The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, 2009. Very good book, the story told by our friend the grim reaper as he gathers many souls during WW II in Molching, Germany. Liesle is the main character and the thief. Characters you grow to love. Sad, but good.

My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story by Abraham Verghese, 1995. I liked Cutting for Stone so much I bought the other two books he wrote. Here he tells the story of his return in the fall 1985 with his wife and newborn son to Johnson City, Tennessee, where he had done his internship and residence. He is the doctor of infectious diseases dealing with AIDS as it infects the small town. This is a well written memoir that reads like a novel.

And a good mystery, Beyond Reach by Graham Hurley. Again we are left wondering where Winter will end up. The doubting detective is good – does police action do more harm than good? Set in Portsmoth UK, DI Faraday seems to be questioning his career.