August 1, 2006

Monica Ali's Brick Lane, the story of a Bangladeshi family living in London, is breathtaking; one of those rare books that seamlessly leads you inside a culture. In that way it reminded me of Oran Pamuk's novel  Snow, about a poet from Istanbul who returns to Turkey after twelve years in exile. They are those rare books whose images, scenes and characters become part of my subconscious, as though they are memories and not just something I read. Rory Stewart's The Places in Between is the haunting tale of his trek across Afghanistan in January 2002, shortly after the Taliban was deposed. His stripped-down prose allows the strange, ioslated, landscape and people to stand out in relief--they need no ornamentation.

Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick, who wrote the marvelous In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, dispels myths and brings Plymouth Colony to life, (and no, there wasn't a rock) in this detailed and engaging book.  On the lighter end of the  non--fiction shelf is the amusing, anecdotal Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: the Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad,  by Mike Greenberg of Mike and Mike In the Morning (the ESPN radio guys who wake me up in the morning).

The late Douglas Anne Munson burned her way into me in her relentlessly intense (and unfortunately out-of-print) novel El Nino, about a lawyer who represents parents accused of child abuse. It is L.A. noir at it's best--dense, humid, and disturbing. After a book like that, a girl needs a laugh, so I jumped into 12 Sharp by Janet Evanovich, twelfth in the series featuring gal bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and her always ludicrous, always amusing, sidekicks. Then it was time for a man, and not just any man--John Rain, freelance assassin with a conscience. Killing Rain by Barry Eisler.  Beautifully written Asian settings. Covert operators and cool operation details. Smart, dark, and suspenseful.

The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring is set in 1961 Wisconsin. When spunky 9--yearold Winnalee and her wild big sister Freeda blow into town you know change is coming. With truly memorable characters, and a detailed sense of place, this is a wonderful book about family and friendship. Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout is a lovely book built around a grief--stricken minister in a small town in Maine.

What's next? Well, it's August--the Giants are in training camp, the Mets are having a glorious season, and I'm going to re-read some of my favorite sports books. Definitely Dan Jenkin's  football novel, Semi-Tough; and Good Enough to Dream, Roger Kahn's memoir of his season as part--owner of a Class A baseball team. Both books are funny and poignant and truly reflect the author's love of the game.