Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope

An interesting story of an English man without family, who gets captured by the American South, its wildlife and its structured style. He gets the girl.

Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

To me, this story at last puts into place the creations of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Terry Pratchett. A weird story of a weird person that lives in the foundations of the Paris Opera House.

The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch

My first Iris Murdoch book. I am pleasantly surprised. A story set in upper-middle class England, some time after the war. A complex cast of characters, all in different love relations to each other. A summer of investigation and discovery. Full of suspense and surprises. He saw himself now as a little rat, a busy little scurrying rat, seeking out its own little advantages and comforts. To live easily, to have cosy familiar pleasures, to be well thought of. ... He thought, If I ever get out of here I will be no man's judge. Nothing is worth doing except to kill the little rat, not to judge, not to be superior, not to exercise power, not to seek, seek, seek. To love and to reconcile and to forgive, only this matters.