Patriot: A Memoir, Alexei Navalny

I was looking around for a light, easy novel to tell you about this month. Well, I failed. When this new memoir arrived I couldn’t resist. Navalny was a man greatly acclaimed for his integrity and courage in defence of his country, and by extension democracy everywhere. His sense of humor in the most harrowing, despicable circumstances seems like a miracle. He makes up something he calls “prison zen," in which he practices imagining the worst that can happen to him and accepts it. Navalny adds, “I can imagine that it’s not suitable for people suffering from clinical depression. They might do it so successfully that they end up hanging themselves.” Sometimes the book's humor reminded me of a classic Russian novel. He speaks of his and his colleagues' attempts to get on ballots and run candidates which ”required schizophrenic ability to win elections from which we were banned.” In attacking corruption, which he calls the neverending soap opera of Russia, they videotaped magnificent properties with drones and posted them on YouTube with their current value and the income reported by the bureaucrat who owned it. Of course you know Navalny died in February. In the 24 years we have been doing Sandra Selects I have never used the word “inspiring," but I can’t resist doing so today.

My daughter Ronit recommends: The Phoenix Crown: A Novel, Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Kate Quinn does it again (although this time with a co-writer, Janie Chang)! I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of her books, which have helped instill a new appreciation for historical fiction. It’s 1906 on the eve of the great earthquake of San Francisco. One of the heroines of the story, Suling, is a diminutive Chinese national trying to escape an arranged marriage. Our other heroine is Gemma, a young woman with a beautiful voice who is desperate to be an opera star. Both women fall victim to the charms of Henry Thornton, a wealthy railroad magnate with an extraordinary collection of antiques, including the Phoenix Crown from Beijing's Summer Palace. The story is one of mystery and mystique. The Phoenix Crown is easy to read and will draw you in to its intrigue. I have no doubt that you will find it hard to put down!

Maddy recommends: Brother: A Novel, David Chariandy

Winner of the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Brother by David Chariandy is a beautifully written book steeped in nostalgia and reminiscence. The story is set against the backdrop of this fast-growing city, with vivid characters and locations. The novel follows brothers Michael and Francis in the bustling Toronto suburb of Scarborough in the 1980s. As they grow up and apart, the brothers navigate love, loss, regret, and life as an immigrant in Canada. Both have bright dreams for the future, but will they be able to overcome their past in order to achieve them?