This is a well-written, thoughtfully plotted, suspenseful story with finely nuanced characters and natural sounding dialog.

The author excels when it comes to interpersonal conflict. The scenes between two officers, Kevin Flynn and Hadley Knox, were especially well done.

With many issues to work through, the story's central crime—an act of arson aimed at covering up a double murder—almost recedes into the background. While the couple's complex relationship was engaging, the very pregnant Clare's active involvement in getting the bad guys strains credulity.

A tightly crafted story puts the reader right in the middle of a multi-layered mystery, exploration and insight into personal relationships, life-changing reveals and decisions. The story teems with suspense and offers enough twists and turns along the way to keep the reader eager to read more.

I always eagerly anticipate Louise Penny's next Chief Inspector Gamache novel, in this case "How the Light Gets In.'' This novel might just be the best in the series so far. The writing, plot and character development are excellent. When I finished the last page I said to myself, "over already?"

Penny writes about a subject much in the news today, cyber hacking and government corruption, and does it nimbly and understandably! Also, I was quite interested in the story of the quintuplets, taking me back to the story of the Dionne sisters.

The recurring theme of Louise Penny's stories is the darkness of the human heart and the ever-present hope for the light to penetrate that darkness. This was well covered in "How the Light Gets In."

Harold Fry is a recent retiree living in a small English village and has a sense of overall failure as a son, as a husband and as a father. His cross-England walking trip to visit an old co-worker begins almost by mistake.

Along the way, Harold meets many other individuals and becomes aware of “the inhumane effort to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday.” He appears to be walking away from the person he used to be and toward the one he wished to be, the theme of pilgrimage.

The author takes establishes Harold and his estranged wife, Maureen, as characters coping with grief and love, to excess. The author also overplays the group of people who want to sponge off the publicity Harold begins receiving. This section drags.

I cheered for Harold and wanted him to overcome his impossible odds, perhaps because he might affirm my and others need to believe we can bring changes in our own lives.

For the most part, I enjoyed the journey.

The book is haunting, sad and lovely. The descriptions of Shanghai are enlightening.

I really enjoyed the book at the beginning. It was interesting to learn about the differences in languages and about aphasia. However, I soon grew to dislike the ponderous descriptions of just about everything.

Xu brings up some interesting ideas and writes well about the claustrophobia of loneliness and the fear of a new city, a new life. The extent to which language makes the self is a fascinating topic. Yet sadly this novel doesn't work; whatever usually transforms a well-planned, sincerely conceived piece of writing into something worth finishing was missing. I only read to the end because I had agreed to write a review.

Alice I Have Been is a fascinating study of human nature during the late19th and early 20th centuries and is well written, especially as a first book.

Written in 3 parts, the book follows Alice’s life from her childhood friendship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to her unwilling but necessary foray into literary fame in her later years. Melanie Benjamin uses the few facts that are known about Alice to craft a story that is heart breaking.

Throughout the entire narrative, from childhood to late adulthood, Alice is genuine and believable.

Alice I Have Been is a novel that stands on its own, for at its core it is simply a moving story of a life blighted by the scrutiny of others. It is more than a story of a young woman famous for her relationship with an older man. The author has brought Alice to life.

I recommend it as a good read but be cautious and do not accept it as truth but only as fiction.

To be honest, I lost interest in this book by the end of the third part and did not finish it -- there are so many terrific books out there. The protagonist engaged me well at the beginning. The prose was easy and fluid. Somewhere, this got lost with a sudden increase in the pace.