Random Things Tours: Old Bones in Puglia by Tom Benjamin

There are topics that cannot be missed while when writing a book, particularly a thriller, based in Italy. Topics like mafia connections and religious devotion may be necessary motives without whom such a novel may sound largely unauthentic. 

Some authors though can bring both topics in a highly eventful thriller. Old Bones in Puglia by Tom Benjamin was my chance to meet again Daniel Leicester, the Italy-bounded Brit. In a fascinating environment, Daniel is caught in the midst of a tale where mafiosi threats are coming dangerously close to home and his family, while trying to trace some stolen antiquities. 

I am personally fascinated by stories where antiquities and archeology are the canvas where thriller stories are written, and this book is exceptionally feeding my expectations in this respect. The personal story is tightly connected to the thriller and creates a special tension within the story. After all, the life and death in Leicester´s close knit family creates higher stakes as in a very neutral matter-of-factly investigation. 

Well-written, tensed and impossible to put it down; this is how I like my Monday thrillers. 

The book is the seventh in the Daniel Leicester series, but can be easily be read as a stand-alone. I personally hope there will be a number eight and many more installments in the series, as both the characters and the ambiance scream against an early farewell. 

Rating: 4 stars

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

Orenda Books Tours: Stop Dead by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated by Larissa Kyzer

The author of the bestselling debut Dead Sweet entrepreneur, former politician and crime author Katrín Júlíusdóttir is back with the timed sequel Stop Dead, published by Orenda Books, translated from Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer. 

Detective in training Sigurdis 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 and especially its politics.

The mixture between political intrigue and crime is one of my favourite crime sub-genres, therefore, I enjoyed every single page of this novel, well-paced and diving deep into the dark encounters of corrupt and machiavellic politicians and their supporters. 

The story is slowly switching from what was considered as a simple procedural investigation into a much serious and clearly dangerous dive going beyond a simple crime. But the book itself does not read only as a true crime as Júlíusdóttir creatively built momentum through both the plot and the characters. 

Although more than one topics approached may pertain to everyday social challenges, their role in the narrative is not to demonstrate a thesis or to prove a theory, but to nurture the plot and allow the characters - like Sigurdis, which is my favorite - to expand.

I haven´t read too much Nordic Noir this year, but Stop Dead is definitely a book that I will remember and keep recommending to anyone interested in clear and strong Icelandic crime voices.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Das Narrenschiff by Christoph Hein

In the written and visual tradition of the early Renaissance, the Ship of fools refers the idea of ignorant leaders - religious but political as well - taking their subjects to nowhere but clearly to perdition. A ship led by fools, cannot stand the power of a storm in the middle of the sea. They are all meant to disappear.

The expression, used with the same meaning until today, was branded by a poem in German by the Basel author Sebastian Brant. There are many variants of European communism - the Germa one, among them - perfectly fitting the poem´s description. 

Hence, my interest in readng the monumental - 700-page plus - work with the same name - Das Narrenschiff - by author and French-translator Christoph Hein. In the German tradition of Bildungsroman - formative roman, at the end of which the character is reaching its own potential only that in this case, the main character growing up, foolishly, is the GDR/DDR itself - the author is following the destiny of three families, bureaucrats/apparatchiks, from the last years of the WWII until the end of the German Democratic Republic.

Deemed for mediocrity, either personal or professional, the characters are ´alive´ only within the political/ideological interactions. Even if tbey may think critically the decisions of the government and even their Soviet experiences, they are unable to reach out of their limited circle of friends. They are fools governed by fools, leading fools to perdition. 

The book is extremely precise when deals with communist bureaucratic procedures and mechanisms. From the chain of command to the chain of denial, everything is very well researched and possibly well known - the author worked as a journalist and author in East Germany. But, as much as I acknowledged the historical precision, I was mostly disappointed about the literary life of the characters, who - I understand they are mediocre - but are mostly existing only to show how decisions operate without depth or even emotional existence. 

I was personally more story flesh and literature, but I´ve stoically resisted until the very end of the book - at least for the language and vocabulary - highly specialized.

I fully acknowledge that I´ve let myself fooled with this book, but partially it encouraged me to do a bit of more research into the GDR´s history. And maybe I will stumble upon some better literary references as well.

Rating: 3 stars  

Rachel´s Random Resources: Audiobook tour Butterfly Summer by Toni de Palma

I am very grateful for audiobooks, although my relationship with them wasn´t always a smooth one. After being very much reluctant because of my very limited attention span, which may affect my understanding of a book, I educated my attention learning to properly focus and keep a track of the information. Now, I am practically listening at least to one book per week, being able to deeply delve into the topics and complexities of the plot. 

My latest ´read´ was a novel that suits very well the time of the year, with a character that just gets under your literary skin. Anna, the main character of Butterfly Summer by Toni de Palma is a successful Hollywood producer whose advice about romance and love are very much appreciated. In reality though, she is a mess romantically and soon her professional life may be labeled likewise. 

As she is back to Italy, the setting of a bride-related show, she s curious to investigate a bit more the secrets of an aunt with whom she spent some idyllic time in her youth. But her wish to find out more may turn around her; her life and her professional success.

The story is well paced and also well told - exceptionally read by Teresa Mastrobuono - for the audio version and I enjoyed to get to know the characters and their challenges. 

A recommended read if your heart is already longing for a summer time in Italy, while being guided by Anna´s own (mis)adventures. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Night Lagoon by Jo Morey

An atmospheric and well-crafted debut novel set in the exotic Carribean destination, the debut novel by Jo Morey, The Night Lagoon is a complex story of secrets and deceive. 

Laelia is happy to start a new life with her partner and her children in what for many may look like a paradise: a jungle with luxurious vegetation promising a peace of mind many may envy her for. But in life, no gift comes easily, and sooner, she may realize that she is trapped in a web of lies and deception from where she has to get out of. 

Uniquely, Laelia is a character with a hear impairment, and with tinnitus, which makes her account and understanding of the episodes she is experiencing even more interesting. The ways in which she relates to the story plot are different and may sound confusing sometimes, but nevertheless it creates an authentic difference in telling and interpreting the story. 

The pace is intense and I also enjoyed the extended descriptions of the nature paradise - and I appreciated the presence of the orchids -, and with a real story construction. The nature seems to resonate with the psychological ambiance of the book, and such a coordination is usually very delicate to build in a credible, crime/thriller-related way. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Rachel´s Random Resources: The Relentless Lady by Eva Harris

I simply cannot have enough of books featuring bold women; women who against all odds are stronger than their destiny. Women who are not intimidated by the impossibility of their dreams.

Francesca Silva, the character of Eva Harris´ The Relentless Lady, is one of those exceptional people. She left her traditional world in Brazil, following her dream of freedom and personal and professional achievements. Based on true events, it is set in the 2000s, it is a story of defying the promise of a life of survival in exchange of a search for oneself. 

Personally I got very much invested in the character´s decisions and journey, who is far from being idealized and polished to a perfect image. In fact, Francesca is making mistakes, sometimes put her heart in the wrong place, but she is very much like anyone of us, on the road to writing one´s story. 

The book is the first in a series dedicated to featuring exceptional destinies, and personally I cannot wait to read another storie(s) of women resilience. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

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

Children Spanish Books for Beginners

Almost half through the year, I am seriously keeping my promise of improving my Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, at a level allowing me to pass the European B2 - with an aim at C1 - certification tests. Plus, started learning a new language, but this for another time.

For my Spanish warming up, I´ve read recently two children books, in bilingual version, with an interesting neurodivergent take. It is very important for neurodivergent children to relate to characters sharing their own issues, and for me it was a first time encountering such characters in children books. A plus for the bilingual aspect.

The author of both books, Eleni Tassopoulos Wehner is herself a ´neurodivergent mother´, and this probably helped to properly represent such situations. Both books were colourfully illustrated by Danamarie Hosler. The main characters, Roscoe&Ivy are faced with dealing with daily chores, like cleaning the room, or organising the shoes, or finding/trying the best house shoes.

The books are part of the Roscoe&Ivy series, but can defintely read as standalone. The sentences are clean, unequivocal, using sentences and expressions useful for the daily communication. The text goes along nicely with the illustrations. 

I really loved the books, and even learned a word or two. They can be nicely used as good night stories for bilingual children, and it also creates topics to discuss afterwards, either commenting the characters or their actions.