New Book Roundups:

In Troubled Lands

In Land of Marvels, by Booker Prize winner Barry Unsworth, a British archaeologist in 1914 Mesopotamia (now Iraq) finds his excavation of an Assyrian palace threatened by a scheme to build a new railroad to access the area's rich oil fields. Unsworth's compelling novel of competing international interests in the Middle East has timely echoes. Fidali's Way, by George Mastras, takes place in Kashmir, where a young American lawyer backpacking through Central Asia is forced to flee after being accused of a murder in Pakistan. He ends up in a mountain village where he falls for a Muslim doctor and becomes involved in the region's bloody conflict between the Indian military and Kashmiri separatists.

Intrigue Abroad

The Empty Mirror, by J. Sydney Jones, is a murder mystery set in turn-of-the-last-century Vienna, centering around artist Gustav Klimt, who comes under suspicion when one of his models turns up as one of the victims in a series of brutal killings. Other famous names of the day also make appearances, including Mark Twain and founder of Zionism Theodor Herzl. The Book of Unholy Mischief, by Elle Newmark, steeps readers in the sights and tastes of 1498 Venice, where the hunt for an ancient book containing secrets of alchemy and immortality ranges from the kitchen of the doge's luxurious palace to labyrinthine back streets.

Chinese Characters

Baldy Li and Song Gang are the stepbrothers in Brothers, by Yu Hua, a wryly comic, brash yet warm-hearted novel that spans four decades of tumultuous Chinese history from the Cultural Revolution to new capitalism. In The Piano Teacher, debut novelist Janice Y.K. Lee tells a story of romance and deception in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong during World War II.

Reading Matchmaker: If You Like . . .

. . . Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence, check out Buying a Piece of Paris, by Ellie Nielsen. Her lighthearted memoir revolves around turning the widely held dream of owning a bit of French real estate into hard-won reality. Instead of the south of France, though, Nielsen tackles the capital city. Hurdles include snobby real estate agents, decrepit apartments, and the lack of French language skills. Despite the reality check, is it any surprise that her dream pied-à-terre in Paris materializes in the end?