





I thoroughly enjoyed the thriller The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo. It is a sequel to Redbreast but not essential you read that first. Det Harry Hole investigates a serial killer who leaves a five pointed star marked near his victims. Hole is also trying to expose his nemesis, Tom Waaler, a corrupt cop. The story has many twists and turns before the thrilling finale. 5/5


This beautifully haunting story The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell is very well written in an unusual "unstructured" style. Iris learns she has an elderly great-aunt, Esme, being released from an asylum after 60 years. Is Esme really insane? Why did her family put her there in the 1930s? The reader follows Esme's life as well as Iris's life and see how they will eventually interact. Esme was a high-spirited teenager who did not "conform" to her family's idea of how a young woman should behave - but why was she "punished" in this dreadful way? 5/5
I enjoyed this wonderful story The Help by Kathryn Stockett which was set in Mississippi in 1962. The story is told in the first person by three of the characters - Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black maids working for white families and Skeeter is an aspiring white journalist and writer who persuades these maids and others to tell their stories. In this environment, this is a very dangerous enterprise and secrecy is essential. The reader is faced with some of the realities of black people living in this time, some of which seem ridiculous to our 21st century minds. For example, black people's urine carries more diseases than white people's - seems laughable now but the consequences for black people at that time using a "white" toilet could be tragic. The author wrote with authority and experience as someone who grew up being served by a black maid, so she brings that personal knowledge as well as her research to write a suspenseful, unputdownable book that keeps you thinking. Highly recommended. 5/5


I very much enjoyed The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. This cleverly written book is set in Guernsey shortly after World War II. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war and the islanders suffered as a consequence. After the War, writer Juliet Ashton in London receives a letter from Dawsey Adams from Guernsey and so a correspondence begins. The story is told through letters, a literary device that works brilliantly in this book. This is a literary masterpiece, but sadly we shall read no more from this first-time author as she died prior to publication. Highly recommended. 5/5
I thoroughly enjoyed Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. The story is set in a circus in 1930s America but first we are introduced to 93 year old Jacob Jankowski in a nursing home. Jacob looks back to his time in the circus and the hard times that they were in that period. There is a love interest and the story moves along at a good pace. This is a terrific story - highly recommended 5/5.


I thoroughly enjoyed the much awaited The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson, the third of his brilliant "Millennium Trilogy". The wonderful character Lisbeth Salander is in a "tricky situation" (can't say too much in case you haven't read book two). She is accused of three murders and her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist fights to prove her innocence. This is excellent writing of the "can't put it down" variety, a book you want to finish but can't bear it when the story is over. We want more from this great writer but sadly that cannot be. Very highly recommended (but read the books in order). 5/5

I very much enjoyed The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. This cleverly written book is set in Guernsey shortly after World War II. Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war and the islanders suffered as a consequence. After the War, writer Juliet Ashton in London receives a letter from Dawsey Adams from Guernsey and so a correspondence begins. The story is told through letters, a literary device that works brilliantly in this book. This is a literary masterpiece, but sadly we shall read no more from this first-time author as she died prior to publication. Highly recommended. 5/5
