Unfamiliar Fishes

I've long been a fan of Sarah Vowell, and my girl crush was only deepened by her turn at Violet in "The Incredibles." I've had the pleasure of hearing her read a few times. She was in town to read this Saturday, but I didn't make it to the book store.

I was thrilled when I heard that she had a new book coming out - Unfamiliar Fishes. I pre-ordered it through Kindle and started reading it as soon as it downloaded to my iPhone. (I don't actually have a Kindle - yet.)

I was disappointed in her last book, The Wordy Shipmates, which was dry and hard to read, especially compared to Assassination Vacation, which was a light-hearted romp through the odd topic of presidential assassinations. So I had great hopes that this new book would be a return to Vowell at her best.

And while it is world's better than The Wordy Shipmates, this new book falls short of Assassination Vacation.

The topic is fascinating: the arrival of New England missionaries in Hawaii in the mid-1800s. But there isn't as much room for humor. The clash of the two cultures was inevitable and had mixed results.

On the one hand, the missionaries managed the incredible task of creating a written version of the strictly oral Hawaiian language. They then translated books into Hawaiian and taught the natives to read. Within decades of the missionaries' arrival, Hawaii had a literacy rate of 80 percent, higher than that of the United States.

But while the Americans were educating the Hawaiians, they were spreading disease and wiping out the native culture. By converting the natives to Christianity, they encouraged them to turn their backs on native culture and tradition - such as their own religion and the hula. They had particular success with the children of the ruling families. As the elders died out, the Christian-educated children took over, changing the culture even further.

It's an interesting book and an interesting story. And it's made me want to go to Hawaii, but not for the beaches and surfing. I want to visit the historical markers and locations that Vowell describes.

P. G. Wodehouse

Roger Ebert posted on Twitter that you could get P. G. Wodehouse books for free or 99 cents through Kindle. The Bertie and Jeeves stories have been on my to-read list for ages, so when I found out that I could get them for pennies, I decided to splurge.

The stories focus on wealthy gad-about Bertie and his butler Jeeves, who is the brains of the operation. The stories were made into TV shows in England, staring Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves - pretty much a perfect pairing if you ask me. The shows are on my Netflix list now to watch.

Anyway, the short stories are charming and funny - the language alone makes them worth reading, especially for free through Kindle.

The Lincoln Lawyer

I rarely read fiction, but after wading through several biographies and Mary Roach's books, I decided it was time for some easy reading. I read several reviews of the movie "The Lincoln Lawyer," and they were all complimentary of the book, so I decided to give it a try.

Turns out, I couldn't put it down. I saw some of the plot twists from a mile away, but it still sucked me in. Connelly has a good blend of John Grisham's legal expertise and Elmore Leonard's style. It's a perfect easy, fun read. I've already started a second book in the Mickey Haller series. I can't really stand Matthew McConaghey, so I doubt I'll see the movie, though.

The Mary Roach Cannon

There are times when the universe seems to be telling me that I need to read a particular book or author. This past winter, the universe told me to start ready Mary Roach, so I dove right in.

First up was Packing for Mars, which is about the hazards of space travel and how NASA prepares for it - especially the things they can't prepare for, like the "unknown unknowns." Given that my oldest daughter is a self-described "space explorer," I loved this book, and I'm envious of the access Roach had to NASA while researching it. I'd love to go up in the Vomit Comet to experience zero gravity. I'm not so sure I'd want to test out the space toilet though.

After the space book, I read Spook, which chronicles experiments people have done through the ages on what happens to our souls, if we have them, after we die. Real, respected scientists have done research on whether there is life after death and whether there are such things as near-death experiences like those described by people who have died and then been brought back to life. So far nothing conclusive has been discovered, but I like that people are looking.

Last week I finished off Stiff, which tackles what happens to our bodies after we die, specifically those cadavers that are donated to science. Turns out not every body donated goes on to take part in ground-breaking scientific or medical research. Most go on to teaching hospitals for medical students to practice on. Others go on to conferences where surgeons can hone their skills. Still others are used as crash-test dummies for car companies. Roach also chronicles different methods of disposing of cadavers - the technical term for a dead body - from cremation to freezing to burial to composting. After reading this book, I'm sticking to my plan of donating whatever organs will be of use to someone else and then cremating the rest and scattering the ashes. Silly as it seems, I don't want to turn into a crash-test dummy or practice cadaver.

Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage

I saw this new book, by Hazel Rowley, while I was in New York, but just bought it on Kindle last month. I've long been fascinated by Eleanor, who accomplished so much in an era when women were decidedly limited in what they were "allowed" to do by society at large.

Theirs was a fascinating marriage, seemingly built on a real love and affection for each other, not to mention an abiding respect for each other's opinions. That's not to say it was an easy marriage by any account. She had to contend with Franklin's overbearing and overprotective mother, who paid the bills and who was present for much of their marriage.

They both had to deal with Franklin's polio and resulting paralysis, which threatened everything - his life, his ability to earn a living, his political ambitions. It is amazing to think, in this era of cell phone cameras and instant access on the Internet, that the vast majority of the country had no idea that FDR was even disabled, let alone paralyzed to the point that he couldn't walk without leg braces and assistance. The family asked the press to keep it quiet, and, out of respect, they did. Such a thing would NEVER happen these days.

Both Franklin and Eleanor had multiple affairs; Franklin kicking things off with one that almost ended the marriage. Even after his paralysis, Franklin had emotional, if not physical, affairs with several women, including one, Missy LeHand, who lived and traveled with the family. Eleanor seemed to accept that this was a part of her husband's character.

She also had long-term relationships with both men and women. There's no record on whether they were more than emotional, but she traveled and lived with women who were known lesbians. She also had a close relationship with one of her bodyguards and did not react well when he decided to marry.

Both Franklin and Eleanor seemed to need more than they could get out of the marriage, as loving as it may have been.

She was truly distraught when Franklin died, and even more heartbroken when she found out that his former mistress, the one who almost caused them to get divorced, was with Franklin when he died. Even more heartbreaking was the realization that many people know Franklin had rekindled the relationship and they had hidden it from her.

I was impressed with how much Eleanor accomplished on her own, separate from her husband. She was a remarkable woman in her own right.

The Downhill Lie

I generally like Cark Hiaassen's novels. They're good beach and airplane reads - light, fluffy and funny. I've never read any of his non-fiction before, but I decided to give this book a try after hearing him talk about it on "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me."

It's about his return to golfing after a 30-year break. A natural-born golfer, Hiaasen is not. His days on golf courses are filled with shanked drives, lost balls, alligators, and sunken golf carts.

I am not a golf fan, have never played golf, and know nothing about golf, but I still laughed out loud repeatedly reading Hiaasen's accounts of his adventures.

Next up, I think I'm going to read his book about Disney World.

My poor neglected book blog

I'm embarrassed that I haven't updated this poor blog since May. It's not because I haven't been reading, because I have been. I just haven't been able to find the time to sit down and write about the books. If you read my other blog, The Days are Just Packed, you'll know why.

But I'm going to try to be better about writing over here, too.

I've just finished a slew of books including some P. G. Wodehouse "Bertie and Jeeves" collections; a new biography of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, which was fascinating; a book by a former FBI hostage negotiator called Stalling for Time that made me want to start a new career as a negotiator; and two books by Mary Roach - Packing for Mars and Spook.

Right now I'm in the middle of Edmund Morris's third volume about Theodore Roosevelt, and I'm loving it. I'm also reading a biography about Frank Lloyd Wright, which is interested but slow going because I keep stopping to look at pictures of the houses and buildings online. The book could use some more photos. I'm also reading a biography of Cleopatra, but I'm having a hard time staying focussed on it. So little is really known about her, and there are so few contemporary records of her life and words, that much of the book seems like pure speculation.

What else is there? Oh yes, I read Dan Brown's latest pulp during my trip to New York City in November. It was perfect airplane reading.

I also read The New Yorker cover to cover each week, and I now get the Christian Science Monitor every week. And I think there have been a few books I've abandoned along the way, like The Help. I just couldn't get into it.

More updates soon, I promise.