My LINKcat AccountApril is quite the literary month. Two of the biggest names in English Literature are associated with the month.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s magnum opus, “The Canterbury Tales” begins with these famous lines (quoted in Middle English) which I’m sure many of you had to memorize at some point in your educational career:
“Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, /The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licóur /Of which vertú engendred is the flour;”
This prologue insists that April is the perfect month for going on a pilgrimage. In modern parlance, a rough translation would be, “April is the perfect time for a road trip (possibly with the Harley. The other big name in English Lit, is William Shakespeare whose birthday is celebrated as April 23rd (it is also his purported death day). He wrote an whole lot about spring and birds singing and flowers blooming. Here is a tiny sample from “As You Like It”,
“It was a lover and his lass, /With a hey, and a ho, and a hey non-i-no,/That o’er the green cornfield did pass,/In the Spring time, the only pretty ring time,/ When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding./Sweet lovers love the Spring.”
Not a lot of deep messages in this sample, but you catch the drift. Spring is a frolicsome time. The birds are singing up the dawn every day. The butterflies are returning. The dandelions are sprouting. Motorcycles are emerging from their winter hibernation. Lawn mowers are being tuned-up, gassed up, a ready to go. But, before you get too wrapped up with all the yardwork and gardening to be done. Remember that April showers accompany the blue-sky days and those days are the best for curling up with a good book. Below you will find some splendid books that are just perfect for reading any time, in any weather, but which are particularly good for rainy spring days. Enjoy!
New Non-Fiction
“Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder” by Salman Rushdie. The internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize winner speaks out for the first time about the traumatic events of August 12, 2022, when an attempt was made on his life, in this deeply personal meditation on violence, art, loss, love and finding the strength to stand up again.
“The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: Their Stories are Better Than the Bestsellers” by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann. Showcasing the smart and talented people who live between the pages, this inspiring collection of true stories, as told to one of the greatest novelists of our time, invites us into a world where we can feed our curiosities, discover new voices and find whatever we want or require.
“Good Housekeeping Organize Your Life” by the Editors of Goodhousekeeping. Decluttering your home has never been easier with this step-by-step action plan, plus hundreds of genius tricks help you create a calm and tidy life.
“Somehow: Thoughts on Love” by Anne Lamott. Full of her trademark compassion and humanity, the New York Times bestselling explores the transformative power of love in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity and guides us forward.
“Think This Not That: 12 Mineshafts to Breakthrough Limiting Beliefs and Become Who You Were Born to Be” by Josh Axe. Teaches 12 powerful mindshifts to break through limiting beliefs, spark personal transformation and build a more meaningful life.
New Fiction
“Dragon Rider (Soulbound Saga)” by Taran Matharu. A royal hostage, gifted with a stolen dragon hatchling, flees to forge his own destiny and seek revenge and reclaim his rightful land, in the new series from the best-selling author of the “Summoner” series.
“Midnight Harbor, No. 8 (Miramar Bay)” by Davis Bunn. When his Aunt Amelia, his closest friend and greatest supporter, passes away, leaving him her home in Miramar, classical guitarist Ian Hart uses this opportunity to reflect and move forward after a scandal destroyed his career but instead finds himself drawn to another newcomer, artist Kari Langham, who changes everything.
“Sweetness in the Skin” by Ishi Robinson. A young teenage girl in Jamaica is determined to bake her way out of her dysfunctional family and into the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Village Weavers” by Myriam Chancy. Confronts the silences around class, race and nationality, charts the moments when lives are irrevocably forced apart, and envisions two girls—connected their entire lives—who try to break inherited cycles of mistrust and find ways back into each other’s hearts.
“The Limits” by Nell Freudenberger. Sent to New York to stay with her father, an overworked surgeon, and his new wife, 15-year-old Pia, rebelling against her stepmother when COVID sends them into near total isolation, finds her life colliding with 16-year-old Athyna, who’s caring for a toddler full time, as they spiral toward parallel but inescapably different tragedies.
“Sharpe’s Command: Richard Sharpe and the Bridge at Almaraz, May 1812(Sharpe)” by Bernard Cornwell. Sent on an undercover mission to a small village in the Spanish countryside in the early 19th century, far behind enemy lines, the formidable Captain Sharpe and his group of men—with their cunning and courage to rely on—must stop two French armies from meeting on the Almaraz bridge.
“The Titanic Survivors Book Club” by Timothy Schaffert. Paris bookshop owner Yorick, joining a secret society of other Titanic ticket holders who didn’t board the ship, forms a book club where they can grapple with their good fortune and anxieties through heated discussions of literature, but when one of them unexpectedly dies, he wonders what fate has in store.
“It Had to Be You (Under Suspicion)” by Mary Higgins Clard & Alafair Burke. Years after their parents’ murder, identical twin brothers, determined to clear one name at the expense of the other, ask Laura Moran and her Under Suspicion crew to solve this brutal crime and as they get close to the truth, they find the danger from the past finding its way into the present.