>Wild Swans by Jung Chang Diane, I was in London when I saw that in a bookstore. Despite having several books for the trip already, I knew I had to get it. Not only an incredible story of the three women, but a very readable and well researched history of the times. Another book you might like is Legacies by Bette Bao Lord (her husband was the US ambassador to China ). She has first hand stories of a great part of the same history, esp during the cultural revolution (I took a class in college about Chinese History with a professor who thought the cultural revolution was the best thing since sliced bread. I didn't know better then, but if I was a student now I would not have been able to be quiet)

Siobhan - If you haven't read Moggach's other works, then you are in a for a true treat. She is an excellent writer, all her books are unpredictable (important for me), and just good reads. Plus there are quite a few of them... I haven't read a bad one yet. I have just finished up Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy which I enjoyed. I do think I had had been asked to read this during school days, but tbh, I remembered nothing about it except countryside descriptions. Was good though. And then, for my NF read, I whizzed through a new release called The Power of Habit by NYT writer Charles Duhigg. An interesting science-based book about why we have the habits we have, what they look like from micro- to macro-scale (organizational habits etc.) and then how to break them. Not a self-help book, but more along the lines of a Malcom Gladwell type. Good and fast read for me. And then, I am reading an African feminist coming-of-age book which has been recommended by a friend who works in an NGO in Ghana. It's called Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga and a first-person narrative of growing up African in 1960's Rhodesia. Fascinating and the author has an extremely wicked sense of humor. :-)

Vee, the central plot is always kept in adaptations. I thought you had seen this one as you mentioned it around last Christmas when it was shown on the BBC TV. This re-telling was done in a very atmospheric way, all kinds of mood lighting of the scenes and the sex scenes tasteful as part of the plot. One never knows how this will work out as Christie changed the ending herself when the story was adapted as a play. So a new production can keep you guessing. I found the first half rather slow but in the second part things livened up a bit with the added twists. I am not familiar with the lead actors so that made it easier for me to get engrossed in their roles by not recognising them from other productions.

MYSTERIES Conviction BY JULIA DAHL Brooklyn reporter Rebekah Roberts, desperate to escape the sketchy world of tabloid journalism, gets a letter from a man convicted of murdering a family in Crown Heights proclaiming his innocence. His story hooks her and sets her off on an investigation that tests her loyalty to people closest to her. — Hallie Ephron Cast the First Stone BY JAMES W. ZISKIN In 1962 Hollywood, journalist Ellie Stone is assigned to write a profile on a hometown boy who’s just landed a big role in a film — and then goes missing. Full of humor and intrigue, the book examines Hollywood’s dehumanizing ideals as Ellie goes toe-to-toe with the Don Drapers of the film business. — Hallie Ephron Crime Song BY DAVID SWINSON A former police detective turned PI is the novel’s morally compromised, drug-addicted anti-hero. In an understated, dialogue-driven narrative (think: “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”) set in Washington, D.C., Frank Marr soon regrets agreeing to check up on a cousin who may be dealing drugs. — Hallie Ephron Darktown BY THOMAS MULLEN Set in Atlanta after World War II, this police procedural features the city’s first black cops, who face abuse and disrespect from white cops because they’re black and from black citizens because they’re cops. Complications mount when they’re blocked from questioning a white man suspected of murdering a young black woman. — Hallie Ephron The Girl Before BY J.P. DELANEY This psychological thriller weaves the tales of two traumatized women (“Now-Emma” and “Then-Jane”). Seeking solace and healing in different time frames, each rents the same minimalist, high-tech house after passing muster from the creepy architect-owner. Are they being haunted or is it all an elaborate test? Read it before Ron Howard turns it into a movie. — Hallie Ephron The Lies We Tell BY THERESA SCHWEGEL In Chicago, police detective Gina Simonetti is trying to keep her own debilitating health issues under wraps so she can hang onto her job and keep fostering her delightful toddler niece. We get the human and professional side of a police officer in crisis as she goes after a man who brutalizes women. — Hallie Ephron The Switch BY JOSEPH FINDER Returning from a business trip Michael Tanner inadvertently walks off with the wrong laptop computer after going through airport security. Tanner’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he takes a peek to see what’s on it. Big mistake. Perfect for fans of “The Fugitive.” — Hallie Ephron A Twist of the Knife BY BECKY MASTERMAN In a gripping third entry of this powerhouse series, ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn agrees to help her former partner exonerate a man convicted of killing his wife and three children, even though Brigid thinks he did it. Meanwhile, she discovers some uncomfortable truths about her dying police-officer father. — Hallie Ephron Unsub BY MEG GARDINER An adrenaline-fueled rush, this series first has newly minted narcotics detective Caitlyn Hendrix reassigned to homicide so she can track down a sadistic serial killer, the Prophet. Her father was the lead detective who failed to bring him to justice 20 years ago. Shades of “Silence of the Lambs” and the Zodiac Killer. — Hallie Ephron The Force BY DON WINSLOW Winslow brings incisively-researched details, gut-wrenching plotlines, and infinite heart to his all-too-real, highly compassionate tale of decorated New York City cop Denny Malone, who isn’t as clean as he seems and has drawn the notice of the feds. — Daneet Steffens Since We Fell BY DENNIS LEHANE Lehane’s terrific tour-de-force kicks off with a journalist determinedly searching for her long-lost father, and — after her public, on-the-job breakdown — deftly evolves into a crafty and nuanced page-turner. — Daneet Steffens The Woman From Prague BY ROB HART Accidental spying comes just as naturally as accidental private investigating to Ash McKenna: a mellow three months in Prague comes to a screeching halt when he encounters an evil blackmailer, a Russian assassin, and a femme fatale. — Daneet Steffens Magpie Murders BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ This double-barreled puzzler involving a mystery writer whose work begins to anticipate real events cleverly melds vintage English-village crime fiction with a snarky contemporary murder mystery. A literary sparkler that is effervescent, riveting, and fun. — Daneet Steffens The Child BY FIONA BARTON A gruesome discovery under a London house drives journalist Kate Waters to pursue a missing-baby story, but, this being a Barton thriller, there’s more to pretty much everything than meets the eye. — Daneet Steffens Based on a True Story BY DELPHINE DE VIGAN TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY GEORGE MILLER When a writer befriends a ghostwriter, the scene is set for a tension-filled tale about a tangled, stifling relationship that gleefully channels both Stephen King’s “Misery” and 1992’s “Single White Female.” — Daneet Steffens The Daughter of Time BY JOSEPHINE TEY An injured policeman spends his hospital time ruminating over the mystery of Richard III and whether the king, in fact, had his nephews murdered. An elegant and provocative crime-fiction classic. — Daneet Steffens The Martin Beck police procedurals BY MAJ SJÖWALL AND PER WAHLÖÖ TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH BY VARIOUS TRANSLATORS Start with “Roseanna,” first published in Sweden in 1965, and don’t stop until you’ve read all 10 installments of this original — and still one of the best — Nordic noir series. — Daneet Steffens Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less BY JEFFREY ARCHER In this pitch-perfect caper, when a millionaire tricks four men out of their money, they decide to get their revenge — and their money — by conning him right back. — Daneet Steffens Quiet as a Nun BY ANTONIA FRASER The first of Fraser’s entertaining mysteries featuring television journalist Jemima Shore sees Shore returning to her old convent school when a nun dies in an ancient tower under suspicious circumstances. — Daneet Steffens SPORTS Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship on and off the Court AND Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White BY KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR The prolific Abdul-Jabbar likes to be introduced these days as a writer who used to play some basketball. “Coach Wooden” demonstrates how a progressive black Muslim and a conservative white Christian can create a friendship based on respect, curiosity, and open minds. “Writings on the Wall” explores the nation’s most critical social issue more thoughtfully than any politician has done and actually offers hope. — Bill Littlefield Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son BY PAUL DICKSON The biography by a veteran sportswriter makes a case for the cocky and combative star shortstop and legendary manager as both charming and insufferable, which sounds about right for the guy who both championed Jackie Robinson’s arrival in Brooklyn and insulted him as fat and slow. — Bill Littlefield The Bittersweet Science: Fifteen Writers in the Gym, in the Corner, and at Ringside EDITED BY CARLO ROTELLA AND MICHAEL EZRA Essays by journalists, fiction writers, and people in the game examine the sportboxing as business, cultural curiosity, and craft. The piece titled “Why I Fixed Fights” by Charles Farrell is especially instructive, even for those who don’t aspire to fix fights. — Bill Littlefield Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. The United States of America, 1966-1971 BY LEIGH MONTVILLE Montville, who has written for the Globe and Sports Illustrated, has accomplished the unlikely: He’s written a fresh, ambitious book about one of the most written-about men in the history of sports or anything else. Shouldn’t have been surprised. He’s a writer who never disappoints. — Bill Littlefield Kill The Ámpaya! The Best Latin American Baseball Fiction EDITED AND TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY DICK CLUSTER This collection reminds us through baseball stories that people are just people — a crucial lesson in these times when some of our leaders apparently don’t feel that immigrants qualify for that distinction. — Bill Littlefield You’re Welcome, Cleveland: How I Helped LeBron James Win a Championship and Save a City BY SCOTT RAAB Embittered superfan Raab provides the antidote to his own gonzo excoriation of James for leaving the Cavs as a free agent before bringing home a championship (“The Whore of Akron: One Man’s Search for the Soul of LeBron James”). While the first book was bile-driven and hilarious, the second is a father-and-son-centered celebration of the return of the prodigal star and paradise found. In Cleveland. — Bill Littlefield The Range Bucket List: The Golf Adventure of a Lifetime BY JAMES DODSON Golf writer Dodson has characterized this book as his “love letter to Arnold Palmer.” It’s that and more, and the “more” includes his revealing and entertaining account of a luncheon four years ago with Donald and Eric Trump at one of their clubs. All the signs were there. — Bill Littlefield Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter BY CRAIG HODGES WITH RORY FANNING Hodges makes his case that he was blackballed by pro basketball for his political activism and inclination to encourage Michael Jordan et al to consider such matters as black history and social responsibility. Hodges sued the NBA in 1996, four years after being waived by the Bulls and drawing scant interest from the other teams. — Bill Littlefield Champion of the World BY CHAD DUNDAS Dundas’s debut novel harkens back to the 1920s, the days before professional wrestling became fake. It follows the unlikely comeback attempt of former-champ-turned-circus-performer Pepper Van Dean in a world of gangsters, bootleggers, and stacked decks. — Bill Littlefield