Midnight in Manhattan - Francesca Delbanco

Different to Bergdorf Blondes and Debutante Divorcee, it's realistic rather than escapist, and I was looking for more of the latter, but I enjoyed it anyway. About Rosalie an aspiring actress whose day job as advice columnist for a teenage girlie magazine provides her with some identity angst. And her affair with the very attractive and wealthy father of her friend, and her eventual finding of true love.

The Debutante Divorcee - Plum Sykes

Wonderful and totally enjoyable escapism for me, like the author's Bergdorf Blondes - mixing with flakey socialites, the glitterati and elite of NY society in a glut of divorce showers, power christenings, memorable memorials, divorce honeymoons and carelessly decadent holidays, while the newly married protagonist starts wondering if she's due for her own divorce honeymoon soon when her gorgeous husband behaves suspiciously, and her society friends rally around her. Witty and never vacuous, the tone is wicked and tongue-in-cheek.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Pity the cover art here is different from the Australian version which I think is more dramatic. Interesting prose, reminded me of a children's book style, with colourful and startling metaphors. Slow buildup - engaging, sad. Set in the wartime in Germany, about Liesel, a young girl who's fostered by a German couple, the deep relationships she forms with her foster dad Hans, her friend Rudy, a Jewish refugee they harbour, the mayor's wife, and Books. Narrated by Death him(her?)self, kept busy in this war, who holds a soft spot for Liesel.

Goodnight Nobody - Jennifer Weiner

An absorbing chick-lit mystery with humour and wit. I thoroughly enjoyed peeking into the lives of stylish wealthy suburban NY housewives while the heroine attempts to solve a murder amongst them, assuaging her own sense of isolation and boredom.