the pandemonium Haydn disappears. Whilst the authorities presume him drowned, Julia is tortured by the possibility that her child is alive - and has been snatched.

This was a great read, as the views of both Charlie and Julia are presented. In places though, I found both characters unlikable, because they both keep too many secrets from one another. I was quite disappointed with the final scene, but overall I found the topic interesting and the emotional side of the topic well-developed.

Donna Leon: Brunetti 18 - About Face

At a dinner party given by his parents-in-law Comissario Brunetti meets Franca Marinello, the wife of a prosperous Venetian businessman. He’s charmed by Signora Marinello's love of Virgil and Cicero, but shocked by her appearance. A few days later, Brunetti is visited by Carabinieri Maggiore Filipo Guarino, who wants information about the owner of a trucking company found murdered in his offices. Soon after that he himself is dead. Was he killed because he got too close? And how is it that Franca Marinello has often been seen in company of the suspect, a vulgar man with Mafia connections and a violent past?

Rather typical of any Donna Leon crime fiction, this was an entertaining and distracting read, and as usual Brunetti and his wife Paola are likeable and interesting. The usual cast of the Venetian police, Patta, Scarpa, Vianello and Pucetti add to the delightful mix of characters. However, for me this was the first Leon novel, where the solution and denouement were disappointing and left me wanting more detail and more of a conclusion.

Wendy Leigh: Patrick Swayze - One last dance

For almost thirty years, Patrick Swayze has been an icon of masculinity and sex appeal, strong but sensitive, romantic yet dangerous. In this intimate and revealing biography, bestselling author Wendy Leigh shares the inspiring untold story of Patrick's incredible life.

This book was a great surprise. I didn't expect it to be that interesting, but actually I was taken by surprise as to how many films and theatre productions Patrick Swayze was involved in. Due to the many quotes and references the style of writing was sometimes a bit difficult to follow.

Frank W Abagnale: Catch me if you can

Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams and Ringo Monjo, was a daring conman, forger, impostor and escape artist. In his brief but notorious career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and co-piloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as a member of hospital management, practised law without a licence, passed himself off as a college sociology professor and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was 21. Known by the police of 26 foreign countries and all 50 US states as "The Skywayman", Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the run - until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as a leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades and ingenious escapes - including one from an aeroplane - make "Catch Me If You Can" an irresistible tale of deceit.

This story has been a great read. It's absolutely unbelievable that Abagnale got through with his cons. Also, it's funny to see that even in the most impossible situations he still thought of ways to make money with cons....

Cecilia Ahern: Thanks for the Memories

How can you know someone you've never met? Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn't. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown girl with blonde hair. Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets an attractive doctor, who persuades him to donate blood. It's the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time. When Joyce leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, she moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of déjà vu is overwhelming her and she can't figure out why...

This was a rather strange story with a bizarre storyline, but very entertaining. Although I found the main theme a bit far-fetched, it was funny to follow Joyce's and Justin's efforts to meet up and get to know each other. My favourite character, however, was Joyce's dad, whose fascination with the Antiques Roadshow leads to some surreal and comic situations in London.

Elizabeth Edmondson: The villa in Italy

Four strangers are summoned to the Villa Dante, a grand but neglected villa on the Italian coast. Each of them has been named in a will of Beatrice Malaspina; but not one of them knows who she is. Delia, an opera singer robbed of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist who cannot face what his skills have created; Marjorie, desperately poor and unable to dislodge her writer's block; and Lucius, ostensibly in control but whose personal life is in chaos. While they wait to find out more, the villa begins to work its seductive magic. With its faded frescoes, overgrown garden and magnificent mediaeval tower, it is unlike anywhere they have been before. Slowly, four characters who have gone to great lengths to hide their troubles find that change -- and even hope -- is possible after all.

This book was an Amazon recommendation to follow up "The island". The mystery around Beatrice Malaspina and the variety of characters were fascinating and kept me wanting to read the story as quickly as possible. Although the story unfolds slowly, there was not a moment's of boredom and even though towards the end the denouement was becoming more predictable and clichéd, this was a great read. The book covers different walks of life and deals with the aftermaths of the Second World War, but this is in such an inobtrusive way that reading this book has been a great pleasure.

Sophie King: The school run

A week in the lives of seven people - all on the same route to school: Harriet is waiting for her husband to tell her if their marriage is on – or off. Pippa is about to receive some potentially devastating hospital results. Evie has one week to save her career – and find her missing husband. Nick’s wife died two years ago, leaving him with a troublesome teenage daughter. Martine, a French au pair, is about to run off with a married man. Kitty, a school teacher, accepts a bet to find a man in a week. And Betty watches by the roadside, looking for the driver who killed her son. Little do any of them know that by the end of the week the school run will have become a collision course, connecting their lives in more ways than one.

The storyline sounded interesting and so I picked up this book. However, although the characters are refreshingly truthful and although identifying with different characters comes naturally, the style of writing was quite confusing at times. Of course, it helped to see each scene from one character's perspective, yet, sometimes I found it difficult to remember who was who. Also, the climax of the storyline is somewhat surreal, which I thought didn't match the rest of the book. Entertaining, but not a great read...

Victoria Hislop: The island

On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother’s past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. But when Alexis decides to visit Crete, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.
Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone’s throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leper colony. Then she finds Fortini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip..

This is an incredibly powerful story about never-ending and enduring love, about passion and beliefs. Although I found the beginning of the book too clichéd, the story soon unfolded to be gripping and reading about the leper colony and Sofia's family turned out to be an emotional roller-coster.

Liz Smith: Our Betty

Liz Smith, once called the nation's favourite fictional grandmother, is a familiar face to all TV and cinema viewers. She is most often recognised for her role of Nana in The Royle Family. OUR BETTY is Liz's life story - from her cosseted yet lonely childhood with her beloved grandparents, through the war with the WRENS, marriage and children, divorce and poverty, long years working in dead-end jobs, until her heavenly escape of evening acting classes provided the chance for a career. OUR BETTY is, like its author, original, amusing and fascinating on the struggles, hopes and successes endemic of a life in front of the camera.

The subtitle "Scenes from my life" clearly describes the nature of the book. It's more a collection of brief episodes than the narrative of Liz Smith's life. In places, I found it hard to relate to the story, as Liz Smith describes life in the UK before, during and shortly after the war, times, where people didn't have phones or TVs. However, I liked the fact that Smith doesn't describe her past all-colourful and glorious. Times were hard then and times are hard now, only different....

Ake Edwardson: Zimmer Nr. 10

Die Frau im Zimmer Nr. 10 des abgetakelten Hotels zwinkert noch mit ihrem rechten Auge. Aber das hat einzig und allein mit den beiden Elektroden zu tun, die die Ärztin angelegt hat, um über die Muskelreaktionen den Todeszeitpunkt besser bestimmen zu können. Denn die junge Frau, Paula Ney mit Namen, wurde erhängt aufgefunden, mit einem offenbar erzwungenen Abschiedsbrief und einer blendend weiß gestrichenen Hand, die vielleicht der Mörder bepinselt hat. Kriminalkommissar Erik Winter aus Göteborg steht vor dem vielleicht rätselhaftesten Fall seiner Karriere. Doch damit nicht genug: Das Zimmer Nr. 10 kommt Winter überaus bekannt vor. Er erkennt, dass eben dieser Raum der Schauplatz seines ersten Kriminalfalls war. Der Kommissar holt auch diesen alten, niemals aufgeklärten Fall aus dem Archiv -- und stößt auf Bezüge, die nicht zuletzt sein eigenes Leben bedrohen. Denn er hat es mit einem Psychopathen zu tun, dem alles egal zu sein scheint ....

Die Geschichte war fesselnd und der Polizist Erik Winter und die anderen Mitarbeiter der Fahndungsabteilung waren auch sehr interessant. Allerdings empfand ich den Erzählstil des Autors zeitweise als zu langwierig, was die an sich spannende Handlung stark verlangsamte. Dagegen war die Begegnung Winters mit dem Psychopathen zu kurz und grob.

Andrea Camilleri: Die schwarze Seele des Sommers

Es ist August, die Sonne brennt, alle sind im Urlaub - bis auf Commissario Montalbano. Und nun soll er auch noch eine am Meer gelegene Villa suchen, weil Freunde aus dem Norden dort ihre Ferien verbringen wollen. Das ist schnell erledigt, alle sind zufrieden - bis zu dem Tag, an dem der Sohn der Urlauber plötzlich spurlos im Innern der Villa verschwindet. Als Montalbano sich auf die Suche begibt, stellt sich heraus, dass sich unter dem Fundament des Gebäudes ein zweites Haus befindet, von dessen Existenz niemand etwas wusste. Während der Junge bald wohlbehalten wiedergefunden wird, findet Montalbano die Leiche einer Frau, die seit sechs Jahren als vermisst gilt. Doch das ist erst der Anfang einer dunklen Reise in die Vergangenheit...

Camilleris Geschichte ist ein sehr kurzweiliger und spannender Krimi, der das sommerliche Sizilien bestens vermittelt. Als Leser fühlt man mit Salvo Montalbano, wenn er versucht das Böse zu bekämpfen, aber dabei selber immer wieder an die Grenzen des Erlaubten stösst und diese auch überschreitet. Die Beschreibungen von Montalbano, der den Strand, die Villetti am Meer und die vorzüglichen Speisen genießt, lassen den Leser selbst auf Reisen gehen und machen zudem die Hauptfigur besonders liebenswert.

Masha Hamilton: The Camel Bookmobile

Once a fortnight, the nomadic settlement of Madidima, set deep in the dusty Kenyan desert, awaits the arrival of three camels laden down with panniers of books. This is the Camel Bookmobile, a scheme set up to bring books to scattered tribes whose daily life is dominated by drought, famine and disease. Kanika, a young girl who lives with her grandmother, devours every book she can lay her hands on. Her best friend is Taban aka Scar Boy, a child who was mauled at the age of three by a hyena. They are joined by Matani the village teacher, his alluring wife Jwahir and the drummaker Abayomi, as well as Mr Abasi, the camel driver, who is convinced that one of the camels is possessed by the spirit of his dead mother-in-law. The only condition of The Camel Bookmobile is that every book must be returned or else the visits will cease. Then one day a book disappears...

This is an interesting story about assumptions and learning and teaching. Although Fi is very enthusiastic about bringing literature into the desert, she is also ignorant about how much she needs to learn herself rather than teach others. In their own nomadic lifestyle the villagers of Madidima are more civilised than Fi in her New York style will ever be. I loved the book although I found that it ended too quickly. It would have been great to go on for some more. However, the ending was very plausible anything other than Mididima "disappearing" would have been cheesy...

Donna Leon: Brunetti 16 - Suffer the little children

When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior pediatrician whose skull has been fractured, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three Carabinieri have burst into the doctor’s apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and taken away his eighteen-month old baby. What can have motivated such a violent assault by the police? But then Brunetti begins to uncover a story of infertility, desperation, and an underworld in which babies can be bought for cash, at the same time as Inspector Vianello uncovers a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But one of the pharmacists is motivated by more than thoughts of gain - the power of knowledge and delusions of moral rectitude can be as destructive and powerful as love of money. And the uses of information about one's neighbours can lead to all kinds of corruption and all sorts of pain…

This was a quick and interesting crime story although it was not in the typical fashion of Donna Leon. There were many sections where Brunetti and Paola or Vianello are discussing ethical issues relating to having children illegally and then having those taken away to orphanages.

Sarah Dunant: Sacred Hearts

1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent. This is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul.

Although the storyline did not sound gripping, this novel has been one of my most favourite reads ever. The personal stories around Suora Zuana, novice Serafina, Suora Umiliana and abbess Madonna Chiara and the other members of the convent are well interwoven with the church reformations outside the convent walls. I would not have chosen to read this book had it not been featured on the book club. Also, the references to the bible and the fact that the psalms used have been chosen to match the stories make this book an irresistible read.