Graphic Novel about Rimbaud, Verlaine and many more...

As promised and planned last year, my reading plan for 2026 - and maybe a bit longer - is to focus on classic books and authors. And when I am not reading works from the carefully curated list, I may do extra documentation work, discovering new titles and writers of interest. So far, I am enjoying the experience, and I have a lot of reviews ready for the next weeks.

My source of inspiration for new discoveries are as diverse as my interests. A graphic novel about the friendships and inimities among the group of symbolist writers led me to Germain Nouveau, that I was not familiar with until now (but instantly added on my list).

Les Illuminés by Jean Dytar and Laurent-Frédéric Bollée is built around the quest for a lost manuscript by Nouveau but touches upon topics dear to rebelious writers like Rimbaud and Verlaine and the relationship between art and life. The text is minimal, but the graphic part is generous, each page following three different timelines, in warm tones. 

The topics raised my interest, while the graphic kept me interested. Additionally, I have some extra reading that may lead me to discovering new works and authors. 

The quest continues...

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steglitz by Inès Bayard translated into German by Theresa Benkert

Steglitz is a part of Berlin I always enjoy spending time exploring. Caught between the equally middle-class Charlottenburg and the much fancier Zehlendorf, it breathes bourgeoisie: modernist architecture, shopping avenue, large busy streets, better dressed people compared to other parts of the city.

In Steglitz Kafka spent his last months, between 1923 and 1924, together with Dora Diamant, before being hospitalized in a sanatorium. 

Steglitz, where the action of the homonymous novel by French-born, Berlin based Inès Bayard takes place, is a place of routine, night secrets and delusion. Leni Müller, the wife of a successful architect, Ivan, recently assigned a project in Prora, the former Nazi summer resort in the island of Rügen, is a person of many habits. Not talking too much, walking her routines every day, a dedicated quiet housewife.

But, in a Kafkian vein, things start happening and the quiet Leni is violently pushed out of her mental comfort zone. She will end up almost homeless, working in pub in exchange of accommodation, leaving her husband and returning in her marital home as a complete alienated stranger. 

I may confess the book took a turn I didn´t expect it, as I was expecting a very bourgeois novel. The challenge of surprise accepted, I felt however that the actual timeline the action is taking part is too long, compared to the intensity of the facts and episodes accounted for. 

I had access to the book in the German version, translated from French by Theresa Benkert. 

The cover, as many books published in Germany, is an excellent visual interpretation of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Blackouts by Justin Torres

Nene - as he is called - and Juan Gay are spending together Gay´s last days in a place called The Palace, a place hard to define both as a place and localization. An intergenerational dialogue between two queer men Blackouts by Justin Torres is exceptional for more than one reason. 

Their topics of conversation are delineated or referred to a forgotten research inspired by Jan Gay, a lesbian activist, but also dancer, translator and ethnographer, who in the 1930s conducted hundreds of interviews with queers, mostly women. The study further inspired the 1941-published work Sex Variants: A Study of Sexual Variants by the Committee for the Study of Sex largely diagnosing homosexuality as a pathological condition. The historical references, including fragments from the study who are introduced in the story with censorship-marked ´blackouts´. 

With the words left non-marked are created new texts, with new meanings. However, ´Nene´ has his own blackouts: ten years back he met Juan in a mental institution but he does not have memories of the encounter. His dialogue is also aimed at recovering those ´blackouts´.  Erasures however are part of the queer history - be in purely historical, literary or of any other kind. 

The historical and pathological information are completed by details from the author´s own biography: Gay and Nene, both do have a Puerto Rican heritage, as the author himself - on the father´s side. The fragments about ´Puerto Rican Syndrome´ do open another line of thought about medical ethnicization. 

The predominant part of the literary puzzle is however played by fiction, that integrates smoothly all the other pieces. The book is largely a work of complex intertextuality, for the ways in which is connects historical elements, images, poetry and science history in a purely fictional dialogue. 

The relationship between the two, with Juan the older, wiser partner, is a formative encounter for Nene who is not only trying to fill his memory ´blackouts´ but also gathers life wisdom and knowledge to fill the existential ´blackout´. It is a friendship that consolidates between the two, as well as a queer transmission of knowledge.

However, it leaves open to the reader the question about ´truth´ and ´false´. It is an extra effort the reader is expected to do for sorting out the data presented. The authorship is confusing and challenging: where is the author´s/Torres contribution and where the voices of the characters are heard?

In the end, it´s up to the reader to pick up its own interpretation(s) and lecture(s) of the book. Personally, I´ve felt the need to read more about the historical sources, but also gave me a lot of ideas about ideologization of science, while appreciating the precision of the prose. 

Blackouts, Torres´ second book was ten years in the making.

Rating: 5 stars

Cursed Daughers by Oyinkan Braithwaite

How does may feel in our modern fast times to be told that you are inheriting a curse brought to you by your women ancestors? It may feel like carrying a genetical disease, but of a spiritual nature. And according to modern genetics, there is possible to challenge your inherited health condition through a different lifestyle, diet, personal choices. So could it happen with the curse, it seems.

Eniiyi, one of the many women characters of Oyinkan Braithwaite first novel Cursed Daughters - author, among others, of the stunning multi-awarded novella My Sister, the Serial Killer - is looking for a job in genetics, as an epigenetic counsellor. Back home to Lagos, after spending many years far away from her women-family, she is carrying not only a curse, but also a stunning resemblance with her aunt, Monife, who committed suicide the day she was born. 

For generations, the women lived together in their family house, haunted by the curse of being alone, abandoned by men. They accepted their condition surviving love stories inspired by popular Mills&Boons novels. Although Eniiyi will have her share of drama romance, she is dramatically changing the course of her life and implicitly the curse.

Curses are an interesting topics that may be perceived from different cultural angles. For the characters of the book, they are as much of actuality as the news: they do belong to life, may be belived in because there is no reason to escape them. From a very deterministic perspective that defides the laws of modern logic, they speak the language of the future, they shape decisions and personal destinies. There is a curse of the curse that one cannot escape, unless you are about to take a step out of the matrix of the social habits and behavior expectations.

The family dynamics, mostly women-related is effusive, over-protective, but can also easily turn into a toxic attitude that does not see beyond the assigned lifelines. Juju may help in the most ridiculous, money-consuming ways, as the only modality that can overcome the destiny´s determinism. Family operates as a cruel reminder of the conservative social and personal order. The self-fulfilling profecy is facilitated by this straight social and family network. 

I, personally, was enchanted by this story, melting elements of magic - and some juju - with erotic intermezzo and modern-day relationships, family obligation and tribal divides, and some fine everyday humour built on the interactions between characters - like the grandma East and West, based on their location within the big family house.

As in her other writings, the women characters are realistically developed and the plot is carefully built allowing some interesting twists encouraging me to stay tunned to the book. I was so absorbed into the story that felt that it ended too abruptly, but at the right time though. 

Cursed Daughters is a book written with literary maturity by a writer I want to read more from.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Random Things Tours: Eye Spy by C.M.Ewan

A childish game - ´I spy...with my little eye´ - turns into a survival claustrophic unpredictable race where saving one own´s family is at risk due to former well hidden secrets of both parents.

Eye Spy by C.M.Ewan - whose previous book I´ve reviewed few years back - it´s an undownputable thriller that not only I couldn´t abandon until the very end, but which also keeps staying with me long before I finished. 

Although the action takes place within a relatively short amount of time, it spares no detail of the ambiance, allowing us to settle into the story, little by little, while terrific details happening on the spot are revealed. 

Mark is playing I Spy with his little 4 yo daughter Molly, but the apparition of a man, who is getting closer to him, terrifying his daugher, is taking a dangerous turn for their trip. The urgency of saving his family from an looming danger activates though secrets well hidden both by him and his wife, Claire, who for obviously fake reasons couldn´t joined them for this trip.

My perfect setting for reading this book would have been on a train trip, however, I tried to imagine with my mind´s eyes the real encounters shared in the book. The cinematic storytelling and the many unexpected twists are definitely keeping the reader in a permanent state of tension. Which is clearly the highest expectation one may have when picking up a thriller read. 

The cover is definitely deserving a mention, for the simple, yet urgent design.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Ti odio, ma ti amo di più by Anna Premoli, illustrated by Michele Brutomesso

I am following very seriously my Italian lessons plan - and Spanish too - and this month, more than ever, I´ve spent a lot of time in the company of this language. As my desire to learn is unstoppable, so it is my lack of criteria in my choice of books. I am not very much familiar right now with what it´s hot off the press in the Italian publishing realm and I still need to research what are the noteworthy authors to explore right now. As I am sure this time will come soon, I just enjoy my full immersion into the language.

My latest literary choices was a book by a very popular author, Anna Premoli -  Ti odio, ma ti amo di più (in my own translation I hate you, but I love you even more) I love chicklit and not ashame to recognize it, therefore reading with pleasure may open up my interest towards the language as well.

The characters of this book, Ian and Jenny are about to celebrate ten years of marriage and he - belonging to the English nobility - is surprising her - a down to earth, feminist and anti-priviledge kind of woman - with a trip to an undisclosed destination. Ten years and two children after, their relationship keeps a special dynamic built on love, respect and very different lifestyles.

The two main protagonists do share alternatively their stories, but most of the novel is focused on their interactions, thoughts about each other given their very different background. The dynamic is interesting but unfortunately the plot is simplistic and largely underdeveloped. 

From the point of view of the language learning, I´ve learned many new everyday words and expressions so I am relatively happy with my choice.

My favorite part so far were the illustrations by Michele Brutomesso, colours and black-and-white, which suited the ambiance of the book. 

Rating: 2.5 stars

Orenda Books Cover Reveal: Stop Dead by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated by Larissa Kyzer

After the bestselling debut Dead Sweet, entrepreneur, former politician and crime author Katrín Júlíusdóttir is back with a new book, ready for print on the 21st of May, to be published by Orenda Books, translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer. 

I am personally very much interested in reading again about the eventful secrets of Iceland´s police and media world. Sigurdis, a detective in training, has to abandon her academic training in criminal psychology in the US for further investigating the murder of her father. However, as a controversial media personality is murdered as well, during a marathon, inconvenient truths are revealed as the crime web goes deep into the darkest layers of the Icelandic society.

With such dark intro, one may expect a very gloomy cover, but instead, the choice is rather suggesting the diversity and multiplicity of city life, with the lettering adding the information missing from the picture. The letters - author´s name, title - do create the tension that the image is at the first sight not communicating directly.

Here is the information about purchasing the book: https://geni.us/vJ4x

I cannot wait to have the book and hopefully to share my thoughts in a different more elaborated post.

Fakers: An Insider´s Guide to Cons, Hoaxes and Scams by H.P.Wood illustrated by David Clark

 

I am often reading and writing about scams - particularly dating ones, especially set in our times - but there is nothing new under the sun. As the book Fakers: An Insider´s Guide to Cons, Hoaxes and Scams by H.P.Wood illustrated by David Clark shows, the temptation to manipulate others (mostly) for financial purposes existed since time immemorial. 

Midfair tricks, Ponzi schemes, palm and psychic reading, medical hoaxes, just to name few of the most frequent occurences, people were always robbed in heinous ways. The victims were definitely not guilty and the argument of limited intelligence didn´t stand. We may just admit that some people are able to use their charm and intelligence for evil purposes. 

The author organised her material with humour - the illustrations definitely helped - gathering examples from various historical periods. However, I may not include military deception among the topics covered by the book as they rather belong to a completely different area. 

If things were never different, just tools and medium changed, how one can be covered against being a scam victim, for instance? I dare to answer referring to the closing remarks of the book: by using the weapon of skepticism and common sense. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Open Skies: My Life as Afghanistan´s First Female Pilot by Niloofar Rahmani with Adam Sikes

Born in Kabul in 1991, Niloofar Rahmani had a dream: to be Afghanistan´s first woman pilot. The circumstances looked encouraging: 2010 was the first time since the Soviets when women were allowed to enter military forces. She took a chance, breaking through social and traditional barriers, but it come with a price: ´As an Afghan woman I dared to dream and there were some who believed I should be punished for it, perhaps even killed´.

Currently based in the USA after requesting political asylum at 28, Rahmani wrote a memoir together with Adam Sikes where she is telling her story in simple words that resonate with the fate of many women from Afghanistan. As her achievements started to accumulate - the first solo flight in her class, Afghanistan´s first female fixed-wing air pilot and captain- , so were the pressure on her family, who since 2015 is on hiding. The reason? She dared to dream for more.

Open Skies is a hearbreaking account of a life put on hold due to the religiously extremist government in Kabul perpetuating traditional mindsets. In the Kabul that once was the ´Paris of Central Europe´ women are prevented from attending school and stepping down the traditional roles they were assigned may be punishable by death.

Rahmani is explaining her story through social, cultural and political details that not only put things into context, but also help understanding the terrible fate of women and girls in Afghanistan right now. Sometimes it feels shameful to realize how often we take for granted rights and achievements without realizing the tremedous professional and personal struggle women in other parts of the worlds are going through. 

I´ve found the book humbling and inspiring and I consider it a recommended read to anyone interested to have a realistic account on the story of women in Afghanistan, including and particularly decision makers and academics.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rachel´s Random Resources: Sugar and Spice at the Pumpkin Corner Café by Laura Briggs

It may not be the season for sugar and spice right now, but some books are just here to give us a reason to survive through seasons. And given the action-packed plot of Sugar and Spice at the Pumpkin Corner Café by Laura Briggs, this book may also give a lot to think about. 

Professional pastry chef Blaire is devastated by the death of her beloved aunt. As she returns to Willow Grove she may not only mourn her passing, but also has to struggle with the café her aunt left her. But the business is struggling - very hard, actually - and a cherisher recipe disappeared without a trace. 

And as her problems were not enough, her former sweetheart Evan is back in town and their try to get back together ended up in a mess. But this is not all, but the rest you may be curious to figure out by yourself. 

This is a book you may hardly be able to put down. The events are such a mixture between tragedy and comedy, plus a spice of sweet romance. The characters are relatable, on the move, and their individual stories do have a lot to offer. 

It is a recommended read for a long romantic weekend and I really loved how the story kept me connected and interested. As a reader, felt very much involved in the life of the characters, trying to understand their motivations and actions. 

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Amu Nowruz and his Violets by Hadi Mohammadi illustrated by Nooshin Safakhoo translated from Persian by Sara Khalili

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, marks the beginning of the spring, a season full of hope, sun and opportunities. An old tradition that remained despite the desperate recent efforts to replace it with imported celebrations. Such tales can be always retold, keeping their original flavour, although re-inserted into a different narrative, based on the storyteller choice.

Amu Nowruz and His Violets by celebrated Iranian children books author Hadi Mohammadi illustrated by Nooshin Sadakhoo and translated from Persian by award winning translator and editor Sara Khalil is such a kind re-tale of an old story from the Persian foklore. 

The story goes that Amu Nowruz (Uncle New Year) was in love with Naneh Sarma (Mother Winter). But heartbreakingly, they can only see each other once the year. Every time though, Naneh Sarma  falla asleep. Instead of waking her up, Amu Nowruz leaves her a flower. When she wakes up again, she sees the flower realizing that she missed him again. 

A beautiful sad story, as many others from the Persian folklore.

The illustrations are unique, with the moderates shades and fine lines, elegantly completing the text. 

The main audience is aimed at 3 to 6-year olds, but it definitely can be used as a multicultural educational tool for older ages as well. If interested to find out more Nowruz-related children books, here is another recommendation from five years ago.  

Nowruz Pirooz to all who celebrate!

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Cover Reveal: Under the Blazing Sun by Jenny Lund Madsen

The readers of Thirty Days of Darkness by bestselling Danish crime novelist Jenny Lund Madsen may ask when the new book from the series Murder by the Book will be published by Orenda Books. And I have a good news to share, as usually when it comes to anything this publishing house has to offer. 

Get ready to reconnect with some characters and the ambiance of Madsen books: the continuation - Under the Blazing Sun - will be out of the print on the 21st of May. And here is the purchase link:  https://geni.us/AsDXTq

At the first sight, it promises a very eventful meta-story, with a struggling crime writer being caught into a cat-and-mouse race of staying alive. The ultimate inspiration for a successful novel. But would she survive to tell the story?

Until I will be able to read - and hopefully review - the book, just have a look at the cover. It reproduces elements from the cover of Thirty Days of Darkness, with predominant dramatic shades of rot and pink. The broken glass carrying a blood-looking liquid amplifies the effect as the precision of the details makes you think of a promise of crime, committed eventually under the cover of a beautiful spectacular sunset.

It sounds very appealing for me...

CLASSIC READS: Carmen by Prosper Mérimée illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe

I am of course acquainted with Carmen, but through Bizet´s opera representations (and I am not an opera fan at all). Merimée only through Colomba, that I´ve read eons ago but I have no memories whatsoever. But part of my CLASSIC READS Project, I decided to include Carmen, inspired by the oniric illustrations by Benjamin Lacombe. In other words, I came for the story but stayed for the illustrations.

Although, to be honest, after reading the book - a relatively short one, in few short sessions during one day - I left with some literary informations. 

Mérimée is considered a Romantic, therefore expect topics of impossible love, and femmes fatales. Carmen, apparently inspired by real events, was written in a week and belongs to a chapter in the French literature of fascination with Spanish culture. In the first half of 1800s, the author visited Spain several times and showed interest in the Bohemians, to whom Carmen belonged to. 

The illustrated French version I had access to, includes an article written by Mérimée about Roma groups in Spain that definitely is to be considered loaded with stereotypes, but it belongs to l´esprit du temps and it definitely invites to a critical read.

Carmen is an evil seductress, nonchalantly and aggressively playing with men´s hearts, until her games will turn against her and she will be murdered by one of her admirers - who is also the storyteller, explaining the journey of his broken heart. Love is consuming, an evil takeover of everyone´s destiny. Once it occurs, it is a before and an after, that may straigthforward lead to destruction. All common motives for the Romantic literature.

For me, it was not a special read but it was nevertheless a unique encounter with classical reads worth considering it once in a lifetime. 

To be continued...

Ragazze Perdute by Max and Francesco Morini

I continued this month my efforts to maintain and develop my Italian skills with a short, slow-paced novel read in the original language.

Ragazze Perdute - Lost girls, in my own translation - by the duo Max and Francesco Morini - traces an unsolved crime of a teenager girl that happened in the 1980s, to our 2020s. Told my Francesco, her short-term boyfriend, at 30 years distance, it has a strong socially and politically-critical perspective that connects directly with the crime itself. 

What starts as a first love story of some teenagers, reveals deep social rifts - family background may influence and determine the choice of friends - ends in a terrible crime with political and religious motivations. The story enfolds following the back and forth in time, through diary entries and memories.

Clearly I´ve followed the socio-political background, and found some interest in the crime part. The pace is slow and the construction is not very elaborated, but because the story itself is relatively short, it suits the brevity of the narrative.

If you are learning Italian, the book works for a B2 advanced level.

Rating: 3 stars

Orenda Books Blog Tour: Reaper by Vanda Symon

 

As a serial killer is making victims among the Auckland´s homeless, no one but Max Grimes seems to care. Grimes is homeless as well, and it´s decided to find out the cause of the serial murders. But as he is advancing his searches, shadows from his more or less recent pasts are returning, challenging his own existence. Would he be able to cope with the past drama?

Vanda Symon is a frequently reviewed author on my blog, and Reaper, her latest by Orenda Books maintains the standards and the suspense high. Tensed, well-paced and psychologically rich, the story advanced in the right tempo where both the characters and the ambiance match. Homeless people are rarely seen as victims and their fragility seldom outlined within the social web, therefore, Symon also offers a different social spin to the usual take, either in crime novels or just in everyday media coverage. The local setting - Auckland - is also unique, as I don´t remember any other crime stories by other local authors placing their investigations there.

I´ve intensively followed and loved the story in Reaper. Some of the ideas I´ve encountered are clearly something to keep thinking about later on. 

A recommended read together with other books authored by Symon. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own 

Random Things Tours: Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin

 

A story of building an identity outside the community of the faithful, Ordinary Saints, the multi-awarded debut by Edinburgh-based Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin is relatable to anyone who chose to leave their faith. No matter which faith, parting ways with the pious upbringings requests a ´before´ and ´after´, where the familiar is replaced with a high-risk social existence, far away from everything one may be used with. 

Inspired by the author´s own devout upbringing, the book is a confrontation between the storyteller and her family, following the sanctification perspective of her beloved older brother, who died suddently. This new situation may push Jay, living currently in London with her girlfriend, to face her family requesting answers. 

It is both a family story, with a strong Catholic background, but also a story of growing up, out of and against faith, but nevertheless build one´s own life. The dramatic moments are balanced by well-spirited remarks and episodes, giving an air of normality and honesty to the account.

I personally appreciated the complexity of the approach, who goes beyond the usual black-and-white take. Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin is definitely a compex voice that has a lot to say in the future.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Cover Reveal: The Bone Mother by Suzy Aspley

Suzy Aspley is back with a new installment from the Martha Strangeways Investigation series: The Bone Mother. 

A follow-up of multi-awarded Crow Moon that I had the pleasure to review almost two years ago, this book promises a mix of mystery, police proceedings and disturbing truths. As a body of a young woman with matching jewellery is discovered at a landmark church, Martha is leaving again her settled quiet life in Strathbran. The search for the truth will take her back to traumatic episodes from her past and encounters to spiritual forces stronger than both life and death.

The cover is as usual the gateway to the story, and it displays a symetrical painted image of a skull in the midst of some stylized psychedelic background. For me, it looks very entincing and I cannot wait to be able to read the book soon.

The book will be published on the 7th of May by Orenda Books and promises suspense and interesting twists taking the reader to mysterious old pathways. 

Keanu Reeves is Not in Love with You by Becky Holmes

 ´He ruined my life in many ways, but for three months I felt like the most loved person in the world´.

Romance fraud is a very complex type of fraud, because the aim of gaining money - feeding global criminal networks - is shaped following a simple desire of belonging and emotional bonding. Romantically available people can be found on dating site, but also on social media - X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram specifically. 

Becky Holmes, the author of Keanu Reeves is Not in Love with You, is on X under the hilarious handle @deathtospinach experienced directly the honor of being in touch with more than one Keanu and some few other attractive personalities. Instagram and X do have plenty of such fake profiles that may follow and unfollow, constantly looking for new victims. Personally, I´ve been twice contacted by potential frauds, both on X: one impersonation of a piano player, and another of Sheikh Hamdan Mohammed Al Makhtoum, Crown Prince of Dubai who sent me one piece of poetry but smells like scam from the first letter.

Holmes has a crazy humour, but she also collected an impressive amount of cases - exclusively women -, from her personal experience and of various victims as well as law enforcement agencies. You may find in this book tips and patterns, as well as ways to get out of the emotional imbroglio which can be a very difficult task in itself. The comfort created by the scammers, although fake, relies on emotional connections hard to break. 

The book is informative, hilarious and empathic, as it dismantle the myth that people falling for scams are uneducated and with limited intelligence. I appreciate the fact-finding mission and the extended research, as well as the insights into various cases and situations, revealing the modern times challenges and changes into the dating culture.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Lavender Clouds by Bex Ollerton

 

I am particularly interested in approaches on mental health issues in alternative ways, and comics about ´neurodivergence and mental health´ sounded more than perfect for my interests and taste.

Lavender Clouds by comic creator Bex Ollerton is presenting in images how being neurodivergent feels like. Personally, I consider very important to keep talking about mental health in its different aspects. Thus, it may relieve the stigma usually associated with it. The situation definitely changed in the last decade or so, but the self-confidence of openly assuming your condition may remain, which raises significant issues in personal and work-related issues. 

Think about how easier it may be when you openly share your neurodivergence when faced with a complex task, trying to find, together with your therapist, the ways to better deal with the pressure of the moment. 

The situations presented in Lavender Clouds are therefore very relevant, as they display and explain those challenges. For someone dealing with such episodes, it may look familiar, but even for someone not fully aware of their situation, it may significantly help. 

Although I´ve found some scenes repetitive and the illustrations part relatively simplistic, nevertheless I appreciate the general message of mental health awareness and self-acceptance of one´s own situation. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Corylus Books Book Tour: The Murder Pool by Stella Blómkvist translated by Quentin Bates

 

Long time no new reviews from Corylus Books, and also no new titles from the mysterious Stella Blómkvist, but spring brings always many gifts, the more bookish the merrier.

The latest, The Murder Pool was just published by Corylus Books, in the unique translation of Quentin Bates. As usual, our dear investigator Stella is busy with more than one project: defending the assumed killer - a young with a mother worth at least some crime novels - of an artist found dead with an axe in his chest, tracing vile politicians and sometimes dealing with her own demons as well.

As usual, nonchalantly, Stella is deeply involved in revealing humans, including herself in their worst, an approach that requires caution, especially when hunting a criminal. Searching the details, analyzing the facts, comparing: it takes time and intuition to be sure that you made the right choice, as someone life is at stake. Stella blends very well with this landscape, and this is maybe why she is such a smart investigator.

A recommended read for anyone curious to discover a crime story with very imperfect characters and a zest of Nordic life.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Rachel´s Random Resources: A Wedding at the Little Bookshop by the Sea by Eliza J. Scott

A wedding in a bookshop is such a cute unique idea. I can already see in the front of my eyes the guests surrounding the bride and the groom while reciting fragments from their favorite books. Or maybe trying something like a wedding book club. So many open options, anyway.

Florrie and Ed, the main characters of A Wedding at the Little Bookshop by the Sea by Eliza J. Scott are preparing their dream wedding and everything went almost as according to the plan. Until Ed´s estranged mother returned to his life with a big boom, planning to take control over their lives and...yes, the wedding too. But the more Dawn is getting involved, the more it looks like she is actually having a secret reason for this spectacular comeback, known only by her.

I got charmed by the book, especially for the friendly and warm local ambiance and community vibe. The story has also some good twists, when you expect less, and a positive feeling, no matter how difficult the situation looks like sometimes.

The book is part of series set in the charming North Yorkshire place, built around Florrie and her gorgeous bookstore, but it can be definitely read as a stand-alone.

A recommended read for a lovely sunny spring weekend, surrounded by books.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

It is a rare literary encounter to have the chance to read - or, in my case, listen to the audiobook version, read by the author herself - The Flower Bearers by poet, novelist and multimedia artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths.  

The memoir, with an exceptional cover, is an extraordinary honest testimony of being faced with deep grief and surviving the violence of the day. The death of her mother, followed by the sudden death of her dear 17-year long friend Kamilah Aisha Moon, on the eve of her wedding. One year after, while still mourning the passing of Moon, her husband, Salman Rushdie, was the victim of a stabbing during a literary event, by a religious fanatic. Now, Rushdie was fighting for his life and she was, again, in the midsts of a drama.

Griffiths, whose poetry is deeply autobiographic and bridges mundane experiences through very observant emotional lenses, is carefully reconstructing episodes from her literary past, with Moon being her life and literary companion. It is a story of women friendship transposed into poetic prose.

Listening to Griffiths´ voice amplified this effect connecting the reader to her story. Her honest acknowledgment of her struggle with mental health over the years creates an even deeper connection.

I hope to have more time in the next weeks and months to read more by Griffiths as for me, personally, opened up so many gateways to emotional patches I´ve never know they existed. Clearly, a mission accomplished for the writer.

Rating: 5 stars  

Random Things Tours: Hunting Shadows by Jane Hamilton

True crime books belong to a very specific genre: compared to the novels on similar topics I am so often reading and reviewing, books about and inspired about real serial killers do not spare any details about the horrible secrets of the human minds.

Hunting Shadows by Scotland´s most experienced and well known crime journalist, Jane Hamilton is an extensive account of the serial killer Peter Tobin. Tobin, a recognized sexual abuser who died in prison in 2022, was found guitly of killing three women in three separate incidents.

Hamilton, which is a proeminent crime journalist, whose investigations not only informed, but also succeeded to change and challenge laws and local regulations, followed the investigations of the crime, as well as the police and legal proceedings. Her book provides not only important investigations about the case, but also horrible psychological details about Tobin´s mind and possible motivation.

Personally, I´ve read the book at a very slow pace, as I really needed to take a break from it more often than I expected. As usually, a true crime story may be brutal and disturbing. But this is the reality of the criminal minds, and it is interesting to have access to such well documented cases.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions, as usual, are my own 

The Widow Spy by Martha D. Peterson

Last weekend, I watched a funny comedy on Netflix, about two spies - a couple - who every couple of minutes were actively fighting for their life, juggling two or more weapons while hitting hard the many enemies in the most sensitive places. Surviving with a big smile on their face. What a life!

Spies, as well as diplomats, are often associated with glamour, action and adrenaline-driven daily tasks. In reality, most part of the job, in both cases, has to do more with office jobs, reading and interpreting incessantly, waiting, a lot of waiting for the right moment or message.

Martha D. Peterson, the author of The Widow Spy, was among the first female CIA case officers assigned in Moscow in the 1970s, at the peak of Cold War tensions. She joined the Agency after her husband, a CIA operative, died in a helicopter crash in Laos. Involved in a defection of a Soviet diplomat - codenamed: Trigon - she was caught while recovering the secret messages left in Moscow and shortly imprisoned to Lublianka.

As a woman, in the CIA, working under cover, being a spy was a permanent work of proving herself. Which at least in relationship with her mission, helped her as she was able to due her assignment without being taken seriously by KGB. Although the facts she shared, important testimonies about the state of the arts for female spies in the 1970s is very relevant for the case for women in intelligence.

The book has plenty of facts, important for the historian as well as anyone passionate about the Cold War, but it also shares an important episode of women´s history, from the most unexpected place.

Rating: 4 stars

Orenda Books Blog Tour: Catherine by Essie Fox

 

I am generally very careful with the retold novels I chose to read, as I always prefer original versions. But  two trustworthy sources - an author that I´ve discovered one year ago and really appreciated, Essie Fox, and an edition house that cannot be wrong, Orenda Books - changed my mind.

Essie Fox´s latest, Catherine, is a retelling of the iconic Wuthering Heights, a novel I´ve read in my teenage years. I also watched the movie - the 1939 version -, that at the time left me a stronger impression.

Catherine has however a different spin and perspective. The ambiance is eerie, very visual and with strong correspondences with the events related in the story. The storyteller is Catherine herself, who 18 years after her death, she is returning to the places of her ultimate love. Many of the landscape descriptions may stay with me for a very long time.

Personally, I´ve found the relationships between characters emotionally deep, facing a strength going beyond life and death. Similarly with the blind irrationality of nature, humans themselves seem to be possessed by passions beyond their own power and understanding.

The book is very well written and for someone who never read Wuthering Heights it may sound as a standalone, original writing as well. In the end, what really matters, is the story, no matter how often and the angle it is written. 

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Imminent Risk by S. Lee Manning

The fourth in the Kolya Petrov series - to whom it was elegantly added Alex Feinstein, his partner and wife to be - Imminent Risk by award-winning author S. Lee Manning takes the reader to a risky ride in the underworld of ´conspiracy nuts´.

I´ve previously reviewed books by this author and I was never disappointed due to the perfect mix of action, political relevance and spy spicy stories. The same literary recipe was followed in this latest book published by Misbehavin´ Press as well. The book can be read as a stand alone, but I definitely recommend to continue with the other installments in the series, especially if you love action-packed page turning books.

Kolya Petrov and his talented attorney fiancé Alex are in the middle of the rehearsal for their wedding. But as Alex is requested by an old childhood friend to help her with a conflict with the social services, she agrees to take a break and assist her. But what looked as a mundane child protection case escalated to a plot that threatens to literally explode Manhattan, minutiously prepared by a disillusioned deluted ex-CIA obsessed by aliens and Jews taking over the country. The nuts are as dangerous as nukes falling in the wrong hands.

Kolya, working for a secret governmental office, is always ready for action, quietly fighting his PTSD following dangerous missions he was involved before, but Alex is by far the complex character in the book. Her past experiences taught her how to react in an extremely adverse environment, but meanwhile she is also intensively reflecting about her relationship questioning sometimes the readiness of constantly being at risk and exposed. These details balance the other important trains of thought about extreme domestic violence and the twisted minds of the conspirationists - for sure inspired by real life characters.

Imminent Risk is very intense, well written and plotted, keeping the reader in a ceaseless suspense. A perfect addition for a weekend read.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the author in exchange for an honest review

 

Orenda Books Blog Tour: Sharks by Simone Bucholz translated by Rachel Ward

I love to discover my favorite cities through literary lenses. Given Germany´s strong local crime writing tradition I am very often rewarded to crime stories set in the many places I´ve left a piece of my heart.

Hamburg-based multi-awarded crime bestseller author Simone Buchholz bring her city of choice into the English-speaking realm. Beatles played here too, of course, but crime stories sound better for me.

Sharks, her latest translated into English by Rachel Ward, is published the 26th of February by Orenda Books, who published other Buchholz translations I had the opportunity to present on my blog. This is the third book featuring the public prosecutor Chastity Riley, but can be easily read as a stand alone (although the other two are heartly recommended). It is a relatively short book, but well written and with detailed information about those places in Hamburg that you need to be an insider to know them, particularly the bars and clubs in the Reeperbahn (´gloomy pubs, grey streets´).

Riley, who is dangerously ill, coughing blood, over exhausted and dealing with relationship crisis, is tasked with the investigation of the murder of an estranged ex-GI family - described as ´hard core conservatives´) living in a compound hunted by greedy real estate ´sharks´. Her very diverse team (´We´re all a pile of glorious bastards. And I like us´) is fast, they are completing each other very well, enjoying the exercise of having to solve the riddle. 

Sharks is not necessarily a highly eventful novel, but well written and admirably translated, with a very clear plot. The characters of the book are by far the most interesting, including Riley whose inner dialogues doubling her conversations are very entertaining.

Clearly, the next time will be visiting Hamburg will see the city with completely different eyes. Sharks seems to have been cut a short sequency from the everyday life in the Wilhelmsburg borrough that ends at the author´s will. But we, the readers, may be curious to come back soon, hence the excitement of waiting for the next installment in the series.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but opinions are, as usual, my own

CLASSIC READS: So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ translated by Modupé Bodé-Thomas

My CLASSIC READS project took me this time a bit farther away: in Senegal. So Long a Letter by French writing Senegalese author Mariama Bâ (translated from the original French version Une si longue lettre by Modupé Bodé-Thomas) was on my reading list for a very long time. As my interest with this project is not only to cover less known ´classical´ - in my own timeline decision until mid-1990s - reads, but also less read world literature, I loved the chance of spending some time with this book.

This book is ´classical´ in its level of literary achievement for the Senegalese literature. It was published in 1979, and it is the only book Bâ - a teacher, Minister of Health, a feminist - published during her lifetime. The book received the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, an annual prize awarded between 1980 and 2009. 

The book is relatively short - read it within few hours - and is written as a letter that Ramatoulaye - whose name is revealed long towards the end of the story, and when uttered by a man - sent to her childhood friend Aissatou. Ramatoulaye is sharing her struggle and survival after being indirectly faced with the announcement that her husband of 30 years and 12 children took a second wife. The second wife, the same age with the older daughter, in the company of whom he met her, was a victim of her circumstances and the desire of her mother to achieve a social status.

The letter starts with the announcement with the sudden death of her husband, as she details the funeral and the mourning ceremonies. The compassionate tone of the beginning is progressively growing into the anger and frustration of the betrayal she experienced. Abandoned, not divorced, she remained faithful to the love of her youth. Offered to be taken as a second wife herself, by a man who used to be in love with her, she refused. The recipient of her lettr, Aissatou refused radically the same option, ending up as a diplomat and educated free woman.

The book is written very insightfully, with delicate observations about social change and the new wave of ideas, from anthropological observations to city planning, social change in Senegal or religious and sexual education for girls.  

Bâ writes with confidence, as someone aware that she has something to say may be. The translation itself mediates the knowledge for the non-French reader.

I am very grateful for having the time and opportunity to read this book. It shows how women realities may be generated individually, nevertheless are so similar in the ways they affect women worldwide.

CLASSIC READS: Death in Venice/Der Tod in Venedig by Thomas Mann

My next installment of CLASSIC READS is a book I wanted to read for a very long time: Death in Venice/Der Tod in Venedig by Thomas Mann. Mann was an author I admired in my late teenage years and I´ve read most of his books. I loved The Buddenbrooks as I used, and still have, a weakness for books with a social and sociological background. Until now though, I´ve read everything in various translations, therefore my latest ´classical´ was not only a literary challenge, but also a linguistic novelty.

Der Tod in Venedig is a novella that can be easily read within two hours or so. However, I wanted to spend a bit of more time with the text, therefore it took me few days until I was happy with my understanding of the text and ideas.

Let´s talk language though: I´ve seen reviews by native speakers complaining that it is empty and sophisticated on purpose. It could be, but let´s do not ignore that this book was published in 1912. Nowadays, we write and read today in shorter and plain sentences. At the time, literature was a priviledge of the few, therefore it appealed to a very specific category of readers. Unfortunately today, the long and complex sentences in German are rather reserved for highly bureaucratic texts. Inside jokes put aside, if you are reading Proust - another important name on my CLASSICAL READS list - the style, vocabulary and sentence structure is far from the register used in TikTok book reviews. Those were the days.

Back to the novella now: Set in Venice during the 1911 cholera epidemic - that Mann himself experienced while visiting there - it follows Gustav von Aschenbach, a fictional famous author in his 50s, visiting on Island Lido. His stay turns progressively into a deadly obsession as he sees the perfectly beautiful 14-year old Tadzio, who is visiting with his Polish family. The young man is the perfect projection of the ideal of beauty as per Plato´s Phaidros. 

The ambiance and the various locations are described in the smallest details, literally transporting the reader in the 1900s Venice. There are both visual and atmospheric, reflecting at certain extent the emotional troubles Aschenbach is himself going through.

Echoing another novella by Mann, Tonio Kröger - where the main character is progressively acknowledging his status as an artist - Death in Venice is clearly discussing ideas about the role of the artists, as well as his hidden aspirations and aims. Physical beauty therefore is stirring passions, although there are good reasons to compare the novella with Lolita, the gay version, despite the attraction being in Mann´s case purely platonic. I´ve seen some critics mentioning Mann´s homosexual tendencies, but need to read more about it maybe.

There is also a movie inspired by the book by Visconti I haven´t watched yet. 

I have mixed feelings about this novella: reading it was definitely a welcomed linguistic challenge, but from the point of view of the topic as such, not too much. The Buddenbrooks remain my favorite Mann´s work. 

On the other hand, I will hopefully be able soon to read and review soon some relevant critique and biographical books about Thomas Mann that may bring more personal details into picture.

CLASSIC READS: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

At the end of the last year, I´ve proudly announced my new reading project: CLASSIC READS. It is a project in the making for many years, but half-way abandoned due to the lack of time and the many reading temptations I am giving up to during my day. 

My post was supposed to push my commitment and determine me to follow a plan. Which partially happened, as I set up a list and read some books from the list, but still unable to spend enough time reviewing it lately.

But now I am happily breaking the ice and posting my first - hopefully not the last - post from my round the year affair with classical reads.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short - less than 50 pages - novella published in 1892 in The New England Magazine. A bit over ten years later, the author will explain why she wrote the story, largely but not completely inspired by her own story. 

The protagonist of the novella, a woman, writes about her life during a ´retreat´ in a summer home aimed at restoring her mental health. The first person account describes her struggle with the lack of intellectual stimulation, while being forced largely to limit her daily schedule to home-based activities as per the doctor´s advice. And the under-stimulated brain will find her remedy in a Gothic fantasma of women hiding under the decayed wallpaper in her bedroom. 

The world the character belongs to - as the author herself - is a world with strict gender roles and with ´diagnosis´ that are far from following a scientific pathway. Instead, doctors are trying to maintain the social and gender-based distinctions, which was a generic tendency in women´s mental health until few decades ago.

The book raises issues relevant until today and the discussion is always interesting for several aspects. 

From the literary point of view, the episodes of the wallpaper ghosts are the best in terms of the visual effects of the descriptions. I was able to see the shadows and the aparitions from behind the wallpaper in the front of my eyes, hence my reading and re-reading of those passages more than once.

It was a short yet thoughtful read I am glad I had the chance to read it. It just opened up my interest to advance through my classical reads and happily share it on the blog as well. 

The Dilemmas of Working Women by Fumio Yamamoto translated by Brian Bergstrom

Forget all those women ending up doing nothing with their lives by purpose that we encounter so often in the English-speaking literature. The Year - only one! - of rest and relaxation. The women giving up their career, mothering, shopping and the fancy man without a plan in sight. Japanese women did it in books many years before - Sayaka Murata is one of the many examples that come to my mind right now. They are freely having tantrums in convenience stores, avoid men, are spending the life in their home without doing anything at all. And this is perfectly anti-system fine. 

I had those thoughts while reading the brilliantly disturbing short stories finally published in English by Fumio Yamamoto, translated by Brian Bergstrom (whose end note helps the reader more than in one respects). First and foremost, have a look at the cover! I can look at it for hours and always finding new ways to create stories based on the character. It relates perfectly the feeling builds up inside of you while reading the five short stories from the collection.

Each of the women exist within their own realm. Men and in general the masculine breed - either partners, fathers, children - is there to create trouble, discomfort, to unsettle. Although they gravitate within the traditional social and economic system, they tend to operate following their own anti-capitalist gravitation rules: no jobs, loafing around, ´unfit for society´. 

They may also try to cool down their volcanic anger when returning back home from family assignments, before the night shift to make ends meet and watch their husband cooling down on the sofa with a beer in the front of the TV. 

Women are always the main characters, also when they may not be the direct storyteller. It is less about ´voice´ than about ´presence´, although absent from the existence as such.

It´s a literary delightful and subversive read as it may make you think: why not turning the alternative into mainstream?

Rating: 4 stars