Book Review: How to Love Your Daughter by Hila Blum translated by Daniella Zamir

´I see all the peculiar ways in which mothers prepare their daughters for life, ad they are always suffused with sorrow´.

Daughters at the puberty age are complicated beings. Mothers of daughters, mothers of unique children in general are double complicated: once by their condition and secondly, their condition is amplified by the impossible conditions of their daughters. Contorsed bodies of paper blow by the wind of desires.

How to Love Your Daughter, by Jerusalem-based writer and editor Hila Blum, translated from Hebrew by Daniella Zamir is a story of mother-daughter alienation. A crescendo going back to the source of the separation, an innocent yet existentially breaking lie, made of too much love. We are repeatedly shared the details of the separation, for how long, how it enfolded, the relative moments of communication. But until towards the end of the story, we are unable to fathom the reason. 

Told by the mother, the story has apparently nothing dramatic, there is no traumatic event that may explain the radical separation. Leah is a well beloved unique daughter of a middle class family, intelligent moderately beautiful and living a protected life. ´We had Leah. She was one of those girls who was endlessly loved by their parents and just a little less loved by the rest of the world; and there came a time when I sensed she resented that. The disparity. Maybe she didn´t find herself pretty. But to her father and me she was the most beautiful girl in the world, and the love of our lives´. 

But when the parents are blinded by love, ignoring the moral compass and the ethical values, encouraging their children to protect themselves, only for love, may be wrong. May lead to wrongs of the highest kind. Sometimes, our children don´t want blind protection, this is not the love they expect from us. This is not love.

How to Love Your Daughter is relatively short but made of perfectly refined fragments, concise yet powerful. For me, it´s one of the best book about mothers and daughters I´ve read in a long time, a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

Rating: 4.5 stars

´Coffee and Cigarettes´

Born in a family with a controversial Nazi past, Ferdinand von Schirach uses his everyday life legal professional experience in creating stories with a clear moral conflict and questionning. Through the state prosecutor´s decisions, often surprising, facing the sometimes horrific facts of the culprits, there are fragments of human knowledge shared with us.

Kaffee und Zigaretten - Coffee and Cigarettes -, to which I had access in audiobook format - are a collection of his short stories, and some theater play, and even an ´audio film´. Although not equal in their approach to topics, the insights into human motivations and resilience, as well as the moral/religious hollow that does sometimes surround our way of seeing or escaping everyday responsibility was for me the most important exercise in reading those fragments. 

It is a long, insightful read/or listening, which can be also used as an useful German learning and practice (C1 to C2 levels). For me, it was also a reminder that the contemporary German literature has so many unique topics and voices, which may not necessarily relate or resonate current topics of other international literature. Hence, it makes me grateful for my German language skills.

Rating: 3.5 stars 

Orenda Books Cover Reveal: The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty and Death Flight by Sarah Sultoon

If you are following my blog, you may notice two things: I can hardly resist an offer of reading the titles published by Orenda Books and that I love beautiful, smart covers. This post is all about those two topics, as I had the honour of being invited to introduce you to two covers of incoming titles by one of my favorite publishing houses around, by authors I had the chance to previously review and can´t wait to read more about.

Death Flight by Sarah Sultoon

Sarah Sultoon is a knowledgeable and talented political thriller author, as I discovered in Dirt. An experienced journalist, her new book Death Flight will arrive on the 1st of February next year. Her topic moves from the Middle East to Argentina, where the story follows an investigation related to Argentina´s Dirty Wars. As I personally have a lot of questions about this tragic episode, I can´t wait to read the book. And the cover announces something really eventful. I love how the cover matches the sense of emergency and thrilling events about to happen. You may even get dizzy it looking at the image for a long time, and I can only expect a high intake of adrenaline from this book.

You can pre-order the book here: https://geni.us/jPl9Q

The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty

Paul E Hardisty is no new name for the readers of my blog. At the beginning of this year I´ve reviewed The Forcing, a thriller novel inspired by the climate emergency. The Descent is the prequel of this book and promises the same amount of action packed with inspired thoughts about the unfolding drama of the climate change. Dramatically, the cover inspires the same feeling of insecurity and burning emergency, through the choice of colours and the poster-like lettering. 

The book will be published in various formats on the 15th of February and here is the link to pre-order the book: https://geni.us/EPOP

Random Things Tours: Moroccan Traffic by Dorothy Durrant

The word ´traffic´ can be read in more than one way, and this ambiguity in the title of Moroccan Traffic by late historical fiction and bestseller Scottish author and painter Dorothy Dunnett is a delightful game of double meanings. It was my first encounter with this author and her Dolly mysteries - this one is the 7th in the series - but I have more than one doubt that it will not be the last time.

From the very beginning of the book, the reader is caught into a fast forward chain of events and characters. The prose is short, alert, fast, and so are the events unfolding. In the romanticized Marrakesh with her mother - with whom she has a decent love-hate relationship - Wendy Helmann may be exposed to series of unexpected dramatic events - race through the Atlas Mountains, kidnappings, explosions, dead threats, and many more. Her boss, the chairman of Kingsley Conglomerates may have a say in this, while he is busy with murky takeover negotiations. 

Everything is unfolding so fast that you can hardly get a break from reading, and this is how you can courageously spend a cosy weekend at home. The characters may remind of classical crime characters, but transposed into a more modern and lively environment. 

Rating: 4 stars

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

Short Stories Book Review: I Hear You´re Rich by Diane Williams

Since two weeks, I can hardly read and review anything but books I am commissioned to for my regular book tours. Short stories and poetry though keep my world on artificial ventilation, a time limited escape from a reality I´ve seen maybe coming but couldn´t accept the thought of it.

A couple of months ago I´ve read my first Diane Williams collection of short stories and this week I got to finish her newest release: I Hear You´re Rich. Short stanzas from the everyday life, questioning the questions, leading you from one word to another in a different direction you dreamt of. I love brevity, especially in stories and Williams has her own art of creating the intense moment, like a cinematic moment carefully and assiduously prepared for a long time. A preparedness known by the author herself, but still surprising the reader. Each story can be read over and over again, and the concise nature of it will reveal more and more meanings. The richness of the ´short´ genre at its best.

Although I loved the writing, I was not always impressed by the topics. It´s a matter of taste, I know.

Rating: 4 stars

Random Things Tours: Stigma by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger translated by Megan E. Turney

 

Successful writing collaborations are rare but when the collaboration between two likeminded literary minds happens it´s a pleasure for the reader. ´Nordic Noir´ has offer many pleasures from individual authors but Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger seems to be a completely different level. Yes, I know, every time I am discovering a new author of this ´Noir´ category I may repeat myself, but this is because this is how it feels like. Uniquely, this geographical area seems to provide an excellent selection of crime and thriller novels hard to compare to anything produced in other parts of the world. 

This was my second encounter with the literary bestselling duo Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger. Stigma was translated into English from Norwegian by Megan E. Turney a translator I had the chance to feature previously for a Danish translation as well, and published by Orenda Books, one of my favorite crime and thriller edition houses I always feel honoured to feature on my blog. 

The book is the fourth installment from the Blix&Ramm series, and although I recommend reading the other books in the series, it can be also read as a stand alone. What definitely matters is the story, which is fast paced and although directly brutal and aggressive - not for the faint of heart - it is nevertheless very human in its raw emotional manifestation.

Alexander Blix is currently serving a prison term for taking upon himself the duty of avenging the death of his dear daughter. As a dangerous criminal escapes a German prison, he may be helpful in connecting some missing dots from his high security cell. Together with Emma Ramm, a journalist, one of his few visitors in prison, he is trying to help advance the investigation aimed at catching the criminal.

Personally, I felt the race for catching him, but also the highly adrenaline events unfolding. The combination between the action packed story and the human insights is my perfect thriller combo. It is an unpredictable story, with many layers and revelations about the people of the underworld and their realm. A lesson in life from an inspired thriller duo.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Rachel´s Random Resources: Fatal Lies by Anita Waller

 

There are different kind of lies: small lies and survival lies and also fatal lies. There is a different degree of risk they may involve but nevertheless a lie is a lie and hiding the truth can be fatal. 

This is what happened with the protagonists of Fatal Lies by Anita Waller, published by Boldwood Books. The book is the second in the series featuring The Forrester Detective Agency, a family business of the Forresters from Sheffield, Waller´s city. Although I would definitely read - and recommend reading - the first installment as well, you can easily understand what is going on in the book without further knowledge of the previous book.

This time, it seems that a burglary went completely wrong, with the victim being killed. Was it something who went completely wrong? Was it an accident or was on purpose? And, if yes, who is to blame for it?

This is the task to be solved by the agency and in the end, it proves to be much more difficult as it looked at the first sight. More than once, he is rather forced to react than to act, and this set a definitely different trend for the investigation as well as for his professional outlook of his job and business.

I enjoyed reading Fatal Lies, particularly the good mixture between actions and the characters, has a local flair which is gives the story even more authenticity and also makes the characters relatable. In order to be successful, a thriller should not necessarily be set in a big city, easily identified on the list of ´100 places to see before you die´. Personally, I feel more attracted by stories set in small, relatively out of the radar locations, because at this micro level it is much easier to interact and see the human relationships unfolding. 

I would love to continue following the next adventure of the agency and eventuallymore books by Anita Waller as well. It looks like an author that has a lot of insights about humans and their motivations.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Babysitter by Emma Curtis

 

Stories with disappearing or killed babies are hitting very hard those days, particularly myself. But back in September when I accepted to read and review this book I could not fathom the new wave of hate and unspeakable violence hitting my beloved Middle East. But nevertheless, the role of a book is not to scare you, but to open up your mind and sometimes also take you out of your comfort zone. A challenge I always dare to accept.

The Babysitter by Emma Curtis was indeed worth reading it. It may unchain a wave of confusing feelings and uncertain thoughts about what the characters do, did or really are, but this is one of the strengths of Curtis literary mastery. 

Claudia, Anna and Sara are brought together by the destiny shared, willingly or not. Claudia is just released on parole from prison where she was convicted for the murder of her child, Tilly. Sara married Claudia´s ex-husband, while Anna was the babysitter who let them down when she was supposed to babysit. Apparently, they may not have too many reasons to stay in touch those days. However, it seems there is a secret binding them together and this revelation is the journey we are invited to during the reading of the book.

I enjoyed reading The Babysitter as you may enjoy a good written book no matter the topic. It builds a strong argument and the story itself is almost flawless, playing with double meanings and confusion until the very end. Expect a lot of suspense and unexpected turns of events, and insightful psychological games. 

Rating: 4.5 stars

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

Rachel´s Random Resources: Drumbeats Trilogy by Julia Ibbotson

This summer, when I was revealing the beautiful covers of the Drumbeats Trilogy by Julia Ibbotson I accepted the challenge of later reading the full series, following the adventures of a young woman ready to fight the challenges of the life she chose for herself.

The trilogy starts with Drumbeats, featuring the young 18-year old Jess who decided to take one gap year to travel to Ghana. Those drumbeats will follow her for the rest of her life, as the events she is involved in are not only of a personal nature, but of a larger international importance too, with Ghana being torned by a bloody civil war. It is a good introduction to the character and announces smartly events that are expected to take place later in the other installments of the trilogy. We are also introduced to characters and events that will influence the rest of the story.

Walking in the Rain follows Jess as she is happy married with the man of her dreams. Soon after though, she is about to discover that everything was an illusion and the man she used to love may be someone else completely. The story takes a dramatic turn of events, and we are hardly able to understand where the story will lead too, while following how Jess is growing and becoming a different person, coping with personal challanges that in the end will just make her a different stronger person. This volume has the role of an intermezzo but with an important role in defining Jess and her incoming life steps and decisions. The pace and the mood are different compared to the previous volume, in sync with the unfolding events.

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The last volume in the Trilogy, Finding Jess, was my favorite, for more than one reason. Our character is about to take hold of her destiny and she is back to Ghana, when her adult story began. I liked how the character changed throughout the story and its ways of dealing with adverse situations and people. Returning to Ghana may have been an unexpected decision but makes sense in the story. It is a new life waiting for her, but in order to discover it, she should find herself first.

Drumbeats Trilogy is an interesting story centered on a woman-character, a timeless personality that can serve as inspiration and role model to any woman trying to get in charge of her story, while turning even the worse of situations into an existential lesson helping her to grow.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Beaver Theory by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston

With sadness in my heart, I am writing to announce the passionate readers of The Rabbit Factor Trilogy by Finnish Noir King Antti Tuomainen that with The Beaver Theory, the series ends - predictable, as it was planned as a three-part series. Translated from Finnish into English by David Hackston and published by Orenda Books, the books offers the perfect ´good bye´ to my favorite mathematician character, Henri.

Henri, a lover of order and clearly cut future plans, is thrown far away from his comfort zone and turned not only into a manager of an adventure park - YouMeFun - a family father soon turned into a member of a ´Dads Gang´ and a detective by the force of events. The book, as the other installments continue the same comic thriller turn, unique style for both the thriller and the comic genre, but a lovely meeting of intelligence and laugh. 

Expect bodies, as per the description of a serious thriller, but the takes may make you laugh to tears. At least I did, and I am not the one to be too faint of heart. Exceptionally, Tuomainen manages perfectly the long cast, bringing in and out of the story, a various - sometimes funny, sometimes scary - selection of characters. 

Soon to be a motion ficture, The Rabbit Trilogy was worth the ride and the laughs, and I hope that Tuomainen will continue enchanting the big fans of this style, bringing more and more funny thrilling stories and their actors into the literary world.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Island by Catherine Cooper

 

As in one of my previous professional lives I used to be a fancy travel writer and influencer, I love books featuring such characters. In general, the world of social media is a permanent fascination for me and I am trying to read as many books as possible inspired by this contemporary fragment of everyday reality.

The Island, the fourth book by bestseller author Catherine Cooper, an author I´ve previously reviewed on the blog, it is based on a story set among travel influencers, invited to report from a fancy island in Maldives. Suddenly, there are murders and it is very difficult to figure out why and how did it happen. Crimes, in general, are hard to grasp, they are a violent reality encounter that denies the human logic. Is the escape about to turn into a nightmare?

Written mostly through diary entry, The Island is an enigmatic thriller, hard to guess at the very beginning, but once you are advancing through the end of the story things are becoming less unclear, although not easy to read and understand. Actually, I enjoyed the slow immersion into the story, as it helps to create an ambiance as well as to understand more about the protagonists.

I´ve read it one half weekend, and really enjoyed entering the skin of some of the characters and trying to understand what are they up to. I would have love maybe a faster pace, but if you think about the ending, it makes sense to get to know the characters and their motivations first.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Almanac. A Seasonal Guide to 2024 by Lia Leendertz

I have no idea where time run this year. There are only two and a bit months left from 2023 and although everything went smoothly, I feel like there is so much I wanted to do - and obviously read - since January. Which means that all I can do is just to hope for a better time - and reading - management for the next year. 2024.

As a child, I remember finding in my aunties´ attic many almanacs. In the old times, they used to buy one - or even more - shortly before the end of the year in order to have some inspiration and maybe some useful reminders - about holidays and important events - about what will come. They were their way to set a bit of order in the unknown chaos of the months to come.

But those times are not actually so old and using the knowledge and wisdom of almanacs can be possible in our online world as well. Bristol-based award-winning garden and food writer Lia Leendertz dared to revive this old tradition offering a well seasoned Seasonal Guide to 2024. 

In full honesty, I was not sure what to expect from The Almanac but I am a curious person, especially when it comes to writing, any kind of writing. And it was really worth trying it. The Almanac not only has an outstanding graphic content, particularly the cover, but also has valuable information that can be freely used for the years to come. 

Each month is well structured, starting with the different holidays celebrated by different communities and religious groups, continuing with information about the rhythm of the moon, average temperature expected, what you can do in your garden and the recommended snacks of the month - with easy to follow directions. It does even has a song of the month that can help you celebrate the moment. 

The content is both informative and interesting, offering inspiration for anyone looking for a more nature-oriented life. It teaches the reader to make space in his or her life for more awereness for slow yet meaningful life.

A recommended guidance into the next year.

Rating: 5 stars

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

Random Things Tours: The Rituals by Rebecca Roberts

 

The magic of being part of prestigious book blog tours is also the extraordinary priviledge of having access to authors and topics from geographical areas otherwise less represented in the mainstream publishing industry. Although the books I usually receive are predominantly in English, there may introduce to the reader geographical areas and topics generally neglected from the main discourse.

For instance, despite the fact of being literally in love with Wales - the people and the landscape - I never had the chance to delve into the literary life of the place. I do have a limited understanding of the language structures and so on, but culturally, I am numb.

Thus, The Rituals (Y Defodau) by author and translator Rebecca Roberts will thus always be remembered as my first ever book by a Welsh author. In addition, the main character, Gwawr is a non-religious celebrant, which sounds like a fun and unique job. 

The success of her business though is threatened by gossip and she should do damage control until it is too late. It is a complicated riddle that will lead her not only in the dark places of her past, but will also open up doors for new opportunities and even few romances along the way. 

The Rituals is fun and sweet, but also realistic when it comes to the spectre of human relations and interactions. I loved Gwawr, my favorite character in the book, for her humour and strength as well as for entrepreneurial spirit. 

It is a recommended book to fill your time with joy and questions for an autumn quiet weekend at home. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

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

Book Review: Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño (translated from Spanish into German by Heinrich von Berenberg)

 

It is a very long time since I´ve read something by Roberto Bolaño. Last time was many many years ago, when my mother of blessed memory introduced me to some translations into French. However, I was not familier with the second of his novels La senda de los elefantos (The Path of the Elephants) - translated from Spanish into German as Monsieur Pain by Henrich von Berenberg. The novel was written in 1981 or 1982 and as in the case of other novels by Bolaño it was not very known until lately, through a game of various circumstances. 

The novel has less than 200 pages and it is an alert allegorical story with a detective plot, which does uses real characters - like the Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo - and locations - Paris - to create an intricated story whose end may continue far beyond the end of the book. The story evolves erratically, with one encounter leading to another, forcing the events to evolve in a certain direction, out of the writer´s control, but fully free in the world of imagination.

In 1938 Paris, the mesmerist Pierre Pain is requested to figure out and eventually cure an unidentified illness of Vallejo who, among others, is hiccuping without pause. His efforts are jeopardized by various characters appearing in the story from nowhere and going to nowhere, like two Spaniards. Doctors and nurses do not allow him to practice his gift. All the time, Pain is randomly meeting people whose meaning into his life he cannot grasp. The events he is experiencing are equally confusing him. 

I personally enjoyed being back to this kind of magical writing - less Harry Potter kind of magic, rather the Latin American tradition of magic - and the innovation of the prose. However, felt frustrated that the story ends too fast and it does not maginify more the many random details of the story. I wished for my reading pleasure a more expansive complex story. But once back to Bolaño, I am definitely interested in getting to know more of his works, maybe all that was published until now, hopefully one day in the original Spanish language as well.

Rating: 3 stars

Book Review: American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

 

Expanding the literary limits - and not only - of the intelligence enterprise, by including women of colour is an extraordinary step forward, therefore I was more than interested in discovering the debut novel of Lauren Wilkinson, the much appreciated American Spy.

A single mother of twins, Marie Mitchell is writing a letter to her sons, a first person personal account that extends to some three hundred pages. Prompted by an intruder who was about to kill her, she is bringing her children to Martinique, getting ready to leave them to her parents, before heading to fix some unsolved issues from her (CIA) past. An FBI and once CIA operative, Marie was inspired to a life of spy by her late sister, but also follows a family line of public servants in various state security related positions. The long letter to her twins is an account of her life and decisions, sharing details about their father, the president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, a revolutionary marxist killed in a coup (a real fact).

The timeline is the very end of the Cold War, a period of interest for me, and the tensions and game of pawns between the Soviet Union and the USA are accurate. However, if I would have been interested in such a topic from the ´nonfictional´ point of view, I do have my own academic references in this respect. Because, unfortunately, perhaps trying to follow the facts and the overwhelming amount of information, the book is informative, without a relevant plot development. Hundreds of pages of monologues and first person account, monotously told, for hundreds and hundreds of pages. 

My only interest for the book was due to the German translation - made by a group of translators - which made the book an useful resource for anyone looking to improve the language skills. Otherwise, I would have feel guitly either for not finishing the book - which I generally don´t like - or to feel like I was wasting my time. In any case, I did my best trying to get along with this book until the very end, but unfortunately, just didn´t work for me.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Random Things Tours: The Loneliness Trap by Ana de Andrada

 

There is much already written and said about online dating, and still so much to be said and written. From memoirs, movies, and reality shows to self-help books and novels, there is a lot of inspiration around, particularly warning about its traps. But loneliness itself is also a trap, because it can throw us up in a world of wishes and illusions, lacking contact with reality and its limitations. We want to have something more than we want to feel ourselves safe. We are lonely, but also fragile and exposed. Which make it into the perfect victim for predators of all kinds.

The Loneliness Trap, the elegant debut by Brasilian-born author Ana de Andrada is based on exactly such a story. A lonely lady of a certain age, Gwen, is falling in love with a handsomeme, younger man she met online. The perfect instant reward for feeling herself desired again, a woman with all that the society expect her to be as a woman. But she was alone maybe for too long and she got lured into a trap of illusions and happy lies. Until his charming prince Tom revelas to be a very dangerous and unkissable frog.

I liked how a contemporary topic is turned into a novel exploring human vulnerabilities in the age of Internet. Love in the age of online dating may be changing, but trust, betrayal and love itself are expected to stay the same, being sought after. It is a new vocabulary of love written online, but the alphabet stays the same. Books like The Loneliness Trap are a recommended bibliography to anyone looking for an online adventure or for that big love. It may help to avoid being trapped.

Rating: 4 stars

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

Random Things Tours: White As Snow by Lilja Sigurðardóttir translated by Quentin Bates

Award-winning Icelandic author Lilja Sigurðardóttir is returning to my blog with another title that promises a lot of intrigue, local insights into Reykjavik´society and thrilling suspense. Translated by Quentin Bates, White as Snow published by Orenda Books is following detectives Áróra and Daníel as they are trying to trace a case that leads to international human trafficking and crime. The book was published in the original Icelandic in 2021 and only now brought to the broader public via translation into English. Last year, it was shortlisted for the Icelandic Crime Novel Award. 

As in the case of the other books by her that I had the chance to read, White as Snow is not only a thriller/crime novel, but through the plot it deals with serious society and mentality problems, from migration to women rights.The fate of the five women discovered in a container leads to an investigation whose targets are beyond the expectations of everyone involved in the inquiry. It touches upon social and personal issues, such as the search for Áróra´s long disappeared sister. 

And as the maze was not complex enough, here comes the snow, covering everything and doing what usually nature does, jeopardizing the efforts of poor helpless humans. The reference to colour white, both in the title and in the book do use the ambivalence of colour code and the different feelings and occurrences we associate with. 

White As Snow is an intelligent crime novel with a topic and a pertinent outreach creating the context for a wider discussion about global society topics and human nature. An elaborated story as well, with complex characters and situations at the end of which your take on human behavior will definitely change. 

Rating: 5 stars

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