Shelagh writes:

I have read and enjoyed the following titles:

Tiny Dancer, The Swallows of Kabul, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Veronika Decides to Die, Into the Wild, The Alchemist, Sleeping with Schubert, The Time Traveler's Wife, A Blade of Grass, River of the Brokenhearted, A Complicated Kindness, The Birth House, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and P.S. I Love You.

What would you recommend?

Chris Hall, who looks after our fiction and literature section, has the following recommendations....

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Bev writes:

My nephew is 13 and autistic. He is celebrating his Bar Mitzvah and is very interested in all things to do with Judaism. My sister suggested a coffee table like book with pictures. Can you advise?

We turned this one over to Rachel, who had several suggestions for you. As she put it, "Choosing a bar mitzvah gift can be tricky since it all depends on interests and reading level." That being said, she thinks the following recommendations might be just the thing....

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Sheila writes:

Help! I have about 100 pages left in the Dave Duncan series The Seventh Sword and I have no idea which author to read next. I prefer fantasy series; I want to become part of what I am reading. I have read all of David Eddings, George R. R. Martin, Stephen R. Lawhead, Robert Jordan, Sara Douglass, Raymond E. Fiest, Jack Whyte, Bernard Cornwell's Arthur series, Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, and Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry. I always go back to Eddings and Kay when I have nothing else. I have read a few Terry Brooks and Piers Anthony but would not pick them up again.

Chad Ginther, who is better versed in such matters than anyone we know, makes the following recommendations...

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Margaret writes:

I have read Hotel Rwanda (excellent), I Am Hutterite (very good), and The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier (excellent). What would you suggest?

We checked in with Kerry Harris, who looks after our Biography section, and here's what she suggests:

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Mike Paget writes:

"I work as an educational designer and simulation technician for the faculty of medicine, and I also make videogames in an art context. I read a fair bit of technical material, so I'm always looking to balance that with fiction. I've read the complete works of the following and liked them:

• Steinbeck
• Hemingway
• Murakami
• Kafka
• Mishima
• Hesse
• Dostoevsky

I'm not a huge Thomas Pynchon fan. But I definitely enjoy somewhat noir, suburban hallucinatory existentialism. I also read some bad fantasy pulp."

Well Mike, your question had several of our booksellers frothing at the mouth, since your taste happens to coincide nicely with theirs....

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Shelley asks:

"I'm looking for some new authors to read. I mostly enjoy mystery/thrillers, suspense, etc. Some of the authors I enjoy reading include: Sandra Brown, Mary Higgins Clark, Catherine Coulter, Christine Feehan, Lisa Gardner, Julie Garwood, Tess Gerritsen, Kay Hooper, Linda Howard, Lisa Jackson, Iris Johannsen, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Karen Robards, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts, and Mariah Stewart. Any suggestions of authors along these lines would be greatly appreciated."

Thanks for your question, Shelley. That certainly gives us a lot to work with. Three booksellers -- Chadwick, Gord and Steve -- have come up with some books and authors that should suit your taste....

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