April Reading

I was travelling for three weeks of April, and the week before those I was preparing to travel, so my reading was lighter — both in content and in volume — than other months. I read one book I’m planning to buy multiple copies of so that I can give them away — I loved it! The rest of my reading consisted of mysteries — which might appeal to you as we move toward summer in my hemisphere (books for that hammock) or toward cozier indoor days if that’s happening in your part of the world.

And I picked up a couple of books in this very cool bookstore in Rome (with its own underground pub!). One of those I was buying for my Italian Book Club at home; the other was an impulse buy, a whimsical children’s book about the shyness of greyhounds and their need for a good hiding spot, delightfully written and illustrated by Andrea Antinori, with text in both Italian and English! I’m illustrating this post with photos of sample pages.

I say this every post now, for those who are new here and as a reminder to regular readers: As usual, the numbering comes from my annual reading journal, and the italicized text below is directly transcribed from that journal’s pages (once upon a time, I simply included photographs of those pages, but too many of you found my handwriting tough to decipher, especially in the photographed format). I’ve used regular font for any additions to my journal notes and included references to any posts from my Instagram Reading account.”

22. The Lost Kings, Tyrell Johnson. Psychological thriller; Pacific Northwest Setting; Oxford, UK setting.

I saw an interview with Johnson on the CBC website, and was intrigued to learn of a BC writer making the NYT list of crime novels of 2022. And I managed to snag a copy from our local library branch the week before our trip — perfect distraction from packing! The novel is tautly plotted with a compelling female protagonist whose father and twin brother disappeared when she was in her teens, seemingly abandoning her — years after her mother died in a car accident that the narrator survived. She’s now living in Oxford — arguably unemployed after her education in this iconic place — funded by an inheritance from her mother, and she’s seeing a psychologist to deal with her response to trauma.

The Oxford setting is a draw, as is the taut plot, although some key elements are glossed over. And I didn’t find the startling plot twist entirely convincing, although it’s satisfyingly shocking, I’ll admit, as the penny drops. . .

Good escape genre fiction.

23. Bleeding Heart Yard. Ellie Griffiths. Mystery; Police procedural; Harbinder Kaur series; London setting; Female detective; POC police detective; LGBTQ protagonist.

A library hold that became available as an e-book when we were travelling and was much appreciated when I wasn’t up to any more reading in Italian, however much I enjoy ViceQuestore Schiavoni.

This is the third volume in the Harbinder Kaur series. She’s a British Sikh CID detective, and so far there’s been a big dollop of whimsy in the mysteries she has to solve, albeit they involve murders. In this book, she’s been promoted and transferred to London where she’s commanding her own homicide team. Missing her mom’s cooking but excited to be discovering her new city, meeting her two new flatmates. . . one of whom is tall, strong, blonde, very attractive. A Scandinavian woman who, could it be?!, might possibly be flirting with Harbinder, who has come out to her family, friends, and former colleagues as lesbian but not yet had a significant relationship.

Harbinder’s first case in her new post involves the 21-year school reunion of a class at a posh British high-school. The class had been rocked, in its last months before graduation 21 years ago, by the apparently accidental train–track death of a fellow student. It now includes two MPs, a rock star, a movie star, the headmaster of said school, and, coincidentally, one of Harbinder’s sergeants. And when a murder happens at the reunion, everyone’s past becomes relevant and the possibility of a connection between the accident 21 years ago and the present murder begins to emerge.

Some poignant moments between a daughter and her terminally ill mother. Some old and some new romances. And ample humour throughout to keep the gore at bay.

24. Becoming Duchess Goldblatt. Author Anonymous. Memoir; Grief Memoir; Divorce; Social Media phenomenon; Fictional Twitter account.

I love this unusual memoir of grief transformed. The anonymous author identifies herself as a middle-aged writer and editor, living in New York, devastated by the unexpected collapse of her marriage and the resulting custody battle over her young son. Herself from a dysfunctional family (the dysfunction extends beyond her nuclear family and back through generations) she had revelled in the secure sense of family (immediate and extended) her marriage had given her and which she had counted on offering to her son.

Depressed, suicidal, deprived of a social network as family and friends abandoned her after the break, she somehow begins to write in the voice of a fictional character on social media. I hadn’t heard of, much less followed, the account of Duchess Goldblatt, but I just checked and I see she currently has 57.2K followers — among whom are numbered author Elizabeth McCracken (whose novel/fictionalized memoir I’ve just finished) and — this is important because he plays a redemptive role in the memoir — Lyle Lovett.

Although the author writes of grief and depression and suicidal thoughts, mental illness and family dysfunction, her memoir is funny and wise and uplifting and a testament to our need for human community as well as the ways we meet that need — for ourselves and for others — even when we’re hurting. The role of Art in accomplishing those connections. The astonishing power of idiosyncrasy and creativity, of Creation itself, in fact.

Highly recommended, and I suspect that you too, having read it, may decide to buy a few copies to give away.

25. Fate il vostro gioco. Antonio Manzini. Read in Italian; Mystery / giallo; police procedural; Rocco Schiavone series, Book 5; gambling; Valle d’Aosta / Rome settings.

Rocco continues to manifest his tendency to sexually objectify women, although at least he always makes sure that the women he makes advances toward and/or has sex with are fully consenting, that they are similarly disinterested in a fuller relationship (his disinterest in emotional engagement is a result of his grief over his wife’s death). In the last volume, in fact, Rocco had begun to commit to a fuller relationship, had felt himself moving toward love, even, but by the time this book begins (several months later), that woman, a colleague, has transferred . . . and there are indications she may have betrayed him in some way, may have been investigating him on behalf of other parties (Internal Affairs?)

Still, Rocco is attaching himself to Valle d’Aosta and is becoming embroiled in the lives of neighbours and colleagues. Particularly moving is his growing friendship, mentorship, of the teen-aged boy next door, who’s often left on his own when his single mother has to travel for work. And Rocco’s personal and work life are thus complicated when the boy’s mother reveals herself as a heavily endebted gambler — who Rocco has to suspect might have something to do with his latest case, the murder of a Casino employee.

Gambling and its repercussions and the political environment that allows it are targeted in this novel — the young colleague Rocco is training gets caught up in poker and quickly over his head in debt. Again, an occasion for Rocco to show his compassionate side, albeit he does so using methods that might skirt the letter of the law. . .

And in this volume, Rocco makes some significant decisions about coming to terms with his past, about the possibilities of returning to his beloved Rome, about whether or not his best friends from childhood will stay close. For someone who impressed readers as gruff, rude, surly, impatient, and misogynistic in Book 1, the Vice Questore has proved himself to be much more complicated by now, and I’m impressed by the way Manzini treats the long arc of mourning, Rocco’s continuing relationships with his deceased wife.

This title doesn’t yet appear to be available in English, but the preceding four in the series are. I wrote about the first here. (To find my entries for the others, you can use the search feature on the blog and enter “Rocco Schiavone.)

26. The Playground Murders. Lesley Thomson. Mystery; private detective; female detective; London setting.

I have liked this series for the London setting and for the slow development of a relationship between Stella Darnell (daughter of a deceased police officer, she has added a detective business to her expanding cleaning service) and Jack Harmon (her detecting partner, also an excellent cleaner, as well as a tube train driver with a proclivity for nocturnal wandering).

I continue to enjoy their cautious moves toward a romantic relationship, both of them emotionally insecure and socially awkward for a variety of reasons. And I’m pleased to see that in the years that have elapsed in the series since the last book (a surprising gap, actually, significant in comparison to the rhythm of the earlier volumes), Stella and Jack have worked around the bombshell announcement that Jack had to make in The Death Chamber.

I’ve generally enjoyed the way Thomson structures each volume of the series by moving from present to past, generally connecting the different timelines through the police case files Stella’s father left her. But in this volume, I found the connection strained, and another plot featuring childhood relationships too unlikely. The characters still have my affection and I’ll likely pick up Book 8 when I see it, but I’d be much slower to recommend this title. I’d still suggest the first one or two in the series (scroll down to see my hand-written response) and then readers will decide whether to go on from there.

And that’s it for my April reading. The children’s book, in case you’re curious, has already been read to three of my grandchildren and sits in my kidlit book basket waiting for the others. . . I’ve already made a good start on my May reading — titles I’d put on hold at the library came in fast and furious the first week we were home, and I’m doing my best to enjoy them all in a timely fashion.

As always, I’d love to know what you’re reading. I read Becoming Duchess Goldblatt because one of you suggested it, and at least three of the books I’ll read in May came from reader comments. Thank you in advance! And a big thank you, also, to those of you who have “bought me a coffee” recently (click the “coffee cup” icon to see what that’s about). Your encouragement and support for the blog is much appreciated.