“Reading — the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay.”
Reading for pleasure also helps to decrease stress and increase empathy. Each year on April 23rd, international celebrations acknowledge the power of books — and Sunset Years recommends titles for your enjoyment.
FICTION
City of Thieves (2008) by David Benioff takes place during the siege of Leningrad in WWII. At times brutal, at times funny, at times painful, the adventure follows two dissimilar boys coming of age together. We learn a bit about Russian and German soldiers, the Patriots, and the Einsatzgruppen — mobile killing squads of the SS.
Having appreciated Coventry (2008) a few years ago, I decided to binge on books — each one strikingly different in style and theme — by Helen Humphreys. First was The Evening Chorus (2015), set in a German POW camp and in England during and post World War II. The novel tells of three ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances while also presenting a meditation on the natural world. Next came Machine Without Horses (2018). The title does not guide readers into the real and imagined life story of Megan Boyd (1915-2001), who worked for 60 years as a salmon fly dresser in a small village in northern Scotland. Rabbit Foot Bill (2020) is another blend of genres in which Humphreys explores the effects of a violent murder in small town Saskatchewan in 1947. After becoming a psychiatrist, the protagonist reunites with the murderer at the Weyburn Mental Hospital in the early ’60s. Helen Humphreys began her writing career as a poet, which led a critic to observe: “Her novels — with lasting images, economical prose, and musical phrasing — read like an extension of her poetic gift.”
The Woman in the White Kimono (2019) by Ana Johns is a poignant love story told from two different perspectives, set in Japan and the U.S. during the late ’50s and the present day. The Japanese aphorisms sprinkled throughout are refreshingly insightful; for example, “Worry gives a small thing big shadows.”
B.A. Thomas-Peter’s beguiling title, The Kissing Fence (2020), made me want to read this historical fiction recommended by one of my nieces. It develops two story lines: one set in the 1950s when 200 Russian Doukhobor children were separated from their families to live in a residential facility in the Kootenay region of BC and another in contemporary Vancouver to illustrate how the past inhabits us and influences our choices in the present. The author not only informs about the unjust treatment of the Doukhobors but also entertains as the plot unfolds and the story lines converge.
My undisputed favourite book of the year is A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles. Coincidentally, I read about Count Rostov living under house arrest for 30 years at the Metropol Hotel when I was sheltering in place due to COVID-19. Set in the newly formed Soviet Union under Bolshevik rule, the story is utterly captivating, the writing sublime. Take this passage: “What can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration – and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.” I lamented closing the book on the familiar characters so borrowed Rules of Civility (2011), set in class conscious Manhattan in the late ’30s. Once again Towles caused me to pause often and admire his descriptions, for example, on writing: “the letter was a paragraph too long, a verb too insistent, and an adjective too obvious.” Or “That comma too early. This colon too late.” Having worked as an investment professional for over twenty years, Towles now devotes himself full time to writing. I count on a third novel.
I don’t remember how I discovered The Shadow of the Wind (2004) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, but this gothic tale, mystery and love story delighted me. It features colourful characters, a suspenseful plot, lovely turns of phrase, and an examination of Barcelona before the civil war and post WWII. Zafón’s elegant, imaginative writing keeps readers turning the pages despite encountering a few flaws along the way. Indeed his style led me to read the prequel, The Angel’s Game (2008), also set in Barcelona in the 1920s and ’30s. And I will read the sequel as well as the final story in his “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” series. Zafón’s untimely death last year at age 55 brought to an end his career as the most widely published contemporary Spanish writer.
MYSTERY
Gertrude Stein called mysteries “the most demanding form of fiction, because a good mystery requires a watertight plot with believable events and logical characters. Anything less and the story falls apart. But a writer who pulls all this off creates a story that can’t be stopped until the finish.” I confess to reading dozens of mysteries as a sure means of escape from the gloom.
On my birthday last year Glen gave me Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier as an older mystery novel, yet many critics prefer to call it a classic of modern gothic literature. Gothic fiction is characterized by “picturesque settings, an atmosphere of mystery and terror, and a hint of violence and the supernatural.” Rebecca exemplifies the genre and more. Glen and I spent 90 minutes discussing it during an in-home date night.
Nicci French, the pseudonym of an English husband-and-wife duo, wrote The Lying Room (2019). After Neve Connelly discovers her brutally murdered lover, she and the readers, not the Detective Chief Inspector, attempt to solve this murder case. Neve feeds us clues as she uncovers — or covers — them. A suspenseful read, it led me to eight other books by Nicci French, each one featuring Frieda Klein, a psychotherapist in London who consults on murder cases.
Darktown (2016) by Thomas Mullen is a first-rate historical mystery. In 1948 the Mayor of Atlanta succumbs to a demand by black community leaders; in exchange for them delivering their voting blocs, he hires eight black police officers. Mullen recreates the setting into which these men are admitted, albeit with severely restricted rights and authority. As two black officers try surreptitiously — and at great personal risk — to solve the murder of a young black woman, Mullen exposes the egregious racism of the time. (FYI: black and white police officers did not work side-by-side in Atlanta until 1969.)
Peter Robinson (thanks, Pat) continues to top my list of preferred mystery writers. I adore the character of Inspector Alan Banks: his personality, his habits, his methods of detection. And Robinson’s writing is arresting. In a scene from When the Music’s Over (2016), for instance, Banks observes “the final lines of Paradise Lost, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, still reverberated in his mind: ‘They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,/Through Eden took their solitary way.’ There was something deeply tragic about it that was as much, if not more, in the solemn music of the syntax as in the meanings of the words themselves. … Even if you didn’t understand a poem, you could still enjoy its music.” Just as Robinson educates me about music, a constant companion to Banks, he almost prompts me to read Milton’s epic poem.
Thank you, Marilyn, for introducing me to Iona Whishaw, a Vancouver-based writer who sets her series in Nelson BC and environs. In A Killer in King’s Cove (2016), we meet mid 20-something year-old Lane Winslow, who worked as a British spy during WWII; in 1946 she flees her memories to settle in a remote community of rather eccentric individuals. Although Lane becomes enmeshed in murder cases, Whishaw wraps the mysteries in larger themes, such as love, betrayal and trauma. Her engaging prose and charming central character motivate me to read her other six books published so far.
NON-FICTION
In The Fire Next Time (1963) James Baldwin (1924-87), acclaimed essayist, novelist, and playwright, urges white America to change its attitudes and policies toward black Americans. It’s remarkable, and demoralizing, to realize how applicable his treatise is almost 60 years later.
The Promised Land: Settling the West 1896-1914 (1984). Outsized personality Pierre Berton (1920-2004) provides a solid analysis of the massive immigration to the barren prairie flatland of the Canadian West. To prepare for settlement, colonizers dispossessed the indigenous population, nearly destroying them through disease and violence. They also slaughtered the bison almost to extinction. Then Liberal Minister Clifford Sifton embarked on a campaign to recruit non-traditional immigrants — Ukrainians, Hungarians, Romanians, Doukhobors and Mennonites — to the Prairies with offers of free, 160 acre homesteads. Berton brings history to life with well-researched stories of hardship and hard work, discrimination, broken promises, political corruption, class struggles, big personalities, boom and bust businesses, and more.
The Stories Were Not Told (2020) by Sandra Semchuk gives reminiscences of Ukrainian men interned during WWI as related by their family members, plus provides a collection of archival and current photos of the camps across Canada. On September 13, 2013, Jason Kenney, then federal minister of employment and social development and minister for multiculturalism, opened a special exhibit at Banff’s Cave and Basin National Historic Site about Canada’s WWI internment operations. In his remarks, he reflected on Elie Wiesel’s words about a moral society committed “to remember the good of which we have been blessed and the evil we have suffered.” About the camps, Kenney said “Many of these places kept internees until 18 months following the armistice of 11 November 1918. If there was any evidence of bad faith and injustice, in this policy of internment, this is it… We look back with deep regret on a policy that never should have been implemented.”
The sub-title “Build a Better Brain at Any Age” of Keep Sharp (2020) by Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, inspired me to buy this book. After all, who doesn’t want a better brain? Especially as thoughts of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease creep uninvited into our minds. I learned not only about the science of the brain but also practical ways to protect and improve it. Dr. Gupta expands upon five pillars — Move, Discover, Relax, Nourish, and Connect — of healthy cognitive function and even outlines a 12-week, easy to follow program. I will soon dive into the five new habits of weeks 1 and 2.
Thanks to loyal blog reader Ian for suggesting a few novels on this year’s list. I invite all readers to add their recommendations in the comments below. •
P.S. My apologies for getting carried away in writing this post. Amor Towles would say it’s several paragraphs too long!

Barbara Richardson says
Great recommendations here Pam. Thanks!
Marilyn RB says
Thanks so much for your book recommendations some of which I have also read and have loved, others I’ve just now added to my reading list. What a great and diverse selection!
Catherine says
Thank you Pam for providing some very timely suggestions for future reading material. I tend to binge read every book written by an author I enjoy and have run out of novels for three of them. One very simple but timely book I read last month was Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith. It is short, simplistic but delightful. Elders on a road trip to a World Pow wow in Albuquerque.
Pam McPhail says
Cathy, I am buying your recommendation (and a few others) from Indigenous owned Massy Books today: Canadian Independent Bookstore Day. I am curious about your three. Care to share?
Catherine says
Pam, the three mystery/crime writers I just finished are Steve Burrows (Canadian detective who is hired on in Norfolk, UK who is a birder), Donna Leon (series based in Venice) and Stephen Booth (UK). I am still reading Stuart McBride and Ian Rankin.
Pam McPhail says
On your list I’ve only read (and loved) Donna Leon. Will check out the others now that the mystery/crime genre serves me well.
Ian says
A fine selection, Pam. You certainly cover a lot of interesting ground! Please keep your recommendations coming! One of yours kept me going for 10+ hours on a trans-Pacific flight!
Ian says
As requested, here are a few books I have enjoyed so far this year: Barack Obama’s “The Promised Land” is weighty but actually very readable. David Nicholls is a novelist I like and his latest is “Sweet Sorrow”. Life in Berlin is always intriguing and “Red Love: the story of an East German family”, by Leo Maxim is proof that some true-life stories can sometimes surpass the most creative fiction. Pascale Hugues, a French journalist based in Berlin, wrote “Hannah’s Dress: Berlin 1904-2014” about the various people who lived on her short street during the past century. Our current pandemic is bad but life in Berlin, at various times, could be even worse! A current Canadian bestseller is André Picard’s “Neglected No More: the urgent need to improve the lives of Canada’s elders in the wake of a pandemic”. There were a lot of surprises for me in this book, few of them cheering. Robert Harris has written many gripping historical novels and his latest, “V2”, is about the German rocket/missile attacks on London in 1944/45. Finally, my all-time favourite mystery writers are the Swedish couple, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. I have just finished “Cop Killer” which still holds up very well in spite of having been published about 50 years ago. Thanks to Pam for having remembered World Book Day. A wonderful aspect of reading is that we will never run out of great books (thank you Vancouver Public Library).
Pam McPhail says
Ian, I must double down on my reading to get through your excellent and varied recommendations, none of which I’ve read. Thanks for contributing these titles in honour of World Book Day.
Tracy Ware says
Here are two books that should merit Pam’s approval. First, “Too Much Happiness” is one of Alice Munro’s late collections of short fiction. It’s a very diverse book, with 2 stories of murder along with Munro’s more typical subjects, and at least one amusing story, “Fiction.” The title story is a long account of Russian intellectual life in the era of Dostoevsky; the protagonist is the first European woman to earn a professorship in Mathematics. Second, Margaret Drabble’s “The Peppered Moth” is a novel that recalls Munro in its fascination with Drabble’s mother. Like Drabble herself, her mother studied at Cambridge and seemed ready to flourish, but then she returned to the north of England, where she became increasingly unhappy. But only the first third of the book is concerned with Drabble’s mother, and the last half provides Drabble’s always incisive look at changing manners. As is often true of Drabble, the ending is a “tour de force.”
Pam McPhail says
What’s in a title? I must find out by reading the intriguing “Too Much Happiness.” And I am eager to open the pages of a novel by Margaret Drabble, a favourite author of years ago. Glad you added a few books to my “For Later Shelf” at the VPL and for other readers of my blog to pursue. Thanks, Tracy.
Ken McLean says
I too wish to thank you Pam for all your great suggestions. In the mystery category you introduced me to Harlan Coben, whose “Fool Me once”, “Tell No One” and “The Woods” I greatly enjoyed. In the general category I appreciated “The Gentleman in Moscow, “In The Shadow of the Wind” and “Montana 1948”.
My suggestions:
General:
My first two I “heard” (rather than “read”) via Chirp
1) Moon Tiger, Penelope Lively (1997). Told by a British historian recalling her life, this engaging novel ranges from compelling English childhood, through WWII Egypt to England in the ’90s.
2) If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italo Calvino (1979). As the conditional title might suggest, Calvino’s work is a fascinating exploration of reading and writing fiction. As the description on “Goodreads” puts it, “A literary labyrinth of storylines that interrupt each other- an Arabian Nights of the postmodern age.”
3)Foregone, Russell Banks (2021) Banks’ recent novel deals with a dying Canadian documentary maker recounting his American early years to a film crew, including fascinating tidbits on what happened at CFB Gagetown in the early 60s and on Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
4)The Message to the Planet,Iris Murdoch (1991), her 24th novel. With this book I completed my reading of all of her 26 novels. Murdoch is, I believe one of the most intelligent and informed novelists. This novel addresses her usual “big’ issues, good and evil, morality, spirituality, redemption, transcendence-I could go on.
5)The Wonderland Quartet, Joyce Carol Oates, which consists of “A Garden of Earthly Delights”( 1967), “Expensive People”(1968), “them”(1969) and “Wonderland(1971), covers a wide range of American life, from Northern migrant workers going to work in the farms of the South, to Suburbia, the Detroit riots and the life of a medical intern. The last novel even gives Toronto’s Yonge street of the ’60s an important role.
6) American Dirt, Jeannine Cummings (2020) presents an exciting if often harrowing account of the experiences of Mexican migrants heading for the US.
Mystery
I will provide my suggestions for this group later.
Pam McPhail says
I knew you’d come through with solid recommendations, Ken. I’ve read Moon Tiger and American Dirt, both excellent, and look forward to delving into the others you mention, especially the Quartet by prolific writer Joyce Carol Oates, who seldom disappoints. Thanks.
P.S. Hope to read your leads on mysteries as well.
Tracy Ware says
Good to hear that “Moon Tiger” is finding readers. I loved it. Ken deserves some kind of distinction for reading all of Iris Murdoch’s novels.
Ken McLean says
Thanks, Tracy. In fact, I like her work so much that I just reread “Under the Net”, Murdoch’s first, which I first read some dozen years ago. Thank you for suggesting Munro; I read all her collections as they appeared, but your hint inspired to revisit some of her brilliant stories via her”Selected”, which contains 17. I recall discussing Drabble’s trilogy, “The Radiant Way”, “A Natural Curiosity” and ” The Gates of Ivory” with you, and enjoyed her later “The Red Queen”, set in Korea. I’ve haven’t read “The Peppered Moth” though, so will do so.
Ken McLean says
Mysteries:
I alternate the reading of mysteries with “non-mysteries” (on an analogy with non-fiction).
1) The Guest List, Lucy Foley(2020), which came to my attention when Goodreads chose it as by far the front runner in its best mystery of the year list. In the Agatha Christie vein, this features a wedding party on a small island off the coast of Ireland. Excellent characterization, plot and setting.
2)No Light is Too Long, Barbara Vine(Ruth Rendell)(1994). I’ve liked every one of these “standalones ” I’ve read so far. In this one, the major setting is completely different: the coast of Alaska.
3)Blood of the Wicked, Leighton Gage (2008), the first of his Inspector Mario Silva series. Again the setting is a big draw: the Brazilian jungle. Effective characterization and interesting sociocultural info re Brazil.
4)Death in Bordeaux, Allan Massie (2010) the first in his Bordeaux quartet. They should be read in order; the other three are Dark Summer in Bordeaux, Cold Winter in Bordeaux, and End Games in Bordeaux. Setting: Bordeaux during the Nazi occupation, and the difficulties of investigating murders Superintendant Lannes encounters in such circumstances.
5)The Phantom Lady and The Black Alibi(, Cornell Woolrich,( both 1942). Woolrich, who also wrote under the name William Irish, is a worthy contemporary of Hammett and Chandler; his life, however, was a very sad one. He is a master of suspense and mood. The Black Alibi is the first of six in his “Black” series.
6) The Shadow Walker, Michael Walters (2007), first of his Inspector Nergui trilogy. While perhaps not as good as the others I’ve mentioned here, Walters’ trilogy does have setting going for it: Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia.
Though not strictly mysteries, I could add John Le Carre’s The Spy Who came in From the Cold and The Gunslinger, the first of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
Pam McPhail says
Oh Ken, you’ve introduced several mystery writers who will give me ample material to escape from the continued gloom. Thanks!
Marie McLean says
Thanks for your suggestions, Pam. I will be forwarding the final tally of our book club at the end of June/beginning of July. In the meantime, here are a couple of suggestions from the book club. Hamnet and Judith (sometimes called Hamnet) by Maggie O’Farrell. The book describes the effect of the death of Hamnet, Shakespeare’s 11 year-old-son, on family, particularly Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes (or Anne). Very powerful scenes and one memorable description of lovemaking. Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq. Descriptions of the life an Inuit girl using some Inuit mythology. A distinctive style incorporating poety and fantasy. For mysteries, Under My Skin by Lisa Unger. The protagonist’s memory is unreliable, so the reader is kept guessing. The Wife by Alafair Burker gives an interesting twist to the husband cheating on his wife with a younger woman theme.
Pam McPhail says
I look forward to receiving the book club list later on, Marie, and thank you for your current suggestions. I haven’t encountered any of these authors so will enjoy becoming acquainted with them.
Linda Richardson says
There are some great suggestions here Pam both from you and from your readers. I would like to add a few of my own – some from my Book Group and others that I have enjoyed this past year:
“The Dutch House” and ” Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett – I love the author’s writing style. “The Dutch House” is a moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings and a past that will not let them go, including the intriguing house of their childhood. “Bel Canto” takes place in an unnamed South American country. It is about a group of hostages, including a beloved opera singer, their guerilla captors and the relationships that form between them.
“Y” – a first book by Marjorie Celona – is set in the grittier side of Victoria, B.C. It tells the story of a young girl, left at birth outside the YMCA, both from her perspective and that of her birth mother.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens – This is a coming of age story set in a marsh in South Carolina. A valiant young girl is abandoned by her parents and has to find a way to survive. It is also the surprising tale of a possible murder.
“When We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate – The book is based on a notorious real-life U.S. adoption scandal which occurred from 1920 to 1950. One of the main characters is kidnapped from a poor family with her 4 younger siblings. They are then brokered for adoption by wealthy families. The other main character is a privileged lawyer who, by chance, uncovers a long-hidden family secret.
Pam McPhail says
Thanks, Linda, for adding enticing books to this year’s list. Coincidentally, I have a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing” sitting on a shelf here, waiting to be read. You seem to have a theme of adopted or abandoned children. Have you read “The Home of Unwanted Girls” by Joanna Goodman? Set in 1950s Quebec, the story follows the lives of an unwed teenage mother and her baby given up at birth, while also exploring the relations between English and French communities.
No doubt I –and other readers of my blog — will turn to your recommended titles along the way.
Linda Richardson says
Pam, I forgot to add a historical non-fiction book to my list since I noticed that some of your readers enjoy that genre. I would recommend “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. Almost like two books in one, it explores the building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair from the perspective of the architects who developed it and then weaves in the story of a famous serial killer who was active in Chicago around that time and the murder investigation that followed.
Pam McPhail says
I read this book by Erik Larson years ago and gave it to Tim to read, so gripping and informative was it. Since then we’ve read “The Last Crossing of the Lusitania”, and Glen wrote a post for my blog based in part on “The Splendid and the Vile”, about Churchill’s leadership during the blitz of London. Erik Larson is a fine writer!