BOOK SUGGESTIONS FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Another tradition at this time of year is my writing an article for my hometown newspaper, The Madawaska Valley Current, recommending books for Christmas gifts.  The article can be found at https://madvalleycurrent.com/2023/12/06/book-suggestions-for-christmas-gifts/ but I've also reproduced it here.

Book Suggestions for Christmas Gifts 

One of my traditions during the Christmas season is to read or listen to Stuart McLean’s Christmas stories.  “Dave Cooks the Turkey” is a favourite, but I recommend all of them.  If you’re looking for other books for winter reading or for gifting to book lovers or yourself, here are some titles to consider. 

 

The Adversary by Michael Crummey

This novel is for those who enjoy books with suspenseful plots and memorable characters.  At its heart is the conflict between Abe Strapp and Widow Caines, owners of the largest mercantile firms in an isolated outport in northern Newfoundland.  They despise each other and are relentless in their fight for dominance in the North Atlantic fishery.   The outport residents, besides being plagued by storms, marauding privateers, disease, and hunger, often end up becoming unwitting pawns in the schemes of the adversaries.  Crummey’s examination of power and corruption is a masterpiece.

 

Rage the Night by Donna Morrissey

This book, also set in Newfoundland, combines fiction and non-fiction.  Roan, a young man searching for his father, ends up aboard a ship heading to the sealing grounds for the spring hunt.  This ship, the Newfoundland, was involved in one of the worst marine disasters in the province’s history.  Not just a tale of adventure, the novel excels in its portrayal of the sealers.  They speak in distinctive accents, but it’s their supportive fellowship, resilience, and humour that stand out.  Lovers of historical fiction will find much to like. 

Cold as Hell by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

For crime fiction readers, I recommend the Áróra Investigations series set in Iceland.  Cold as Hell is the first in the series featuring Áróra Jónsdóttir, a financial investigator.   Her older sister has disappeared so Áróra joins forces with Daníel Hansson, a police officer, to find Ísafold.  At the same time, Áróra meets a man whom she discovers may be guilty of fraud so she opts to also investigate his financial dealings.  It’s an enjoyable, fast-paced read which will inevitably lead to readers picking up Red as Blood and White as Snow, the next two books. 

 

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

This book is for those who like psychological suspense.  For years, Sally Diamond was told by her adoptive father that she is emotionally disconnected and socially deficient.  Certainly she finds people confusing and conversation awkward because she can’t read social cues.  When she is 42, her father dies.  Forced to connect with the outside world after having lived in virtual isolation outside a small Irish village, she faces quite an adjustment.  Sally has always found it strange that she doesn’t remember anything from her childhood before the age of 7 when she was adopted.  There is an intense sense of unease as she learns more about her past.  (A similar psychologically suspenseful novel, also with a narrator on the autism spectrum, is All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow.)

 

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

For readers who prefer quiet, reflective novels, this one has much to offer.  Lara and her husband Joe own a cherry orchard in Michigan.  Because of the pandemic lockdown, their three daughters, all in their twenties, are home and helping to bring in the harvest.  To help pass the hours of grueling work, the girls beg their mother to tell the story of her relationship with a famous actor.  The three young women learn much about both their mother and the actor they’ve admired.  The book has a life-affirming message about beauty and gratitude. 

 

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry

Another book which emphasizes the beauty of love, family, and friendship is this gem set in the mid-1990s in Ireland.  The protagonist, Tom Kettle, is a retired police detective living on the coast south of Dublin.  One day former colleagues appear on his doorstep to ask for help in the re-opening of a cold case.  This encounter forces Tom to revisit the past, memories of which he has suppressed.  This novel is for people who like unreliable narrators: Tom’s mind veers into fantasy, a dream-world so lifelike that it’s difficult to separate his imaginings from reality.  His memories are unstable and the reader is left wondering which of his thoughts can be trusted.  This book is sometimes heart-wrenchingly sad, but it is also amusing in parts.

 

Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue by Christine Higdon

Another wonderful example of Canadian historical fiction is this book which focuses on the lives of four sisters living in Vancouver in 1922.  The novel is excellent at describing the realities of life, especially for women, at the beginning of the 20^th century.  It examines a number of serious and important issues as characters search for love and justice and acceptance and equality and identity, but in a manner that engages the reader with both heart-warming and heart-breaking episodes.  Though set one hundred years in the past, the book is so relevant to the present because it touches on social issues that are still a concern.  If you end up enjoying this title, pick up The Very Marrow of Our Bones which can almost be viewed as a sequel. 

 

The Observer by Marina Endicott

This is a slow-paced book, but I recommend it for its realistic depiction of the struggles of RCMP officers and their partners in small rural communities.  The setting is the 1990s in northern Alberta.  Julia, the narrator, has paused her career to move with her partner Hardy to a small town where he has his first posting.  Life is not easy for either Hardy or Julia.  Hardy works long hours and is often exhausted physically and emotionally by what he witnesses on a regular basis, whereas Julia, a city girl, has to learn the customs of a small town where she knows no one.  The author’s husband was an RCMP officer so she is familiar with her subject matter.    

 

More detailed reviews of all these titles - and hundreds more - can be found on my blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/). 

 

                               Happy Holidays!   Happy Reading!