Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

Fun fun fun! This is a fun series (starts with "One for the Money") about a bounty hunter in Trenton NJ. Sure the writing isn't fabulous or what would be considered great literature, but they sure are entertaining. Stephanie Plum finds herself a murder suspect for her ex-husband Dickie. All kinds of things happen yet she manages to entangle herself from the mishaps. She can not decide between her two beaus, Joe Morelli (the Italian cop) or Ranger (the stud bounty hunter/who knows what he really does). We find out Tank's real name is Pierre! It was just the book I needed after the serious ones I've read lately.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

This was the book that my book club just read. This was a fascinating book. It is about two girls in China who grow up communicating with a secret language "nu shu" that Chinese women invented. This was passed down to daughters from their mothers. They write the symbols on a fan that they send to each other when they aren't together.

The book goes through in great detail of the footbinding that each girl had to endure. It sounded painful and we all wondered how could any mother make their daughters go through this--the answer is that it would help them to marry well. See the author's website for pictures: www.LisaSee.com.

These two girls (Lilly and Snow Flower) are called laotongs or "old sames" and are the best of friends until one betrays the other. I won't spoil it--you'll have to read it in order to find out what happens.

I haven't read many books about China. If you liked "Memoirs of a Geisha" (that's about Japan) then you will like this book.