Some Book Recommendations

Over the summer I was lucky to fall into some great reading material.

First, We Must Be Brave, by Frances Liardet, a story set in the war and already reviewed in July on this blog. I Loved it! Here’s the link.

Next, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Christy Lefteri, is the astonishing fictional story of a Syrian couple’s journey out of their war-torn country to England. Even with huge losses along the way they keep moving forward. Told from the perspective of the couple having arrived in England and being processed as refugees, the story jumps back in time and we come to understand the great mental stresses that each of them is coping with.

The author, the daughter of Cypriot refugees has worked with refugees and the story comes out of that experience. In spite of difficult material, graphic at times, the book is a window into the refugee experience for those of us who are merely on-lookers. 

Another refugee story, this one non-fiction, is The Girl with Seven Names, by Hyeonseo Lee. Published in 2015, it is the first-hand account of the author’s young life in North Korea, and her solo escape from that brutal regime as a 17-year-old. Reading this book is an eye-opening experience for those of us who hear about North Korea fairly regularly in the news, but for whom it is pretty much blank space in our international knowledge. It is very interesting to read how the country operates and what the inhabitants think.

 After Hyeonseo Lee eventually makes her way to South Korea, she determines to get her widowed mother and younger brother out as well and I was surely impressed at this young woman’s fortitude and acumen.

For lighter reading, try The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, by Hendrik Groen. The author is an 83-year old Dutch senior, living in a retirement home in the Netherlands. He decides to keep a diary for one year, writing almost daily. He describes his life, his acquaintances and their interactions with a clear eye, having no patience for those residents who mostly complain, but loyal and helpful to the folks he bonds with. It’s told with a mix of compassion and humour and might actually be a beneficial read for anyone contemplating a move to a senior’s facility.

Another light read, but one with a deeper theme, is The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow. A mixture of fantasy and time travel, this story suggests that there are doors from our world to other worlds that we can find at so-called “thin” places and that it’s possible to pass through. Of course, there are people trying to eliminate or close up these doors and others who celebrate them and want to maintain them.

 I’ve always been interested in the metaphor of doors: doors opening onto other doors – one opportunity leading to multiple others and the idea of a door opening when another one closes – when an event changes our life, whether for good or bad, that there can be a new and different life beginning. We just need to be open to the possibilities.

This is Harrow’s début novel and is so beautifully-written that I’m already looking forward to her next, even though apparently it’s about witches, not something I’m particularly interested in.

    

Another Canadian author, Emily St. John Mandel, is enjoying renewed interest in her 2014 novel Station Eleven, a look at our country in the days after a pandemic has swept everything familiar into the past. Recommended if you haven't already read it. 

St. John Mandel's new novel, the Glass Hotel is a very interesting look at a Ponzi scheme and its far-reaching impact. I really liked it.

  

Finally, Goodwood, Canadian author, Michael Christie’s new novel. I first “met” Christie’s writing in 2015 when I was lucky enough to receive a free copy of If I Fall, If I Die through now-defunct Afterword Reading Society at the National Post which was running a weekly book club. If I Fall... was the story of a teenage boy living with an agoraphobic mother. He’d never (!) been outside of his home, but as he got older, he became both more curious and braver and eventually, wearing protective gear and fearing the worst, he braved the Outside. 

It was a really wonderful novel providing both an insight into a teenage boy’s mind and a tender treatment of family, friendship and parenting. 

I was really looking forward to Michael Christie’s next novel and Goodwood didn’t disappoint. Longlisted for the 2019 Giller Prize and winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, Goodwood is a multi-generational family story ranging in tree-like strata between a post-apocalyptic 2038 and a century before. The Greenwood family has been involved one way or another – from harvesting to saving – Canada’s trees and the result is a great story. 

There was a lot of other good reading this summer. Check out my book pages if you're looking for more ideas.