Helen Adams comes to Vietnam as a photojournalist after her brother is killed in the war.  She is a fairly inexperienced photographer and comes as a “tourist of war.”  She meets other journalists and begins to learn from them, particularly Sam Darrow who she also becomes involved with.  During this time she goes from doing human interest stories to combat missions and capturing the death, destruction, and meaningful moments for people involved.  With her camera she feels that she can capture the truth of the war.

The third person who plays an important role is Linh, who works with both Helen and Darrow.  He is Vietnamese and has been part of both the NVA and SVA at different times and then is a photographer with the Americans.  He helps Helen and Darrow navigate his country, his war.

While the characters are beautifully written and I am interested in their relationships and what happens between them, the real story for me was Vietnam.  There are descriptions of the country that just bring you right in, and then there is the war, the battles, the soldiers.  This book took me through so many different emotions from fear, anxiety, grief and hope.  I can’t imagine the bravery of those who were actually there.

I would highly recommend this book.  I did feel that it ended kind of quickly, but otherwise felt it was perfect.

Celia returns home to confess her new truth and to talk with the other girls who were there that day.  As she talks with them she learns that they all remember seeing the car and that no one believes what she remembers about Djuna falling into a hole.  She does learn more about her friendship with Djuna and some of the bullying that they had done to one of the girls who wanted to be their friend.  Celia’s family and her boyfriend are able to open up with her about things that have been under the surface and unsaid for a long time.  The book ends without knowing if Celia is able to move forward in her life after addressing these issues in her past.

This was a very interesting book and a fast read.  I found myself liking Celia even after learning about some of the horrible bullying that she took part in as a young girl.  It brought back memories of how mean children can be to each other and how serious small things seem.  I wanted to know what the real version of the truth was, and I was thankful that the author included a short page at the end telling what happened.

Rose meets a fortune teller who tells her that she needs to choose either herself or her husband, that one of them must die for the other to live.  Rose heeds this to some extent and works up the courage to leave, going on a cross country journey to find her mother and discover more of her history.  Her husband is following behind trying to find her.

I liked this book.  I thought that it was a quick entertaining read and that it also addressed a serious issue.  Rose gave a real glimpse of what it might be like to be in an abusive marriage and the process that a person would have to go through before deciding to leave.  I will definitely look for more by this author.

Frank is drawn back to his home by the discovery of a suitcase belonging to a girl named Rosie.  Rosie was Frank’s childhood sweetheart and on the night he left Faithful Place his plan had been to meet Rosie and go with her to London where they were going to get married and build a better life for themselves.  However Rosie never showed and Frank left on his own after finding a note from Rosie that made him think that she had backed out.

Frank is drawn into the mystery of revisiting his past and trying to figure out what really happened to Rosie that night.  He also is drawn back into the drama of his family.  He has two brothers and sisters who welcome him home with mixed reactions as well as an alcoholic father to deal with.  Frank learns how his past and present are not as far removed from each other as he had imagined.

I enjoyed this book and read it fast.  The family dynamics were interesting and I wanted to know what had happened to Rosie.  Frank was actually introduced in The Likeness (Tana French’s second book) and I liked that there was a little connection with her earlier books. I definitely recommend any of her books, however I would start with In the Woods and work my way from there.

Elizabeth and James, her mother and step-father, try to figure out what Rosie is truly doing and how best to parent her.  Rosie is an expert liar, or at least is full of half-truths about where she is going and what she is doing.  She has two good friends who she does everything with and always feels not quite good enough when she compares herself to them.  Rosie uses both prescription and hard drugs and is very good at disguising it.  She justifies it to herself that she gets good grades and works part time so she can’t really have a problem.  Elizabeth is a recovering alcoholic and she is working hard at taking care of herself as well as taking care of Rosie.

I didn’t necessarily think that the plot was exceptional in this book.  However the language that Ann Lamott uses is just beautiful.  She has a quick wit and says things that just feel so true that it helps to make the book a good one.  At one point Elizabeth describes Rosie as her “outside heart” which I just loved.  Overall I thought it was good book and I was happy that I read it.  It made me want to go back and re-read Rosie and Crooked Little Heart.

The Help takes place in the early 1960s in Jackson Mississippi.  The story is told through three different narrators with three very distinct voices and perspectives.  Skeeter is a young white woman who has just graduated from college and is hoping to pursue a career in writing or journalism.  She did not get married during college as many of her friends did and is looking to find a way to start her career.  Skeeter is part of the Women’s League and plays bridge with her best friends, Elizabeth and Hilly, yet she yearns to do something more real.  Elizabeth and Hilly both are young married women with young children and are learning how to manage a home.

Aibileen is Miss Elizabeth’s maid.  She takes care of the home and takes care of Mae Mobley, Elizabeth’s child.  She is in her late 40s, early 50s and says that she has raised a total of 17 children in her different jobs.  Her own son was killed about two years before and she is still grieving this loss.  Aibileen mentions to Skeeter at one point that her son had started writing about what it was like working for a white man and this gives Skeeter an idea to interview the maids in Jackson about what it is like to be in their shoes.  The good and the bad.  This is a daring and dangerous idea and every maid who participates risks their jobs, their lives, their homes.

Minny is the third narrator, and Aibileen’s best friend.  She has been fired from numerous jobs as a maid because she is a woman who speaks her mind and this does not agree with many of her employers.  After her last job, with Hilly’s mother, Hilly has spread rumors that she stole which made it almost impossible to find a new job.  Aibileen helps her find one with a white woman who is an outcast from the rest of the women in town and who seems unaware of how maids are usually treated.

Skeeter writes the stories of many of the maids in town and works to publish their side in an anonymous way to protect their safety.  While doing this she explores her own history, thoughts and life in relation to how she grew up and what she was taught to believe.  I feel like this summary I am writing does not even begin to give the book justice.  The relationships were so strong and the characters so real.  I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next and my heart went out to many of the people in the book.  I can’t recommend this book enough.

The Treverton family comes to British East Africa with different dreams.  Val Treverton buys 5000 acres to establish a great coffee farm.  He builds a beautiful estate and tries to capture the wealth and luxury that he experienced in England in an even greater scale in Kenya.  While he is primarily interested in himself, he is a likable character.  His wife Rose fades into the background for the majority of the story.  She likes to be fairly isolated and keeps to herself in a eucalyptus glade.  Val’s sister Dr. Grace Treverton comes to develop a medical mission to bring medicine and healing to Africans.

Mama Wachera is a medicine woman who lived on the Trevertons land.  After Val shows complete disregard for her traditions and the beliefs of her people she puts a curse on his family until the white people are gone from the land and it falls back to those who originally owned it.  After a time of prosperity, this curse seems to play itself out as tragedy falls upon the Treverton family.

The Trevertons remain as Dr. Grace expands her mission and works hard to build relationships with the Kenyan people.  She works to educate and provide health care and bravely challenges traditions that cause harm.  Dr. Grace ends up raising the next two generations of Trevertons and shows strength and wisdom through it all.  Mama Wachera also raises generations of children and in a parallel way shows strength.  I appreciated that this book very much celebrated strong women.

These two families interact time and again.  Throughout these interactions it is clear that they both have a love for Kenya and have different ideas about what is best for the country.  Kenya changes during the Mau Mau uprising and the fight for independence.  However the images and descriptions of the spirit of Kenya seem the same.  Part of my enjoyment of this book were the images of a place that I would love to see.  I also liked that it contained history, romance and strong characters.  There were parts that I read quickly through but for the most part I enjoyed the story and was interested in what would happen next.  I will need to look for more books by Barbara Wood.

The story goes back in forth between the present time as Framboise starts a popular restaurant out of her farm using recipes and techniques taught to her by her mother.  Her mother had left her a book filled with recipes and her thoughts and journal entries mixed in.  As Framboise starts to read through her mothers thoughts she too begins to remember what took place when she was nine years old.

Framboise had an older brother and sister.  She found out that they were trading information to the Germans in order to receive treats such as chocolate and magazines.  Framboise becomes charmed with one of the German soldiers and she also begins to share knowledge of other villagers.  The children reassure each other that nothing really comes of this information that they give because they are, after all, children and who really believes children.  However even in their conversation with each other you can sense the concern that they do not truly understand what they are doing and they know that they don’t understand it.  Their father has been killed in the war and all three of them form a special attachment to Tomas who is their main contact for trading information for goods.  Their mother is a hard worker who is very strict and stern.  She suffers terrible migraines, particularly if she smells any oranges, and Framboise uses this against her in order for the children to have hours of freedom.

Eventually something happens to a soldier and in retaliation the Germans kill ten civilians from the village.  The blame of the villagers dying is put on Framboise mother and her household.  They leave and Framboise tries to hide who she is to pretty much anyone that she knows.  This works until family members find out about her mother’s journal and begin to do what they can to find out what they can about their history.

This was a fast moving book that was beautifully written.  I loved the images of fruit and food and how that was tied in with the story.

Nick begins to treat a six-year-old named Charlie who was burned in a fire at a school mate’s home.  Since they live in a small town and Nick also has a six-year old child Tessa quickly becomes involved in the rumor mill of what happened and how Charlie’s mother should/should not be reacting.  Valerie is Charlie’s single mother and already had felt like an outcast in the small prestigious community.  Valerie stays by Charlie’s side as he recovers from his burns and becomes closer to Nick who, as Charlie’s doctor, is visiting every day.  The line between a professional and personal relationship get blurred as Nick and Valerie become more interested in each other.  Tessa knows that something has changed in her marriage but does not know quite what is wrong or how to fix it.

In this story all of the characters are very likable.  Nick helps injured children and both Valerie and Tessa are trying to do their best to protect and care for their own children.  While I liked this book, I did like some of Emily Griffin’s earlier books better.  I would recommend this if you are looking for a good easy read.

The book starts with Mikael, a financial journalist, losing a libel suit in court.  He is trying to figure out what to do with himself as he fears his reputation is now tainted and he knows he has several months in jail ahead of him.  Henrik Vanger is a wealthy retired businessman who hires Mikael at a large salary to spend a year living in the Vanger family compound where his niece, Harriet, went missing many years ago.  Mikael is to write a biography on the family but also to review the disappearance case in one last effort to figure out what happened.  Mikael agrees mainly because Henrik also promises information against the person who Mikael lost the libel suit against.

Mikael ends up being fascinated by the project and by the characters that he meets in the Vanger family.  He ends up hiring Lisbeth, a young woman (with a dragon tattoo) who does thorough research on just about anyone, to assist him and she too becomes very involved in the mystery of what happened to Harriet.  Many people in the Vanger family want the research to stop due to different personal reasons and Mikael begins to be threatened.

This book moved very quickly once I got into it.  The first chapter or two were a little slow, but once I got past that I couldn’t wait to find out what happened.  One of the main themes in this book was violence against women.  I was interested to learn that the original title to this book was Men Who Hate Women.  I liked that Lisbeth was a strong prominent part of this book.   There are two more books in this trilogy and I can’t wait to read what happens next.