100 Books Like The Rainaldi Quartet

When I first visited Venice, I had the strange sense that I already “knew” the city because I had read this first and all the subsequent Leon novels set in the city and featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. From those books, I recognized landmarks and hidden alleys, cafes and restaurants, how to take the Vaparetto, and where the main police stations and markets were. 

I wanted to write like that, make the city a main character–and I love other series that do the same, like Andrea Camilleri’s Montalbano series set in Sicily. These books “take you there.”

The setting is roiling Hong Kong just before the British turnover to China. A musician in the Hong Kong Philharmonic, searching for an unaccountably missing friend and colleague, becomes sucked into the back alleys of organized crime. Martin himself was a veteran professional orchestral string bass player in Hong Kong and has a consummate grasp of the pulse of the city and the vagaries of the music business. This gritty, rough-and-tumble page-turning thriller, with dialogue as spicy as the food and a noire feel, is an under-the-radar gem that in a fair world should be a best-seller. May be hard to find but so worth the effort.

Intense and intricate with complex human interactions subjected to the forces of history and destiny, Canone Inverso is both literary fiction and mystery. This gripping tale of evolving relationships centers around the field of classical music and a particular violin. With the setting in Germany, Austria, and Hungary during the turbulent 1930s and ’40s, a brilliant, working-class young violinist is secluded in a prison-like music conservatory with an aristocratic boy who befriends him. Gradually, their bond is severely tested. What is genius? What is friendship? What is the price paid for beauty and greatness? These are some of the issues we’re confronted with in this riveting novel.

If Canone Inverso is your main course, The Murder of Figaro is the perfect dessert. It is light, frothy, and witty as a Mozart comic opera. As it should be, since the main characters are Mozart and his wife Constanze. Together, the frolicking pair must speedily solve the backstage murder of the government censor; otherwise, Mozart’s new opera, The Marriage of Figaro, will never see the light of day. Larson herself was an accomplished opera singer and has thorough insight into the opera world: the music, the business, and the backstage backstabbing. Written as a delightful opera buffa, this book is an absolutely fun read.

Not only is Itzhak Perlman considered to be one of the world’s best violinists, he’s also a powerful role model for overcoming adversity.

Growing up, when I listened to Itzhak Perlman’s recordings, I didn’t know that as a young boy, he suffered from polio. So, when I saw him perform for the first time, I didn’t expect to see him enter the stage in a wheelchair. As I marveled at the silvery tone of his violin, I wondered how he navigated through concert halls designed without the physically disabled in mind.

What I love most about this book is that it drives home an important point. Itzhak’s fiery passion for the violin has never been compromised by his disability.

The author and illustrator's notes explain the importance of the changes Itzhak has made to the field of classical music. In Itzhak’s own words, he explains how and why he has… show more.

I love a good tear-jerker, and I love a book where a child has a solid and credible relationship with a grandparent, and I love a good junior-high musical. Believe it or not, this book has all that!

I pretty much blubbered through the last 10 chapters. The secret that Shirli’s grandfather has hidden for decades is a heart-wrenching one, but when it comes out it contains seeds of joy and healing. 

This has to be one of the funniest books about music. I bought it maybe ten years ago or so from the children's bookshop Kinderboekwinkel in Amsterdam. It made me laugh out loud, even though I can’t read or speak Dutch. The illustrations speak for themselves.

Valentijn is a terrible violin player, and after ruining a party for the Queen’s birthday, the townsfolk banish him. He can’t understand why as he thinks he’s great. He performs heroic deeds elsewhere using his playing to help folk, even though it’s terrible. He carries on blissfully unaware and ends up helping a knight in peril and eventually saves the town from invaders and finally performs for the King and Queen, even though everyone has their ears covered.

The illustrations are so lively and energetic, and you can hear how bad the violin must sound from all the reactions of the people and animals… show more.

This fantasy novel is about a girl who can’t cope with the lack of attention she’s receiving since her baby brother was born. He is very ill and has to use an inhaler so Merel’s parents are always tired and don’t notice her. The story is engrossing and heartwarming as Merel has become so angsty that she refuses to sleep and does nothing but scream. Eventually, she loses the ability to sleep at all. During a trip to a fantasy land to try to get her lost sleep back so she can be normal, Merel learns to accept her family and to feel affection for her baby brother. The story deals with regression about a new sibling in a fascinating way.

Martin Schleske is a German luthier and theologian. My daughter is a violinist. I picked up this book at the recommendation of Byron of Hearts & Minds Books, hoping to learn more about the violin-making process, and it has remained one of my favorite books ever since. Schleske slowly and carefully walks the reader through his process, from choosing the right trees, to designing the structure, to helping “closed” violins discover their sound. Along the way, he shares how his work crafting violins helps him grow in his faith.

I can only read a couple pages of this book at a time, as Schleske’s profound wisdom often leaves me with thoughts I need time to process and sort through. This is a book about how God, as the Artist, will continue to shape me, work with me, and help me be the best instrument I can be to make music… show more.

This is a children’s picture book, by the brilliant writer and illustrator John Burningham.

It’s the story of a mongrel Courtney, who is brought home by two children to their snobbish parents, who don’t like him because he’s a mutt.

Courtney is brilliant, can cook, play the violin, juggle, is the perfect dog, and they’re still not satisfied.

It’s sad and sweet and has the most beautiful, deceptively simple drawings that break your heart.