Recent Reads

132. Running in the Family
Another book in preparation for my trip, and if it is indeed true that "in Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts", I am going to thoroughly enjoy my trip.

To paraphrase the author, this book is not so much a memoir or history, as it is a family portrait, a gesture. Michael Ondaatje left Ceylon when he was about 11, and returned to visit for extended trips as an adult. This book is a journal of those adult visits, and includes vignettes, photos, poems, stories, gossip, and is often both hilarious and heart breaking at once. There is no narrative as such, this is more of an excavation of his family's past and its legacy. Rating: 3 stars.

133. The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great Sharks
From promo material: A journalist's obsession brings her to a remote island off the California coast, home to the world's most mysterious and fearsome predators, and the strange band of surfer-scientists who follow them.

This was our read aloud book on the boat this summer, a perfect time and place to read it. Remember that emotional checklist: happy, sad, mad, glad? Well, I experienced that entire range while reading this one. This is narrative non-fiction at its best - we learn about the environment, the sharks, the researchers, historical events, and the personal journey of the author coming to terms with her place in the world.

If you are a sailor, shark fan, surfer, or simply an armchair adventurer, this book is a really great ride. Rating: 5 stars.

134. The Cuckoo's Calling 
I listened to the audio version wonderfully narrated by Robert Glenister.

The thing about the author (aka J.K. Rowling), is that she knows how to spin a good yarn. Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan, but this is no YA book. It is a good mystery, with an interesting detective, and distinctive characters who are well fleshed out. The story is character based, and unfolds slowly, so if you are in the mood for a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of read look elsewhere. I especially enjoyed the social commentary the author explores: celebrity status and the mania of the paparazzi, wealthy women who starve themselves thin, etc. The writing is cinematic in quality, there was a movie playing in my head the entire time I listened to this book. I look forward to reading another Cormoran Strike installment. Rating: 3 stars.