bookish

Well, after all the activities of the last few weeks, it was nice to slow down the pace a bit and chill out for the weekend. Jeremy and I did a lot of reading, walking and eating, not necessarily in that order. I thought I would catch ya´ll up on the books I´ve read lately:

Honeymoon, by James Patterson and some guy who actually wrote the book.
This book is sort of like McDonald´s french fries: not very nutritious, very mass-produced, formulaic, predictable. This book was passed on to me, from my future sis-in-law who I think got it from someone else. I don´t go to McDonalds to buy fries, but when they are offered to me free I can´t resist. Same thing with this book. I couldn´t say no (especially since I don´t have a t.v. or access to a good radio station to distract the mind from the drudgery of the day). Finally, like french fries that you can´t stop eating even though you know you should…I couldn´t stop reading the book because it was just too easy. It was truly fast food for the mind.

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
Okay, so if Honeymoon was like McDonald´s French fries, then this book is like a Big Mac…with extra processed American cheeeeeese. This one was given to me by another Peace Corps volunteer (so I couldn´t say no!) and I thought maybe she recommended it. But I had a top-ten lifetime hangover (it was the day after the big party for our swearing in) when she gave it to me, so maybe I misunderstood her that day. I hope so, because this book was pretty darn cheesy. I thought it was going to be a fun historical fiction adventure story of roughing it in the wilderness of NY in the 1700´s….and I guess it sort of was that…but it was really a romance novel. The story is set in the village of Paradise (I´m not making this up) and well, I won´t go any further because it is just embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the fact that I read all 800-plus pages (did I mention already that I don´t have a t.v.?). Enough said. My Peace Corps friend also gave me the sequel to it…velveeta title and all—which I am going to pass on down the road. Ah, to be in Paradise.

The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
True to Russo form, this story, straight out of smalltown U.S.A., has incredible character development… of incredibly flawed characters. The banter, bravado and rumor mill at the local bars in the book were not unlike conversations I overheard during my many years of bartending at the great neighborhood pub of Dick´s Den. One part truth, two parts exaggeration, add a ganish and you´ve got yourself a great tale…and a decent cocktail, too.

(Special thanks to Bryan who turned me on to Russo´s books, and just so happened to include this one in a carepack. ¡Gracias!)

What I´m reading now: The Omnivore´s Dilemma by Michael Pollen. I figure it would be appropriate to read after my meat eating binge in Tiwino. Jer just finished reading it, so we look forward to discussing it together (see, I am determined to start my Oriente book club! He even read Savages, too) with our friend Rick who raved about it and sent it to us.

I´m hoping to get all my official book reviews linked up with a website that I confess a new addiction to: shelfari.com (and a couple of you got sucked into it, too! You know who you are!). I welcome any and all blog readers to subscribe and become my ´friend´so we can continue to share book notes.

Public thanks go out to Melinda and Rick who just sent me two more books--including Ishmael which is-was- on my wish list. Gracias!!!

Oh, for those of you who have read Savages, here´s an update on some real-life characters from the book: I saw Nanto today on a shiney new blue motorcycle tooling around town. Enqueri stopped by to get Fabio´s email because he wants to write him. Not sure what all else he´s up to. He seems to wander around town a lot. And Moi and my counterpart are back from the States. They´re in Quito now, but will be coming to town tomorrow I guess. Well, that´s all for now. Ciao.