And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini

Read on the Kindle for Book Club, Francesca's choice. We've already read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

This is a sprawling tale, which starts with Abdullah and his sister Pari on a journey to Kabul with their father.  The book will go back in time to before the children were born, and will end when they are both in old age, and will take in many other characters and countries.

The wars in Afghanistan are glossed over in favour of more personal stories and journeys, and the significance of choices made under duress.

Maybe not the most popular of recent Book Club choices, but I enjoyed the interwoven stories and the satisfying ending.

Flight Behaviour, Barbara Kingsolver

Read on the Kindle. I chose this book because it was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction, along with Bring up the Bodies, Life After Life and Where'd you go, Bernadette. I'd also enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible a couple of years ago.

Dellarobia walks up the hill behind the house she shares with husband Cub.  She is going to start an affair so leaves her glasses behind.  She is confronted by a spectacle akin to a burning bush, and takes it as a sign to go back to her house, and her un-fulfilling life.  The spectacle turns out to be a phenomenon of nature - a gathering of Monarch butterflies which bring to Dellarobia's quiet mountain town all manner of outsiders.

Several themes are woven together in this book; Dellarobia's realisation of how trapped she has become, long held family secrets which come to life, and an ecological thread concerning why the butterflies have appeared in the Appalachian mountains and not their usual over-wintering habitat in Mexico.

I felt for Dellarobia, and her claustrophobic life, living in a house on her in-laws farm, and I found the gradual widening of her world to be believable.  The book is also very nicely crafted.

Submarine, Joe Dunthorne

Read on the Kindle, downloaded for £1.99.  Chosen because I saw the film last year.

Oliver Tate is the "hero" of the story.  He is 15, and trying to help his parents with what he sees as a dysfunctional marriage.  He is friends with one of his school bullies, and has an on-off girl friend who has terrible eczema due to her allergy to her dog.

Oliver is a bit like an updated, and more savvy Adrian Mole, and also a lot like Christopher, the hero of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time in that he seems to either wilfully or accidentally misunderstand what is going on around him. 

Interestingly, the film did away with some of the darker aspects of Oliver's character and more unpleasant incidents in the book, preferring to play for laughs.

Don't think this book will be on my top 10 for the year.

The Invisible Circus, Jennifer Egan

Read on the Kindle, downloaded as a 99p deal at the same time as Trains and Lovers, but it took me until June to get round to it.

I chose this because I'd read A Visit from the Goon Squad last year.  I believe this is an earlier book, and the structure, 'tho still complex, is not as sophisticated.

Phoebe grows up in the 70's in the shadow of her much older and prettier sister, Faith.  At the outset of the book we know that Faith is no longer alive, and it takes the rest of the book to find out what happens to her.  In the meantime, Phoebe takes a road trip through Europe following the postcards that Faith sent to her.

I did enjoy this book, but some of the plot points turn on some very unlikely coincidences and I disliked the character of Faith, so it was hard to care so much about her.

The Vows of Silence, Susan Hill

Read in paperback, borrowed from one of the ladies at work.

The cover of the book proclaims "The New Simon Serrailler Novel".  Not having read any of the previous ones I was a bit dubious about this book, but it turned out that you needn't have read any of the other books, as characters' biographical details were filled in as and when required.

A rogue gunman (or is there more than one?) is terrorising the women of sleepy cathedral town, Lafferton. Can Simon solve the crime before the imminent arrival of the Royals for the Lord Lieutenant's daughter's wedding, whilst wrestling with a tragedy unfolding within his own family.

I did guess the twist before the end. But this book was enjoyable and pacey.  They've got the first two novels on offer as a bundle on Amazon, so I'll probably download those and give them a go.

This is where I am, Karen Campbell

Read on the Kindle, daily deal for £1.39.  I had heard a snippet of this book on Radio 4 book at bedtime and was intrigued.

Newly widowed Deborah needs some meaning in her life so she volunteers with the Scottish Refugee Council.  She is paired up as a mentor with Abdi Hassan, a Somalian refugee who has escaped to the UK with his young daughter Rebecca.  The book is told in Deborah and Abdi's voices in alternating chapters, and whilst Abdi says at the beginning that he would rather have been mentored by a man, the two soon form a bond of friendship.

A chance conversation with Rebecca leads Deborah back to the refugee camp in Africa where Abdi had been staying, and from here the thread of credulity is stretched very thin until the book's ending.

This book gives a heart-breaking insight into the lives of refugees, how they are haunted by their past and terrified by cultural differences in their adopted countries.  It's also full of interesting, well-drawn and believable characters.  A very enjoyable book, let down by its ending.

Ignorance, Michèle Roberts

Read on the Kindle, bought as 99p daily deal.  I'd read some Michèle Roberts years ago, and thought this one would be worth a punt.

More Second World War, but this time in France.  This book follows the very different life stories of childhood friends Jeanne and Marie-Angèle.  One comes from a Jewish family, and her mother has converted to Catholicism after the death of the father.  The other is the daughter of the local grocer.  The book is narrated alternately by these women, and eventually by one of their daughters.  The book's title "Ignorance" comes from the lack of understanding of each other's motivation and the judgement they make about each other as they grow older.

I found this book beautifully written, but very depressing.