Spring Reading

So much time on airplanes, and a vacation thrown in the mix, leads to lots of books.

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai. A well written, interesting book that follows the story of an orphaned girl in the Indian highlands who is taken in by her crusty English-educated grandfather. The story takes place around the time of political unrest (it seems there is no other time) in India, as the comfortable former colonialists get to deal with the new world changing violently around them.

The Colony, by John Tayman. Fascinating non-fiction account of the story of the leper colony in Molokai. The story starts at the beginning in 1893 right through the end. While there really was a problem with leprosy (which is curable these days within 30 days by taking a few pills), the disruption to victims' lives and families was amazing -- and as it turns out, useless. Don't let the gruesomeness of the disease scare you away from the book.

Restless, by William Boyd. A WWII spy story with a modern twist, as a former British spy gone underground spills her story to her daughter in modern times. The daughter has to track down and confront some of the mother's former colleagues when the mother feels she has been tracked down. I like a good spy story, but they've lost some of their currency since the cold war is over. I enjoyed this one.

The Secret River, by Kate Grenville. The book follows a husband and wife from their beginnings in London to their exile to Australia. They make a new life for themselves, eventually settling on a river surrounded by aborigines. Violence, trailblazing, racial tensions all mix together to provide an entertaining although somewhat predictable storyline.

Theft, by Peter Carey. I like Peter Carey (The True History of the Kelley Gang, My Life as a Fake). In this story, he follows a washed up artist as he falls for a hot female shyster in the art world. She steals a painting from a reclusive private collector, and together they end up fooling the highbrow so-called experts as to its value. Good, if dark, story that leaves you feeling like you know more about the art world than when you started.

The Western Limit of the World, by David Masiel. I thought this would be a modern sea story type of thing, and while it takes place on a broken down freighter, it isn't a sea story. It's about an elaborate but ill-fated plan to rip off the owners of the freighter by drugging the captain and selling its cargo. The interesting parts center around the crew and the main character, the boson's mate, as the crew slowly clues in that they're unwitting participants.

Standard of Care, by David Kerns. I liked this fiction book about a doctor who moves over to become part of the administration for a non-profit hospital, only to find the hospital taken over by a huge for-profit HMO. It takes place here in the SF Bay area, and if you've paid attention to the papers, you can substitute the real names in the drama.

A Season of Fire and Ice, by Lloyd Zimpel. A good frontier story that takes place in the Dakota territory. A new farmer moves in and his industriousness and skills shake things up with the old timers. As drought and grasshoppers raise tensions, there is a run-in between the new guy and another family, resulting in tragedy.

Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell. A coming of age story in a modern English suburb. Dad is a manager at a supermarket chain, Mom is a housewife on her way back to work and chafing at the hold he has on her, while the narrator of the story struggles with being smart but stutter-y. Very good story and characters.

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith. I decided I had to read something by Zadie Smith, and this is what I picked up. She can write, no question. The story centers on a mixed black-and-white family in an academic setting (read: Harvard). The father is a weak philanderer who ends up sleeping with the student-daughter of his academic rival. Enjoyable read, great characters.

Intuition, by Allegra Goodman. With a pastel pink and green cover, I thought I might be straying into chicklit territory here, but this is a terrific story about competition in science. The story revolves around one post-doc whose experiments look like they're leading to a cure for some kind of cancer, and the questioning of results by his main competitor. This was one of the best of the bunch for me.

A Death in Belmont, by Sebastion Junger. What do you do as a follow-up to The Perfect Storm? The answer is: a book about the Boston strangler murders, in particular one that happened right down the street from Junger when he was growing up. In fact, a black man was convicted of the murder, but the real Boston strangler, Albert DeSalvo, was a handyman doing work on Junger's mother's art studio when that murder took place. The story hits close to home for him. Like The Perfect Storm, it's full of background and detail that makes it interesting and readable.

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. This is a fascinating and enjoyable autobiography of Greg Mortenson. After being taken in by a remote Pakistani village on his way back from a failed attempt to climb K2, Mortenson promises to pay their kindness back by building them a school. Thus was born what became his life work and passion, eventually resulting in hundreds of schools being built across northern Pakistan and Afghanistan. An inspiring story that eventually weaves its way into using education as a path to fighting terrorism. Sure seems to be more effective than the path we're on.

We Are All Welcome Here, by Elizabeth Berg. The story of a young girl growing up in Mississippi in 1964. Her mother is a quadriplegic polio victim, but very much the force to be reckoned with. The story revolves around the black caretaker's relationship with the girl and her mother. They struggle with money and the issues of small town living. I liked the story and enjoyed the surprise ending.