Category: Recommended by

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt – Anonymous

My good friend Karen recommendd this book by stating “It has been a long time since I dreaded the approaching of the end of a book”, and I concur completely although the story will not be for everyone. The anonymous narrator, a writer and single mother, creates a fictitious character named Duchess Goldblatt to post on social media. Why create a fictional persona? Is it for personal privacy? Is it to construct an alternative reality, a social construct that is a better person, kinder and more compassionate? DG becomes a bright light in the darkness of social media. In contrast, the anonymous narrator is extremely introspective with intense relationships with her late father, son, a brother with mental illness, and yes, even Lyle Lovett. Highly recommended for a challenging read.

Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino

Adina is an extra-terrestrial sent to earth to a single mother in Philadelphia; she is “born” in 1977, simultaneously with the launch of the Voyager-1 spacecraft. Her role is to observe and report on human behaviour, using a fax machine (!) to communicate with the extra-terrestrials. Her communications are both wistful and insightful, for someone in exile at home. Adina’s life is endlessly surprising – highly recommended, thanks Amy.

The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa


This is a strange and spooky book. On an unnamed island, objects like birds mysteriously disappear. The sinister Memory Police then remove all references to birds, like the writings of an ornithologist. And if memory persists, the people are removed to ensure that what has disappeared remains forgotten. Loss and fear become paramount. And the ending is depressing- can memories be preserved?

Thanks Amy, for this recommendation.

Prophet Song – Paul Lynch


Trigger warning: this is a tough read, bad things progress to worse things. Contemporary Ireland is becoming dystopian with national emergency legislation and suspension of constitutional rights. Eilish is an approximate 40 year old mother of 4. Her life is upended when her trade unionist husband is abducted by the state. How can she protect her children and her mildly-demented father from the political chaos that descends into civil war. Does she stay or attempt to flee? The writing is dense with run-on dialog that is consistent with the intensity of emotions (desperation, despair). What will a mother do to hold her family together in the face of societal collapse.

Thanks Mike, for giving me this important book.

Red Queen – Juan Gomez-Jurado

A mystery-thriller set in Madrid features an odd investigative couple: a disgraced police detective and a brilliant female forensic analyst with an uncanny ability to reconstruct crimes. A secretive organization directs their investigation into a ritualistic murder and a kidnapping. This is a very entertaining story with many plot twists, and happily, this investigative team will return in a second book. Thanks Renee, for this recommendation.

1979 – Val McDermid

Context is everything in this gritty crime story: Glasgow in 1979, with investigative journalists working in a newsroom filled with cigarette smoke and the din of typewriters. Tax avoidance with greed and Scottish ultra-nationalists are the nasty villains. A totally entertaining story with an appendix with a top-40 list of music from 1979. Thanks Amy, for this recommendation by the acclaimed “Queen of crime” writer.

Junie – Chelene Knight

First, the context: East-end Vancouver from 1933-39, an area called Hogan’s Alley which is home to Black and immigrant communities. At its core, this brilliant book is about complex mother-daughter relationships: Junie and her jazz singer mother Maddie, and Estelle and her mother Faye. As Junie progresses from age 13-19, her artistic talents bloom despite a disquieting reality. Thanks Amy, for this recommendation: highly recommended.

Hollow Kingdom – Kira Jane Buxton

An innovative treatment of apocalyptic fiction because the narrator is a domesticated crow called ST (you will have to read the book to learn the origin of this acronym). What happens to animals when a virus creates an addiction to the to the electronic world which devastates the human population (called MoFos by the crow)? Subject matter includes both violence and oddball humour. And finally, the setting of this conflict for survival is Seattle. Thanks Amy, for this recommendation.