What’s on your bookshelf: April

It seems like yesterday I was writing my last what’s on your bookshelf? post, yet here we are again, midway through the month and time to look back on recent reading. As usual, there is a bit of a mix, and one book I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. But let’s start with something positive…

I randomly picked up A Death in Rembrandt Square by Anja de Jager, a Dutch author who lives in London and consequently writes in English. This is one of a series of detective novels set in Amsterdam and featuring a female cold case detective, Lotte Meerman. I have to say I really enjoyed this fourth book in the series, and have already picked up another. The story centres on a podcast that uncovers new evidence of the arrest of a Ruud Klaver. Lotte is still convinced of is that it was Ruud who was guilty of the murder of a student near Rembrandt Square ten years earlier. However, when Klaver then dies in suspicious circumstances, only hours after the final podcast proving his innocence is broadcast, Lotte begins to doubt her own thoughts on the case. A good read for when you need a straightforward non-cosy crime with no histrionics.

Sticking with crime, Simon Brett’s Death and the Decorator is both funny and serious at the same time. Some of you will know him for his hilarious Charles Paris books/radio dramatisations and BBC radio comedy such as a favourite of mine, No Commitments. Anyway, this is the sort of book for a dull Sunday afternoon when you are feeling a bit flat or have lost your reading mojo, with a tale of boats, a painter and decorator, a found handbag and a rather serious case underneath it all.

Also found in the library, was Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun. The plot centres on a murder of a school student in Seoul, told from the viewpoint of different characters. To say I found this hard going is an understatement. I did persevere because of the writing, the ‘wanting to know’ factor and some of the underlying messages but still it won’t be my book of the month or year.

For the new book club at our local independent bookstore, Marsden Books, we read New Zealand author Damien Wilkins latest book Delirous which has been shortlisted for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards (along with my favourite book of 2024, Laurence Fearnley’s At the Great Glacier Hotel). As the blurb says:

Selling their beloved house should be a clean break, but it’s as if the people they have lost keep returning to ask new things of them. A local detective calls with new information about the case of their son, Will, who was killed in an accident forty years before. Mary finds herself drawn to consider her older sister’s shortened life. Pete is increasingly haunted by memories of his late mother, who developed delirium and never recovered.

This is an excellent read, with strongly drawn characters and some unexpected moments. Most of the book club enjoyed it (a few had an issue with the end), but it is one that will stay with you for some time.

In complete contrast in style, content and how you feel at the end, was Michiko Aoyama’s What you are looking for is in the library. It is the story of five different characters, all looking for something, a path in life, a change of job, who are guided by a very distinctive librarian in books to read that will help them find a direction. I loved the way the characters and stories interwove and the warm, positive feeling it left at the end.

Now for two very different books…and the one I could not finish. First up, Kiwi Sarah Wynn-Williams account of what it is like to work for Facebook. All I will say is that how she stayed for so long is a miracle (though explained) and what an awful place to work. Definitely worth reading.

Another library find was José Pizarro’s The Spanish Home Kitchen, picked up after the Brookford Kitchen Diaries recent Spanish cookbook challenge and also as an inspiration for a Spanish themed Easter Sunday lunch. While nice to read, recipes for pheasant, partridge and rabbit are not what I have access to for my cooking adventures.

The book I couldn’t read/finish? One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald. Just not for me at all, and you just knew what was going to happen before it did (and I only read a small portion).

So to the voting…

• Michiko Aoyama What you are looking for is in the library 5 books
• Simon Brett Death and the Decorator 4 paintbrushes (for when you are in the mood for that sort of book)
• Sarah Wynn-Williams Careless People 4 Facebook friends
• Anja de Jager A Death in Rembrandt Square 4 cars
• Kwon Yeo-Sun Lemon 3 motorbikes
• Damian Wilkins Delirious 5 families
• José Pizarro The Spanish Home Kitchen – based on looks rather than what I might cook, 4 tortillas

Entered in the what’s on your bookshelf challenge is hosted by fellow bloggers Deb, Sue, Donna and Jo. The idea is to share what you’re reading, what you’ve enjoyed lately and share – why they resonated with you, how they made you feel, who are your favourite authors and what you recommend.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.