Gosh April is slow to start. Still snow on the ground. Lots of early month rain, though, so it won’t last. Haven’t seen any spring blooms yet but maybe by the end of this ramble.
First up, a nice surprise – I found a book for my Kobo by a favourite author that somehow I escaped reading when it was first released : “A Bridge of Years” by Robert Charles Wilson. I was tentative – a sci-fi time travel story written over 15 years ago? With the techie changes since 2010, I’m hesitant. But not to worry, Wilson is a great visionary and the story and writing feel as fresh reading in 2026 as they would have at date of publication. What a treatie to find this one! Done too quickly, satisfying ending. Now to find something completely different so I don’t suffer withdrawal.
How about a pocketbook picked up awhile ago that has a great cover: winter scene, wilderness, a setting I think will take me away from my previous read.
“The Katherina Code” by Jorn Lier Horst, translated from the original Norwegian. Should tick the “something different” box. And boy, it did. I’m not the biggest fan of murder/mystery/cop stories – the clues are hard to write, the author either offering too much or not enough info to keep the reader engaged – but this author gets it right. Reminds me of Louise Penny: good characterization, intersecting clues and storylines, the settings and weather creating atmosphere. I liked it. Now it’s time to get back to some juicy historical fiction?
April is ending still cold and wet. My curling season is over. Blue Jays back on TV every night, along with NHL hockey playoffs, so busy fan-ing. Annual spring flooding a bit higher than normal. But the sun is higher and brighter, so May should be its brilliant self.
Nope, starting May with cold, wet Aprilish weather! Some bright sky, though, so hope springs eternal as they say. So why then am I starting with a horror book, “The Troop”, by Nick Cutter? A Stephen King type, gory, absolutely yukky story. I’m gobbling it up in all its delicious grossness. Not something to read at night, for sure, nor during any daytime mealtimes. Not something to read at all, really, unless you’re in the mood to be grossed out. Which I normally never am. But sometimes. Just to be contrary. I was glad to finish it and move on to a guaranteed author in the civilized historical fiction genre that I adore :
C.W. Gortner and “The Vatican Princess”. Ahh. Lucrezia Borgia’s early years, formed and educated by her famous Borgia family. If you’ve never heard of them, it doesn’t spoil the story at all to check the Wiki notes. Lucrezia gets a raw deal by history (common for famous women, assessed by their male contemporaries), but this book, told in her voice, gives a realistic punch to the historical rumours. Loved it.
For my birthday, I bought a few books at the local book fair (one I attended myself, see Michele Sabad’s BOOKS). My tablemate Susan Trott had a near-future sci-fi techo-thriller, “Capped”, her selling spiel of which sold me. I think the byline will give away the story “Making a Billion was your First Mistake”. Nice writing, nice flow, a bit preachy (in that you can understand the political leaning of the author, or maybe that’s because I sat beside her and figured it out ahead of the read? You’d have to tell me if you read it yourself!) I’m not a fan of discerning an author’s perspective on life from reading fiction – I prefer to figure out the characters’, not the author’s. Maybe that’s just me. The book dragged a bit near the (predictable) ending. I’m glad I read it, but it was really not my type.
And that’s the end of April-May 2026. Summer beckons and reading will continues. Starting June with a road trip to Nova Scotia, so looking forward to the Kobo I’ve loaded up. Now, what to read next?
Have you tried Michele’s books? Let me know what you think!
Stevie Szabad, Author 