Books like The Catch Me If You Can — picked by fans

When he's not breaking through security to shake the hands of Nikita Khrushchev, he is crashing his scooter through a border between Jordan and Israel in the then partitioned Jerusalem, amidst a hail of gunfire, escaping an assassination attempt in Jordan, or dodging the bullets of eager security agents around the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney. When he's not trying 'African ju-ju' on pretty Russian girls, he's enjoying a tense audience with Golda Meir in Israel and hobnobbing with Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kútì in Moscow. One-man daredevil-traveller, Mashood Ọlábísí Àjàlá saw and did it all, and lived to tell the tale. Now… show more.

Black Girls Take World is the global travel bible for adventurous explorers and travel newbies looking to engage with the concept of solo travel.

Packed full of inspiring essays, advice on budgeting, eating alone, reducing carbon footprints and dealing with passport privilege and discrimination, as well as Q&A's with travel leaders such as Jessica Nabongo (the first black woman to travel to every country in the world) Annette Richmond (founder of Fat Girls Traveling), and Rhiane Fatinikun (founder of Black Girls Hike), this book is for the conscientious and the curious.

Black women understand innately what it means to feel… show more.

Hand Luggage Only: Great Britain is a travel guide to the amazing places to be found throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Actually, scratch that - it's about so much more than a celebration of Britain's finest travel destinations! This book will actually help get you out there to explore the country yourself.

There's so much about the UK that even Brits don't know, so Yaya and Lloyd of the successful travel blog Hand Luggage Only are here to share all of their insider tips. Featuring stunning photos, their book covers everything from incredible hikes, amazing castles, beautiful road trips and… show more.

Go Girl: The Black Woman's Book of Travel and Adventure, edited by Elaine Lee, is the first travel book by and for African American women. Its an anthology of 52 riveting traveler's tales by writers such as Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, Jill Nelson, Alice Walker and Pearl Cleage.

We all dream of a better future and of a better relationship. We all dream of a better family and of a better life. But how do we go about realizing these dreams? Is the degree of our dreams directly proportional to the degree of sacrifice required to achieve them? When physical separation from the husband, and separation from an only child is demanded of us, is it still worth pursuing that dream? Is not the nearness of a husband, the nearness of a son, the nearness of our family, the nearness of loved ones - a most wonderful dream?… show more.

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller, from the author of CLOUD ATLAS and THE BONE CLOCKS.

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010

'Brilliant' - The Times
'A masterpiece' - Scotsman

Be transported to a place like no other: a tiny, man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki, for two hundred years the sole gateway between Japan and the West. Here, in the dying days of the 18th-century, a young Dutch clerk arrives to make his fortune. Instead he loses his heart.

Step onto the streets of Dejima and mingle with scheming traders, spies, interpreters, servants and concubines as two… show more.

This collection of Japanese supernatural stories is a classic work in the field of Japanese horror.

Known primarily as an early interpreter of Japanese culture and customs, the famous writer Lafcadio Hearn also wrote ghost stories-"delicate, transparent, ghostly sketches"-about his adopted land. Many of the stories found in Kwaidan, "stories and studies of strange things," are based on Japanese tales told long ago to him by his wife; others possibly have a Chinese origin. All have been re-colored and reshaped by Hearn's inimitable hand.

Some critics attribute Hearn's fascination with eerie tales to his partial blindness. Whatever its roots, he… show more.

Kyoto in the twelfth century was a magnificent city, but crime, disorder, and lust were rampant. The people were abused by the nobility, while the armed Buddhist monks terrorized court and commoner alike. In despair, the Emperor called upon the Heike and Genji clans to quell civil disturbances. Although the clans succeeded, they quarreled over the spoils of war and plunged the country into a century of warfare.This novel describes the rise to power of Kiyomori of the Heike clan during this turbulent time. From a youth sunk in poverty, Kiyomori eventually rose to become the Emperor's Chief Councillor. Although… show more.

Previously published as Rain Fall

Name: John Rain.
Vocation: Assassin.
Specialty: Natural Causes.
Base of operations: Tokyo.
Availability: Worldwide.

Half American, half Japanese, expert in both worlds but at home in neither, John Rain is the best killer money can buy. You tell him who. You tell him where. He doesn’t care about why…

Until he gets involved with Midori Kawamura, a beautiful jazz pianist—and the daughter of his latest kill.

A Clean Kill in Tokyo was previously published as Rain Fall, the first in the bestselling John Rain assassin series.

GEISHA, A LIFE
"No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition and by the sanctity of our exclusive calling...But I feel it is time to speak out."
Celebrated as the most successful geisha of her generation, Mineko Iwasaki was only five years old when she left her parents' home for the world of the geisha. For the next twenty-five years, she would live a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and rich rewards.… show more.