The Best Book I Read This Month: The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The best book I read this month was the last in a cherished series by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The Labyrinth of the Spirits closes out Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet, and it did not disappoint.

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series is set in Barcelona at various points in history. Books—the writing of them, the reading of them, the preservation of them—is a key part of every story. The other thread that connects the books is the Sempere family, which owns a bookstore in the Spanish city. The Semperes start in the background of Labyrinth of the Spirits, which follows a woman named Alicia Gris as she pursues the truth about the disappearance of a government minister. Her search eventually leads to the Semperes’ bookstore.

What I loved most about Labyrinth was the way it tied together the three previous books in the series, which were each set in different times and focused on different characters. That made for a sweeping epic, by far the longest book in the series, and I was swept away. It had the same adventurous spirit as Shadow of the Wind, the spirit that made me fall in love with the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Labyrinth of the Spirits has a vast cast of characters, and at times, I struggled to keep track of them. Having read the previous books in the series helped, though. I strongly recommend reading the first three books before this one. You don’t have to read them in any particular order, but since I’m partial to it, I suggest starting where Zafón started: with The Shadow of the Wind.

The Best Book I Read This Month: A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan

The best book I read this month was a disturbing account of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana in the 1920s. A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan charts the rise and spread of the KKK in the early 20th century, focusing on D. C. Stephenson and his control of the KKK and Indiana.

It was a harrowing read. Egan did not sugarcoat the Klan’s hate and violence, or D. C. Stephenson’s. At times, it was hard to stomach. Stephenson had all the markings of a sadist, and in many ways, reminded me of a certain Republican former president/current presidential candidate. (I refuse to use his name.) Both made a practice of not paying their debts. Both had unquenchable thirst for power. Both had a history of sexual violence and sexual assault. Both avoided consequences for their crimes until a woman called them to account.

Egan’s tale is not just about D. C. Stephenson. It’s about those who tried to stop him and the young woman who eventually did: Madge Oberholtzer. Madge was educated, independent, strong—everything we imagine a young woman of the 1920s to be. To her, Stephenson was a path to a career. To Stephenson, she was a conquest waiting to happen. Stephenson ultimately took what he wanted, but unlike his other victims, Oberholtzer fought back in a dramatic and public way.
As difficult as this was to read in places, it also gave me hope. D. C. Stephenson was a monster but his reign of terror finally ended and he finally faced legal consequences (conviction and prison) for his actions. That gives me hope that our current monster will also finally face legal consequences for his actions. As of this writing, he’s been convicted in New York but has not yet been sentenced. He is also awaiting trial in Florida and Georgia. Maybe, maybe, maybe he too will end up behind bars, where he belongs.

The Best Book I Read This Month: The Collective by Alison Gaylin

Of all the books I read this month, the one I’m still thinking about is The Collective by Alison Gaylin. The story follows Camille Gardener, who finds a group called the Collective in her search for justice after the death of her teenage daughter. Ostensibly a support group for grieving mothers, the Collective quickly proves to be much more.

The story required a bit more suspension of disbelief than I could muster, but I still found it intriguing. Camille’s experiences as a grieving mother—the experiences of all the grieving mothers in the story—say something about our society’s expectations of grief. Namely, that society’s expectations of grief are unrealistic. Nobody gets over the death of a loved one, especially the death of a child, quickly. Yet society expects the grief-stricken to “move on” within a matter of weeks. No wonder the mothers in this story find solace in the Collective. It’s the one place they feel understood, the one place their grief is valid.

There were parts of the book that did not ring true for me, but it was the food for thought in the premise that made this the best book I read this month.

The Best Book I Read This Month: The Witch and the Tsar by Oleysa Salnikova Gilmore

The best book I read this month was a magical tale, a retelling of the Russian legend of Baba Yaga. Olesysa Salnikova Gilmore’s The Witch and the Tsar transplants Baba Yaga to Russia during the rule of Ivan the Terrible, where the witch and the tsar are first allies and then enemies.

The story is infused with magic and the supernatural side by side with history. It even includes my favorite figure in Russian folklore, Koschei the Deathless. We learn Yaga’s story—past and present—as she fights to save Russia from a supernatural threat that has consumed the tsar. It is an interesting take on Ivan’s madness and blood-thirst.

But the story is about more than death. It is about love too: love of country, love of family, romantic love, platonic love, filial love.

I enjoyed this book. I found Yaga a sympathetic character, not the boogeyman she’s often portrayed as, and her love story, compelling. I especially loved being immersed in Russian mythology. I discovered new legends and new figures that I want to read more about. I am eager for Gilmore’s next book.

Countdown to the Cover

#5 Hodd by Adam Thorpe

This was my least favorite of the Robin Hood retellings, for a couple of reasons. First, Robin Hood appears in less than 30% of the book, which really tells the life story of the narrator—a boy called Much. (It’s not a happy story.) Second, this Robin Hood is over the top evil—cruel, violent, selfish, delusional. There isn’t even a seed of the “steal from the rich and give to the poor” tradition, yet we’re supposed to believe the people of Nottingham hail this evil Robin Hood as a hero.

#4 Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk

Nottingham by Nathan Makaryk is a sweeping epic that begins in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade and ends in Sherwood Forest. It has a cast of thousands—or rather, it felt that way—and I had a hard time keeping track of some of them. There were two aspects of this story that I really liked. One, that there is no single Robin Hood. Instead, Robin Hood is a persona created to win the support and loyalty of the local residents. At different parts of the story, different characters assume the persona. Second, there are no moral absolutes in the story. The Robin Hoods are not always good or right. The sheriff is not always bad or wrong. I found this sheriff to be one of the more sympathetic ones I’ve encountered in Robin Hood lore, a man torn between a rock (the king) and a hard place (the people). Having said all that, I did struggle with this one. I found it be plodding, and between that pace and the massive number of characters, I sometimes struggled to stay engaged.

#3 The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley

I enjoyed this traditional take on Robin Hood. It has the expected cast of characters—main and supporting—and the expected plot lines. The Robin Hood character seemed rather passive. He hid in his cave for much of the book, letting the others do all the work. He didn’t get involved in anything until near the end. But this book is meant for a younger audience and had I read it at a younger age (and without my writer experience), I might not have noticed or cared about that.

#2 Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi

I adored this book. Of all the retellings I read, this one did the best job of capturing the humor of the Robin Hood legend. It also was the most imaginative of the retellings. Set during the Third Crusade, Travelers Along the Way imagines Robin Hood as a young Muslim woman defending the Holy Land against the Christian invasion. The Merry “Men,” who are mostly young women, are a diverse group: Robin Hood’s warrior sister, a Mongolian horsewoman, an Andalusian Jew, a chaplain, and a spy. It was a fun read. (And yes, it feels weird to say that about a book set during such a brutal event in history.)

#1 Hood by Stephen Lawhead

This was the first Robin Hood retelling I ever read-decades ago-and it is still my favorite. This one is the first in a trilogy that transplants Robin Hood to 11th century Wales, where Robin Hood and his Merry Men are Welsh freedom fighters resisting the Norman invasion. It is depth; it has humor; it has danger and adventure.