This is a great book, really two love stories spanning two generations set in North Borneo (WWII, now Malaysia), Vancouver and The Netherlands. It is a compelling story of secrets and sorrows of the past, and grief and loss (a phrase: “ routine .. to keep their thoughts contained”). This may be the only time I have recommended two books by the same author in a single month.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/474662.Certainty?from_search=true
A fierce story of Mala, a multi-layered individual: fiercely protective of her sister after her mother leaves; driven to murder by sexual abuse by her father; an interesting issue of her sanity when she is institutionalized. A book filled with vivid characters. (This is also on the CBC list; last month I recommended Valmiki’s Daughter)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111653.Cereus_Blooms_at_Night?from_search=true
This is a heartbreaking story of Cambodia in the 1970s, horrors that persist two decades later in Canada. A haunting phrase: “Hunger was erasing my being”; reality becomes blurred in such horrible circumstances. Thien was at Blue Metropolis last May in Montreal.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10129122-dogs-at-the-perimeter
A very good mystery by a Canadian author (chosen from the CBC List of 100 Authors who make us proud to be a Canadian). This is a plot-driven mystery, so not much description of place. An intrepid private eye solves several murders, with the usual corrupt police force. There is a good surprise at the ending!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16072980-a-tap-on-the-window
Hugo is obnoxious, cynical and bitter with self-loathing, so a thoroughly unpleasant person who has chosen to be a hermit. His choice of suicide to end his life (spoiler alert) is thwarted leading to a not entirely satisfactory ending but the writing is excellent throughout. (You may remember that I recommended another Christensen book 
last month, The Great Man)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/148216.The_Epicure_s_Lament
A beautiful story about books, a grumpy bookstore owner, and a publisher’s rep – what’s not too love! And there is an adoptive child as well. The story is unabashedly sentimental and both funny and sad – a real pleasure to read.
A 3-way story: a man who dies accidentally, his wife, and the woman he was having an affair with. It is not so much a story of infidelity but what secrets need to be hidden.
This is a horrible story about abusive life within a Jehovah’s Witness family, told from the viewpoint of the 11 year old daughter. Combination of desperate guilt and cruelty.
An engaging story set in Australia and NY, about difficulties in relationships by someone who probably has Aspergers syndrome. The interesting feature is the degree to which one’s odd personality can be compensated for (sorry for the awkward sentence).
Note from Amy: Sequel is the Rosie Effect.
What David Read 