Gail Tsukiyama is an author I greatly admired. Her "Samurai's Garden" is one of my favorite books, for its exquisite prose, dignity, nobility and simplicity. "A Hundred Flowers" is marked by the same simplicity, nobility and dignity. Set during Mao's cultural revolution, it …more shows us the impact of the revolution from the multiple viewpoints of family members. Each narrator (boy, mother, grandfather and aunt/family friend) provides a unique view of the same events while revealing deeply personal information. It is a moving affirmation of life during a difficult period in Chinese history. (less)

Charles Todd books are favorites of mine, particularly the Inspector Rutledge series. I am having trouble getting interested in their new Bess Crawford series, which follows a British army nurse in France during World War I. As opposed to Rutledge, there is simply not much …more depth to this character. Moreover, Jacqueline Winspear covers this topic so much better in her Maisie Dodds series. (less)