ugh, excerpt from one of the books (The Hour Between):

She sat down beside me and pulled up her knees. "Oh, thank God, I wasn't sure what was apropos for a tony New England boarding school. Although I'm not sure how tony this dive is. Isn't it divinely dilapidated? I wonder if Mumsie read the catalogue wrong. My last lycee was in Switzerland and it looked like a mountain resort. I could hardly stop myself from yodeling between classes. Cig?" She pulled out a silver cigarette case and matching lighter and snapped the case open. "Dunhills, got hooked on them one mad weekend in Sussex. Or was it Essex? Anyway, there was sex in it, wherever it was. A lot of sex." She tilted the case in my direction.

Guh. *crosses book off list*

I haven't read any of these yet either, but heard very conflicting reports on Little Bee. More to add to the nightstand!

Well, definitely read the excerpts first.

For example, the Little Bee excerpt totally turned me off. Totally not my thing.