Padmasree Warrior, founder of Fable, a platform for reading and online book clubs, notes “there is now growing evidence to support what I intuitively understood – reading is a powerful tool to improve mental wellness.” I’m confident reading — though not doom-scrolling — helped many of us stay sane during the years of pandemic restrictions. It did me!
Sunset Years usually posts an annual list of recommended reading on World Book Day, April 23rd. Although late in posting (not that deadlines matter much in my retirement), I hope you discover new titles to enjoy from the following list.
FICTION
- The Library of Legends (2020) by Janie Chang. When the Japanese bomb Nanking in 1937, students, faculty and staff of Minghua University are ordered to walk 1000 miles to safety in China’s western provinces, taking with them a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends. In his address to students, General Chen of the Eighteenth Army offers a compelling, and admirable, explanation for the arduous expedition: “Out of China’s five million people, we can recruit enough soldiers. But China has only forty-three thousand university students. Students, you are our nation’s treasure. You are the ones we need to rebuild after the war. You are China’s last drop of blood. If we lose, we squander our future. Do not enlist. Evacuate to safety with your schools. Complete your education. It’s your duty to the nation, to your families, to your own destiny”. This historical fiction, set in the Second Sino-Japanese war, also features mystery, myth and romance.
- In What Strange Paradise (2021), Omar El Akkad puts a human face on Syrian refugees who make perilous trips from their homeland to try to reach the highly desirable West, i.e., paradise. His narrative technique, cutting back and forth in time in chapters titled “Before” and “After”, didn’t really work for me until… The final chapter “Now” justifies — or at least clarifies — the means. By provoking the proverbial food for thought about our views and treatment of refugees, this novel haunts us long after we turn the final page.
- The Four Winds (2021). Kristin Hannah presents a stirring account of an American family struggling to survive in the southern Great Plains during the Dirty Thirties, the decade-long Depression, and then moves on to address the predicament — dire indeed — of migrant labourers in California. While Hannah cannot be accused of nuance, her yarns captivate even as she proselytizes.
- Miss Austen: A Novel of the Austen Sisters (2020). Gill Hornby writes an imagined tale of Cassandra, sister of Jane. Set alternately in 1795 and 1840 Hornby captures what is wonderful in Austen’s six books: a cast of astutely drawn characters, the plight of women with their limited options of the day, a non violent plot that balances humour, poignancy and social critique. Her writing style transports us back in time; it could be another novel written by Jane Austen herself.
- The Headmaster’s Wager (2012) by Vincent Lam. We know about the Vietnam War from the American perspective; this story gives us a Chinese view. It opens at the Percival Chen English Academy in Cholon, not far from Saigon, where Chen Pie Sou (Percival) moved from Shantou, China in the 1950s. Percival tries, desperately and misguidedly, to navigate relations among the factions — the communists, anti-communists and, after 1965, the Americans. In this gripping tale going through to the 1973 departure of the Americans, readers gain an intimate view of life in war-ravaged Vietnam. Vincent Lam, a practising physician, a faculty member at the University of Toronto and the medical director of the Coderix Medical Clinic (an addictions medicine clinic in downtown Toronto), says: “Echoes of history are to be found in this narrative and yet it is a work of fiction.”
- The Last Bookshop in London (2021) by Madeline Martin is lovely in its quiet tone, quiet despite being set amid the devastating bombing campaign of 1940-41 in London. The protagonist Grace Bennett reads to herself and to others who gather at the bookshop during the misery of war. The essence of this novel is kindness, inherent in some characters, developing in others. It was particularly apt reading in the time of Covid.
- Fresh Water for Flowers (2020) by Valérie Perrin. The title of this fiction enticed me, as did the first of its 94 short chapters. Perrin immediately creates anticipation; it’s going to be an unusual story. Each chapter begins with an epigraph, each replete with wisdom we’d like to commit to memory. Her exquisite prose, translated from French to English, gives us pause: to appreciate. She treats emotional scenes subtly, powerfully, and yet… Perrin’s novel would have benefitted from a tough editor to eliminate the saccharine aspects of some plot threads. No spoiler alerts. I’m happy to have read this novel in its entirety.
- Olive, Again (2019). Elizabeth Strout offers a rich cast of characters, most of them sad though intriguing in their lives of discontent. She weaves together their myriad stories through Olive and a town in Maine. A favourite author of mine, Strout writes comfortable, uncomfortable novels: ‘comfortable’ as we know all her books will be satisfying and ‘uncomfortable’ because her observations about flawed characters may sometimes make us squirm in recognition.
MYSTERIES
- It’s fun to meet a new detective, especially one who’s in a series for further reading. Lynne told me about Jane Casey’s Irish detective Maeve Kerrigan, who tolerates inappropriate remarks about her gender and home country while trying to distinguish herself on a murder task force in London. In The Burning (2010), the first of 12 novels, Kerrigan tries to track down a serial killer. Along the way we gain insight into the psychology of select suspects and characters.
- In The Historians (2020), Cecilia Ekbäck wraps a bit of Swedish history in a suspenseful tale involving interesting characters. Author’s Note: “I knew I wanted to write about Scandinavia during WWII. It fascinated me how countries that had been in unions with each other ended up taking such different stances. The more I read, however, the more horrified I became…” From a small town in northern Sweden, Ekbäck now lives in Canmore, Alberta with her husband and twin daughters.
- Ken introduced me to Anthony Horowitz (of TV’s Foyle’s War and Poirot fame) when he called Magpie Murders (2016) “a fascinating interrogation of the genre.” For example, in a chapter called “Detective Work”, we’re privy to an observation that not only fits the narrative but also us, the readers: “we have the same aim [as the detective] – and it’s actually a simple one. We want to know what really happened and neither of us is in it for the money…. Of course the detectives are cleverer than us. We expect them to be… We don’t need to like or admire our detectives. We stick with them because we have confidence in them.” I read a companion book, Moonflower Murders (2020), and then, to my great delight, happened on a trilogy, the first being The Word is Murder (2018). Horowitz blurs the line between fact and fiction by inserting himself into these novels: he partners with former police detective Hawthorne to explore the very process of solving murders.
- Watching You (2018) by Lisa Jewell builds slowly and steadily to a climax. Through excerpts from scenes of police interrogation we know a crime has occurred. But we spend our time becoming acquainted with school girls and boys, a teacher, parents, professionals in a nice neighbourhood in Bristol. We’re well into the book before finding out the nature of the crime, let alone taking a stab at the solution to the whodunit. This novel exemplifies the term “slow burn” that’s often used to describe TV shows.
NONFICTION
- Nothing to be Frightened of (2008). Julian Barnes proffers his literary, philosophical, sometimes amusing perspective on the thorny subject of death.
- The Soul of America (2018). “Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear.” In an engaging style, Meacham dissects big events and the big persons associated with them.
- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (1998) by Simon Winchester. It’s inconceivable that Professor Murray of Oxford University would ally with American Civil War veteran Dr. Minor on a mammoth project to produce a definitive English language dictionary. But they do, by mail. Many years and over ten thousand submissions later, Murray meets the key contributor and learns of his tragic life. Fun fact according to Winchester: “Most of us know about 20,000 words — a fine number, except that the Oxford English dictionary lists more than half a million as making up the entirety of the language. A sobering realization: that of all possible words we know no more than a mere four percent.”
Please recommend authors and titles in the comments below — for me and for other avid readers to pursue. •
P.S. Remember, you don’t need to be verbose, as I invariably am.
Catherine McCallum says
Hi Pam, I always look forward to your list of great reads and will definitely pick up some of your suggestions.
One book I recently enjoyed was The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton. It takes place in pre WWII times and based on the kindertransport evacuation of 10,000 children in Europe. It is a fictional account of some of the children involved as well as the individuals who assisted. It is a story showing how one person can make a difference.
Another book I recently picked up is by a local author, Chief Clarence Louis of the Osoyoos Indian Band, called Rez Rules. It is his perspective on systemic racism and reconciliation. I always admired his leadership in assisting his community in transforming their “Rez” from poverty into economic independence.
Pam McPhail says
Thanks for adding your excellent recommendations, Cathy. They’re now on my “to read” list.
Ian says
Wonderful book selection, Pam, and just as impressive is your forest bathing set-up, with comfy chair, book bag, and water/wine bottle, all brilliantly colour co-ordinated. Enjoy your next book, whatever it may be.
Pam McPhail says
While I appreciate your compliments, Ian, I also like your suggested books, several of which I’ve read: for example, “A Gentleman in Moscow” (my absolute favourite of the last few years), “City of Thieves” and “The City of Fallen Angels”. Please add some titles to this year’s post!
Tracy Ware says
Hi Pam: Your comments and selections are as helpful as always. I too have been reading and enjoying Elizabeth Strout, but I am struck by the differences between the Lucy Barton series and the Olive Kitteridge books. She is such a good writer that I will continue to read all her books, but the Lucy Barton books are far more discomforting. My great reading in recent weeks has been “Anna Karenina,” which I had been meaning to read for years. It was worth the wait. I happened to mention reading “Anna” to several correspondents, and all agreed that it is one of the greatest novels ever written. Some jokers said that now I have to read “War and Peace.”
Pam McPhail says
I agree with your comments about Elizabeth Strout, Tracy. Did you happen to watch the TV series featuring Frances McDormand as Olive? McDormand truly brings the character to life.
Do you and your correspondents mention “Middlemarch” among the greatest novels ever written, and not just in its length of 900 pages?
Tracy Ware says
Hi Pam: I will respond to Glen at the same time: I really do enjoy “Middlemarch,” and it’s the wise and witty narrator who is a large part of the appeal. Modernists tried to eliminate the narrator, but some later writers (Drabble, Vonnegut) suggest that such narrators will never disappear. When I read, Tolstoy or Eliot, I sometimes feel that the sheer length of the novel is also part of the appeal. You know what you will be reading for the next few days, and, if you are travelling, you can get by with one book.
Glen Wickens says
When you do get to “War and Peace,” Tracy, I will be interested in hearing what you think of Tolstoy’s intrusive narrative voice, sometimes encouraging us to understand history from the bottom up but also asserting that “the course of earthly happenings is predetermined from on high” by God. Of course you could always skip Tolstoy and tackle “Don Quixote,” another short read!
Ken McLean says
I will give my “Mysteries” suggestions here,and the “non-mysteries” soon. I need to whittle down my list.
1)I read 3 more Barbara Vine(Ruth Rendell) mysteries since last April and greatly enjoyed them: “King Solomon’s Carpet” (1991),re the London underground,Chimney Sweeper’s Boy (1998), the ever popular British class divide, and “Grasshopper” (2000), re climbing, towers, walls,roofs, what have you. I find these much better than her 3 Inspector Wexford I’ve read so far.
2) We heard 3 of Michael Connelly’s Bosch and Ballard : “The Late Show” (2017), “Dark Sacred Night” (2018) and “The Night Fire”. Interesting interplay between the now supposedly retired Bosch and the young Renee Ballard.
3)”Gone the Next” (2012) by Ben Rehder. Clear plot with twists and some humour.
4) “Mummy’s Little Secret”, by M.A. Hunter. Involving plot that keeps the listeners wondering.
5)”The Silent Patient” (2019) by Alex Michaelides. We learn on the first page that a wife killed her husband. But why? She won’t say, in fact she won’t say anything, so a psychologist tries to find out.
6)The James Patterson phenomenon:.A friend finds him to be the best mystery writer out there, as do many other readers. Wiki told me the following: “Patterson has written more than 200 novels since 1976.[14] He has had more than 114 New York Times bestselling novels,[15] and holds The New York Times record for most #1 New York Times bestsellers by a single author, a total of 67, which is also a Guinness World Record. His novels account for one in 17, roughly 6%, of all hardcover novels sold in the United States; in recent years his novels have sold more copies than those of Stephen King, John Grisham, and Dan Brown combined.[12] His books have sold approximately 305 million copies worldwide.[1] In 2008, he replaced Jacqueline Wilson as the most borrowed author in Britain’s libraries. ” So I just read the first Alex Cross book, “Along Came a Spider” (1992). Good plot and characterization, but to my taste the perp was way over the top.
7) Thanks for recommending “Rebecca:, Pam. It was great.
Pam McPhail says
You’ve given me, and other mystery lovers, some new authors to explore, Ken. Thanks. I have read, not listened to, the four Connelly novels featuring Renee Ballard and Bosch; they’re among my favourite in the genre. Glen and I rewatched Bosch (a show highly recommended by you and my brother Rick) and enjoyed, became attached to, the characters even more this time. Bosch as a PI airs this month on Prime, new viewing to look forward to.
Ken McLean says
I see that the new Bosch tv series has Bosch partnering with his old nemesis, Honey Chandler. We have just encountered her in “The Concrete Blond” the third Bosch novel, which we are currently listening to, so she goes way back in the Bosch saga. Sounds very promising.
Ken McLean says
1) “Ulysses”(1922) by James Joyce. I reread this great work for the 4th time on the occasion of it being 100 years since it was published. I first read it in 1970, as part of the syllabus of the Modern Novel course at Waterloo Lutheran, now Wilfrid Laurier ( a name change they apparently now regret; I proposed Xanadu,but there were no takers). “Ulysses” provides powerful characterization, intense social analysis, and a great variety of literary styles. I think it still merits the claim to be considered the greatest novel in English. (“War and Peace” used to be spoken of as the greatest novel overall; I don’t know if that still holds).
2)Five of Sebastian Barry’s ten novels: “The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty”(1998), “Annie Dunn”(2002), “A Long Long Way”(2005), “The Secret Scripture”(2008), “On Canaan’s Side”(2011). Barry presents excellent characterization, vivid settings and dramatic plots. “McNulty”, and “Scripture” deal with the McNulty family, and the other three with the Dunn family. It is preferable to read them in the order of publication. Barry’s writing stands out for me because of his luminous prose. As Alex Clark puts it in “The Guardian”, “Canaan”, for example, is “a lyrical evocation of trauma and exile, bearing a seemingly endless series of potent images”. For example, when the protagonist looks into her father’s eyes, she sees “the hunting dogs of sorrow prowling those dark caverns”.
3) “ A Death in the Family”(1957) by Jame Agee. An intense, deeply felt presentation of the many faces of grief.
4) “The Dutch House “(2019) by Ann Patchett. A powerful family drama, focusing on the relationship of a brother and sister.
5) “Night, Sleep, Death, the Stars”(2020) by Joyce Carol Oates. “Goodreads” is spot on: “Stark and penetrating, Joyce Carol Oates’s …novel is a vivid exploration of race, psychological trauma, class warfare, grief, and eventual healing, as well as an intimate family drama in the tradition of the author’s bestselling “We Were the Mulvaneys.” Not quite as good but close.
6) “Maxwell’s Demon” (2021) by Steven Hall. As I described it in my review for “Goodreads” “”Maxwell’s Demon” presents many arcane pieces of info, scientific, philosophical, theological, and linguistic, embedded in a plot full of twists and turns, and provoking numerous “what- just -happened” moments.”
7) “Our Story Begins: New and Selected”(2008) by Tobias Wolff. Here I quote the “Los Angeles Times”: “A writer of the highest order, part storyteller, part philosopher, someone deeply engaged in asking hard questions that take a lifetime to resolve.”
8) Alice Munro’s two “selecteds”: “Alice Munro’s Best(2006) and “Family Furnishings: Short Stories, 1995-2014”(2014). Thank you Tracy for reminding me, in your suggestions last year, to re-read Munro.
Pam McPhail says
Quite the list, Ken. I missed my window of opportunity to undertake the project of reading “Ulysses.” Needed to be younger, more thoughtful perhaps, to make sense of the tome. But you piqued my interest to look into your other suggestions of writers, familiar and unfamiliar to me. Thanks.
Ken McLean says
This should be “reply” to “Mysteries”: “The Historians ” just popped up on Bookbub for $1.99, so I will be reading it soon.
Susan Hagg says
I’m so glad you started this blog for sharing books, Pam. It kept me going through the pandemic and it’s so exciting when a new post shows up.
I just finished reading The Labyrinth of Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is the 4th volume in a series entitled The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It was described in a review as being “an electrifying tale of passion, intrigue and adventure.” Sounds pretty good I thought and they were all page-turners I loved. The first volume is The Shadow of the Wind followed by The Angel’s Game, then The Prisoner of Heaven and finally The Labyrinth of Spirits. I fully recommend these books and hope anyone reading them gets as much pleasure from them as I did.
Pam McPhail says
Yes, I must return to the series and finish what I started. Thanks for reminding of these wonderful books, Sue.