I have tried to read this book about three times. I have gotten about 1/4 of the way. I get that the author wants to try some new type of narrative, but it just doesn't work. None of the characters seem very interesting or even nice. The plot doesn't make a great deal of sense, with a killer running around a new about to be open hotel. There doesn't seem to be any motive. A real turn off is when the main character has her hand cut with a knife and is bleeding while she is also trying to keep from laughing at this strange guy who just dropped into her life. I really feel this is beyond a rewrite. Sorry.

This is a new author for me. While I found the book a bit slow; however, some of the descriptions were really interesting. I would like to read some more of his books. The plot had a few too many twists and turns and I really had a hard time getting to know and like the characters.

I volunteered to read Tides of War because I like historical fiction and I hoped to learn more about this period of history. If I had just gotten this book out of the library or had decided to buy it, I would not have finished it. Out of respect to the author, I read the book to the bitter end. I kept wishing the writer would find her story teller voice and that the book would get better. Sadly, it never did. This is a complex story with lots of characters; however, none of them are fully developed. Rather than a novel, this is a collection of small vignettes of several different stories. Just when a scene began to have some drama and characterization, the author dropped the curtain and moved the action. Neither of the main characters, Harriet or her new husband Captain James Raven is especially likable. Their infidelities do not inspire passion or even much interest. As a reader, I felt disappointed that there wasn’t more about the Irish involvement in the conflict. There were bits and pieces of battle field scenes, medical history and development of gas lighting in London which seemed unrelated to the plot.

Louis Penny’s, A Trick of the Light, is the seventh in her series set in Three Pines a fictitious small town near Montreal. This is a new author for me and I loved the book. Penny is a skilled writer and has crafted her story so that it can stand alone. Unlike many mystery series that depend on a major detective, in this case Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, this writer has created a montage of several characters as part of the investigative staff and the members of a small Canadian town. Indeed, I was more interested in the psychological development of Clara and her husband as well as Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, Gamache’s assistant than in the actual murder. When the book ended, I wanted more. I am now going to read the rest of the series.

This is an intelligent piece of light fiction with realistic descriptions of 16th century London. I especially liked the boat rides on the Thames. At the beginning of reading, I was worried that the plot was going to focus too much on the occult or supernatural. Lucky for me this is just a great mystery. This would not be book for my book club, but I will certainly recommend it to my friends. I also think the book would make a great TV mini-series.

I found this an interesting read. The story is a nice blend of modern and old Vietnamese culture. There are few books in English which deal with this period of North Vietnam history. The characters are interesting and the story includes information about cooking and visual art two of my favorite subjects. I also appreciated that the author did not seem to have any political slants and just told a story.

I wasn’t sure that I was going to like this novel when I first started reading. By the time I got to the third chapter, I was hooked. The central character is Li Jing, a bilingual Chinese business man. An accident leaves him with a type of autism which lets him only able to speak English. Most of the story is told through the experiences of Meiling, Li Jing’s wife and Dr. Rosalyn Neal an American neurologist hired to help Li Jing recover his linguistic skills. While the plot revolves around a traditional love triangle, Ruiyan Zu brings some insightful and sensitive descriptions to several emotional scenes. I wished that there had been more description of Shanghai as I enjoy reading about different places. This is a good first novel and I would like to read more by this author.

While this is meant to be a light read, flaws in the time line and character development seriously impede a reader’s pleasure. In Death Echo, the reader is expected to believe that a private consulting firm accepts a request by some government agency to chase down a yacht that is going to somehow destroy a major US city using biological, chemical, or fissionable methods. The selected agent, our heroine, Emma is given the assignment on the spot at 9 AM in Manhattan. By the afternoon of the same day she is on a Zodiac in Puget Sound, Washington. No mention was made of magic carpets or even private jets. Later she manages to link up with a handsome partner on the yacht in question. Our couple is attracted to each other instantly. They have a hard time keeping focused on the tasks at hand; and the dialogue between the two of them is contrived and too cute for words. About half way through the book the plot picks up and there are some interesting story line twists. This book needs some editorial help.

Ms Min not only captures Pearl Buck’s love for China and her people, she also includes the spirit of Chinese literary traditions. While this short novel may appear to be very simple, it can be read on many levels. In addition to Pearl Buck, there are many interesting characters: her father, Absalom; Pearl’s mother, Carie; Pearl’s friend Willow who is the narrator; Willow’s father, Papa; Willow’s husband, Dick Lin and even a Chinese war lord called Pumpkin Emperor. Many of the major characters are challenged to test their core beliefs in order to survive. At the end of the book, Papa comes home comes from his fourth arrest for spreading poisonous thoughts. He avoids torture by a quick confession. He quotes a Chinese saying: “A hero is someone who doesn’t swim against the current.” He explains his strategy as a way to avoid unnecessary sacrifices.

The story spans the period from the Boxer rebellion to present day. The historical background is a bit thin for the many interesting and complex characters presented. Nevertheless it is a wonderful book and should be a great selection for book clubs.

The Fifth Servant was a real disappointment. I really wanted to like this book. I have visited Prague and found it a beautiful and interesting city. I was looking forward to learning more about its complex history. Instead this novel was more like a lecture on comparative religion with a confusing murder mystery. The book is well researched and contains all sorts of historical information about medical practices, torture used during the inquisition and prejudices the Christians of that period had about Jews. Unfortunately these little scenes were sort of dropped into the story line with out a clear link to the plot. Likewise, the marital problems of the protagonist included to give the character some back story could have been omitted entirely. The glossary with this edition only included about a third of the expressions and terms used in the story. Some were explained in context others were not. I had the feeling that the author began with a collection of historical events and settings about this period and then tried to weave a murder mystery into the text.

Although this novel includes the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, it is not a sequel to the author’s popular novel The Shadow of the Wind. It is set in Barcelona and includes many elements of a gothic horror story: old houses, hidden rooms, secrets, decay and mysterious characters. The reader can decide if the book includes any ghosts. Zafon is a really good story teller. The descriptive passages about views of the city from various vantage points make it almost like a surrealistic travel log. Many book clubs will really want to add this title to their reading list.