By Kit Darling
We are still busy working in our gardens or travelling so here are a few Recommendations from our members. Visit the Bookmobile at Bennetto Recreation Centre on Tuesday from 2:30 to 4:30 and Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00.
Earthly Remains by Donna Leon. On stress leave, Commissario Guido Brunetti accepts the offer of a home on the island of Sant’Erasmo in the Laguna of Venice. He meets Davide, an old friend and rowing partner of his father. They becomes close while rowing together to check on Davide’s beehives on islands in the Laguna. Davide is found drowned after a storm, but the question is – was this an accident, or was it related to secrets from his past. Dumping chemicals in the Laguna and environmental damage; cover-ups and payoffs. Again Leon effortlessly transports the reader to Venice – it’s lifestyle, architecture and people. (Kit)
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. It is 1935 and Judith, a 14 year old English is getting ready to go to boarding school, as her mother and younger sister are packing up to rejoin her father who works in Ceylon for a British company. Immediately the reader is aware of future world events which probably will affect Judith and her family and friends. The historical and social setting become a very important aspect in this novel and includes myriad details of everyday life in Britain as WW2 approaches. The characters are depicted so that you feel you know them as real people not just as stereotypes. Descriptive settings add immensely to the visual images of the countryside, seaside, small towns villages and gardens. Called a “comfort book” in many reviews it is indeed a comfort story in the best sense of the word. At around 700 pages you can immerse yourself in it and be very comfortable for many days or weeks. (Jan)
Red Notice by Bill Browder. In Russia on business just after the breakup of the Soviet Union, American financier Browder finds himself up against government corruption. Now an enemy to powerful people, Browder is ousted from Russia; but the enmity engulfs his Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and results in Sergei’s imprisonment and murder. Despite many terrifying experiences, Browder is able to convince the US government to pass the Magnitsky Act in order to bring some measure of justice to his friend’s death. An interesting and informative look inside today’s Russia. (Paige Turner)
