Give Nonfiction a Try…Just for Laughs

Okay all you devoted fiction lovers, don’t stop reading yet!  I know that most of you just head for the fiction floor unless you need a cookbook, help with a hobby, a medical condition, a travel guide or some other instructional type material.  But there is so much more in the land of Dewey.  Sorry fellows, the titles I’ll chat about are pretty much for women but there’s a lot of wit and wisdom to go round.  So give them a try.

I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard of Lisa Scottoline but have you read Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog?  It’s hard to admit that I’ve never read her mysteries, but when this book of her columns adapted from The Philadelphia Inquirer entitled “Chick Wit” came through, I couldn’t resist.  Lisa’s topics are about women and everyday life and the list of characters include her mother (Mother Mary), her gay brother (Frank), her daughter (Francesca), a couple of best friends, her ex-husbands (Thing One & Thing Two) and her beloved pets.  From stories about dieting (carb rehab) to Spanx, be prepared to laugh!  & don’t be shocked to find me in the fiction S aisle because Lisa is bound to throw around some humor there too.  There’s a follow-up book of essays co-authored with her daughter, Francesca.  Not as funny (perhaps because the daughter isn’t as funny) but still a good read.

Next up is Nora Ephron of movie screenplay fame When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail and Julie & Julia.  In her books of essays, I Feel Bad About My Neck and I Remember Nothing, she shares stories about her life’s work but mostly she tells about the ups and downs of aging.  The author speaks about dealing with menopause, empty nests, the maintenance involved with aging—hair dye, unwanted hair, exercise,  fading eyesight— divorce, etc.  It’s all done with candor and good humor.  Check out her chapter on “What I Wish I’d Known”  in …Bad About My Neck.  My particular favorite is: Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of 35 you will be nostalgic for at the age of 45.  Add a couple of decades and it’s even more nostalgic!

We are all familiar with the movie and television star, Betty White, and her resurgence in popularity during the last few years.  Her recent book, If You Ask Me, is a delightful mix of observations on multiple topics and stories from her decades’ long career.  She’ll tell you her secrets for staying young—enthusiasm for her two passions, acting and her love of animals.  The short essays also include anecdotes of other celebrities including her co-stars from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and the current hit Hot in Cleveland.  Betty gives behind the scenes details describing her craft and is always told with great humor.  She tenderly reminisces about the love of her life, Allen Lunden, but cracks you up with her humor when speaking of her crush, Robert Redford.  Her stories and insights always show her character, her integrity, her gratefulness and her joy for life.  Included are numerous photos taken of Betty, her friends and loved ones throughout her life.

So if you’re looking for some “real life” summer laughs, give these titles a shot.

Other Recommended Titles:

 My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space—Lisa Scottoline     

I Still Have IT…I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It—Rita Rudner

The Cracker Queen—Lauretta Hannon

Dying to get away?

Travel can be a thrilling experience, unless your final destination is murder. I particularly enjoy reading murder mysteries, and now that summer is here, I find myself thinking of another great love of mine – travel.  So, why not combine the two and read some excellent mysteries that can help me quench my thirst for adventure? 

One of my favorite authors to recommend, Kathy Reichs, satisfies both of these needs with her popular series about the world-renowned, globe-trotting forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. If the name sounds familiar, it may interest you to know that Reichs is also a producer for the popular TV show, Bones, and has described the main character of the show as a younger version of the character in her books. In the books, Temperance is a divorced recovering alcoholic with a grown daughter. Instead of working for the Jeffersonian Institute (like the character in the show), Temperance divides her time between her duties as a professor at the University of North Carolina, her position as a forensic anthropologist for the Laboratoire de Medecine Legale in Montreal, and occasional assignments with other agencies that need her expertise to identify remains whose flesh is too degraded for a regular coroner to obtain evidence.

For example in Fatal Voyage, Temperance joins the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) when an airplane crashes and the badly burned and fragmented remains of the victims need to be identified.  During the course of the investigation, Temperance discovers a body part that cannot be connected to any of the passengers or the crew aboard the plane, and her resulting investigation with her partner and love-interest from Montreal, Andrew Ryan, uncovers another mystery.  Several books later, Grave Secrets, brings Temperance all the way to Guatemala to a mass grave in the village of Chupan Ya to excavate the remains of the victims of genocide.  During the excavation she becomes involved in an investigation into the disappearance of several girls from Guatemala City and the murder of a young archaeologist.  In Cross Bones, Temperance travels halfway across the world to Israel and the Holy Land in her quest to solve the murder of an orthodox Jew in Montreal, and when an ancient skeleton is added into the mix, the mystery and the danger for Temperance and her partner heats up again.  Finally, in Reichs’ most recent book, Spider Bones, Temperance returns to North America when she investigates a bizarre drowning death in Hemmingford, Quebec.  The victim turns out to be an American soldier, John Lowery, who was originally thought to have died in a Huey crash in Vietnam.  The confusion over the identity of Lowery brings Temperance to Hawaii to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S. military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, where she discovers Lowery’s dog tags with the body of another soldier, sparking further questions into the incident in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Temperance is again asked by a local official, this time Honolulu’s medical examiner, for help. The remains of the Honolulu decedent turn out to be those of an adolescent boy who may have been the victim of a shark attack or murder. Soon Temperance realizes that someone doesn’t want her to discover the truth about one of the victims, and she has to solve the mystery before someone buries her, and the truth, forever.  In conclusion, throughout her many novels, Kathy Reichs uses her real-life expertise as a forensic anthropologist to craft unique, factually accurate stories as she develops multi-faceted characters, describes diverse settings, and weaves complex plots with well-thought out conclusions.  Unlike some authors, Reichs creates a completely new story with each subsequent book.

But what if you’re not into the nitty-gritty details of forensics and science?  For those who are interested in mysteries that are a little less graphic, or who just want a lighter read, two other authors, Maggie Sefton and Anthony Eglin, might be just what the doctor ordered.  Eglin’s mystery series will appeal to gardeners who have always wanted to travel to England.  The first book in the series, The Blue Rose, introduces Alex and Kate Shepherd, the proud new owners of a small nineteenth-century country house located in the village of Steeple Tarrant in Wiltshire, England. Called The Parsonage, the house is charming, but it’s the old garden that enchants Kate, and it is during her efforts to restore the overgrown garden to its former glory that she discovers an amazing blue rose. Immediately aware of the rarity of her find and its value, she and her husband engage the expert advice of Lawrence Kingston, a retired professor of botany and an expert on roses.  However, despite their efforts at secrecy word soon gets out about their discovery of their rare horticultural find.  Just as they’re discovering the origin of the blue rose they begin to realize that there are those who would stop at nothing to possess the blue rose, even if they have to resort to murder to get it.  As the body count starts rising, Kate and Alex begin to realize that the blue rose may be hiding other dangers.  Whether you’re a rose enthusiast or not, the mystery of The Blue Rose will be sure to captivate you!

Finally, for those who prefer knitting to gardening, Maggie Sefton’s mystery series about a Washington, D.C. based CPA named Kelly Flynn will be a good fit.  In the first book of the series, Knit One, Kill Two, the death of Kelly’s last living relative and mother-figure, her beloved Aunt Helen, brings her to Fort Connor, Colorado.  Not long after her arrival, Kelly discovers some puzzling information that leads her to embark on a mission to solve a murder and catch a killer.  With a little help from her newfound friends from the yarn shop next door, the House of Lambspun, Kelly unravels the mystery as she learns a thing or two about knitting, fun and friendship.  Well-written, with a cast of interesting characters, murders to solve, tales of friendship and a little bit of romance, each book in the series is entertaining and worth the read.  As an added bonus, each every book features a recipe and a pattern discussed in the novel. 

So, whether you’re destined for an exotic vacation, or a down-to-earth stay-cation, this summer don’t forget to pack a good read!

Other Recommended titles

By Maggie Sefton:

Needled to Death 

A Deadly Yarn

A Killer Stitch

Dyer Consequences

Fleece Navidad

Dropped Dead Stitch

Skein of the Crime

By Anthony Eglin:

The Lost Gardens

 The Water Lily Cross

The Trail of the Wild Rose

Red China

Chinese civilization is the longest continuous civilization in the world. They were the masters of their own domain and beyond.  They invented many items that the West now takes for granted like paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass, and the noodle.  Marco Polo marveled at China’s grand cities which he considered to be greater than the great cities of Europe. It’s only by a twist of fate that China fell to the West. Since the industrial revolution, China has chaffed under Western imperialism. The Chinese people are a very proud people that look for ways to shake off Western imperialism and to take their rightful place in the  world.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       To understand China today, you need to understand their historical perspective. A good book to read is China: a History by John Keays. Keays explains the history of China from 1050 BC to 1950 when the Chinese Communist Party took power. This book does a good job in condensing the more than 5000 years of Chinese history into a manageable book. Each major dynasty or era has their own chapter, and each chapter describes beautifully major accomplishments and failures of the era. This book provides a great foundation of general Chinese history, where modern Chinese leaders are coming from, and provide maps which are easy to follow. Keays explains that many of the emperors view themselves as rulers with a divine mandate and that divine mandate can be taken away by the people. Every change in dynasty and government without fail started from the peasants, this is what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to avoid at all cost. 

Modern China:the fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present, by Jonathan Fenby covers what happened to China after the CCP took power.  Fenby explains in great detail the corruption of Chinese officials and the greed of Western powers, especially the British in 1850. When Chinese authorities tried to stop the British opium trade using legal means within China, the East Indian Company with the support of the British government conquered China. This led to other nations carving up China into their own spheres of influence. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, and later the People’s Republic of China, rose up to regain China’s right to rule. The book gives accounts from the people who were there through interviews and personal stories, not just dry facts.

The rise of the Chinese economy is a direct consequence of the rise of the Chinese Communist Party according to Richard McGregor in The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers. Under Communist leadership, China has surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy.  McGregor addresses misconceptions regarding the CCP as he explains how the CCP adapts to changes within the world.  He also describes how the CCP survived the passing of Chairman Mao, the financial crisis, and many corruption scandals, to rise from the ashes to be a party for the “people”. What’s great about this book is that it presents real world stories from the people to help illustrate its points. It is not too technical. 

As the world continues to worry about the rise of China, China is stressing it does not want to dominate the world; it just wants to be friends and make lots of money. 

Summer Romance

Summer… the time for fun, sun, and also the time for romance.  Now that summer is officially here, it is the perfect time to gently laze around in a hammock under the shade from a huge tree or relax in a lounge chair down at the beach.  A summer romance book is the perfect complement to either scenario; fiction romance is that soft breeze that blows on a hot summer day.  If you are in the mood for romance, try one of these wonderful summer reads.

One of the best “what if” romances is Jude Deveraux’s Summerhouse.  Three women who met for one day on their 21^st birthday are reunited for a week’s vacation in Maine for their 40^th birthday.  At 21, they were filled will hopes, dreams, and ambitions.  Life has not worked out exactly as they had planned.  Leslie, who dreamed of dancing on Broadway, is now a suburban housewife with 2 children who take her for granted and a husband who is having an affair with his secretary.  Ellie, who wanted to set the world on fire with her art, is now a famous novelist but has just been through a nasty divorce.   Madison, who dreamed of being a model, is now an embittered, thin, ugly woman and has also lived through a horrible marriage.  All three are offered the chance to relive three weeks of their lives.  At the end of those three weeks, they can choose the life they have now or the one they would have had if they had made different choices.  What three weeks would you relive, and what choice would you make?

The new novel Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews  is a good fun, light hearted, summer read.  It actually starts on the same premise as the book before.  Three women go on vacation to sort out their lives.  However, the tone in this book is much lighter with laugh out loud moments.  Ellie has just been downsized (laid off, fired) from her job at the bank.  She plans (and over plans) this trip with her friends; she keeps bugging the landlord of the rental with requests, questions, and demands.  Her friends Julie and Dorie arrive.  Julie is trying to decide whether to marry to her lover of many years.  Dorie has secrets and troubles of her own.  Enter Ty Bazemore (the secret owner of the rental) who lives above the garage; the house is about to go into foreclosure if he does not come up with money quick.  Yes, it’s predictable, but it’s also a lot of fun.

Another good romance is Sweet Hush by Georgia author Deborah Smith. Any book that starts with a rotten apple being thrown at a fictitious First Lady is bound to be fun.  Hush McGillen, widow and single mother, runs a successful apple business in the mountains of North Georgia.  Her Harvard attending son upsets the apple cart when he elopes with the daughter of President of the United States and takes her home to escape the First Lady’s wrath.  The President sends his “killer” nephew Nicholas Jacobek to “take care” of the situation.   Full of southern charm and the small town way of life, this romance proves that good Southern values can beat Yankee politics anytime; bless their hearts.

Sometimes a good book will touch your heart and sear your soul.  Get out your hankies for debut Georgia author Jeffrey Stepakoff’s Fireworks over Toccoa.   The novel begins with the drought of 2007.  Lakes dried up and parts of Georgia were exposed that had been covered for fifty years.  Two boys racing their bikes across a dried up lake bed near Toccoa, Georgia found something lost since 1945.  In 1945, Toccoa is preparing to welcome home the soldiers with a fireworks display like no other.  They hire Jack Russo, a troubled WWII vet, to create the fireworks.  Lily Davis is preparing for her husband’s return from WWII.  She married him only a week before he shipped out; though she has had occasional letters, she is not sure she still loves him.  A chance encounter between Jack and Lily in a star-lit field challenge all they believe about love, honor and fidelity.  Does love really conquer all, including honor?  What if you meet your soul mate too late?

 

Other Recommended Titles:

Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux    

The Mulberry Tree by Jude Deveraux   

The Crossroads Café by Deborah Smith  

Eclipse Bay by Jayne Ann Krentz 

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews 

Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews  

Books with a Bite

Vampires have always been intriguing literary characters. The recent popularity of the Twilight Series is a prime example. Some avid readers have said that although they enjoyed the Twilight series, they want something more. Either they want to go back to the beginning of the vampire legends or they want a new spin on the classic tale. There is no shortage of stories featuring vampires. Whether they are sinister and repulsive, or seductive and beguiling, they are always fascinating.
The first and most recent title takes place in modern times, but reaches into the past as well. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.   Dr. Diana Bishop stumbles upon a powerful book during her research. Unbeknownst to her, this discovery catches the interest of a variety of creatures. Vampires, witches and daemons all have a sudden interest in Diana, who although born into a powerful family of witches, has refused to use her powerful magic. One of the most intriguing characters who Diana meets is a geneticist and ancient vampire named Matthew Clairmont. Although wary of him initially, Diana soon develops a bond with Matthew, who becomes her protector and partner.  They both face danger from daemons, vampires and witches who will all stop at nothing to find the secrets in the ancient book.
A Discovery of Witches stands out from other vampire stories due to the skill of Deborah Harkness, the author. Harkness is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. She uses her extensive knowledge of history and her skill as a writer to craft compelling characters. This story has elements of fantasy, mystery, romance and the occult.
The second title is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  Much like A Discovery of Witches, the story begins with the discovery of a mysterious book. However, this story is based on the original character of Dracula. A teenage girl discovers a book in her father’s library. The book is blank except for a dragon illustration on the front and the word “Drakula”. The book contains several letters addressed to, “My dear and unfortunate successor.” The events in the novel include different continents, time frames and characters. All these elements slowly lead the main character (as well as the reader) to Dracula (or Vlad the Impaler).

The novel is based loosely on the classic Dracula, by Bram Stoker. It is Kostova’s debut novel, which she worked on for 10 years. The Historian is a lavish and detailed story, and it’s a must read for fans of Stoker’s Dracula and other vampire tales.
The third title is Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly. The book is based on the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker, with Renfield as the major character.  Dracula’s demented servant, R. M. Renfield, is confined in Rushbrook mental asylum. His insane ramblings and bizarre habit of capturing and eating various insects, in his mind, make him grow stronger.  His story takes shape as he senses the approach of his master, Dracula. Much of the story is told in the form of journal entries and letters from Renfield to his beloved wife, Catherine, and daughter, Vixie.
     Barbara Hambly creates a fascinating backstory for Renfield that makes his character much more complex. She is able to skillfully bring Stoker’s more minor characters to life while also giving greater depth to major characters, such as Van Helsing, Jonathan and Mina Harker. Most importantly, the tale of Dracula is told by the tortured Renfield, whose divided loyalty to his Master and his family slowly tears him apart. This book is perhaps my favorite of the three because I always finish reading a novel and wonder, “What happened to the other characters in the story?” The novel, Renfield, answers that question.

Recommended Titles:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex

A Taste of India

Years ago the novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhi Roy was selected for the library’s monthly Book Chat. I was entranced by the luscious play of language in describing this foreign landscape, culture, and method of storytelling. While the plot weaves between time and tales, the vividly descriptive words are what I remember the most and what led me to read more novels from Indian, and Indian-American, authors.

In The God of Small Things, fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel learn that “Things Can Change in a Day” when their English cousin, Sophie Mol, and her mother, Margaret Kochamma, arrive in Ayemenem on a Christmas visit. Lives are twisted into new, ugly shapes and some are lost forever. "They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. And how much. "

Thrity Umrigar poignantly blends the life stories of two women of modern India in a demonstration of how intricately connected the daily lives of the rich and poor are while remaining so far apart in The Space Between Us. Sera Dubash is an upper-middle class housewife who hides the truth of her abusive household from those closest to her. Bhima has served the Dubash household for over 20 years and is an illiterate gran-mother living in the slums of Bombay with bright grand-daughter who is attending college when she becomes pregnant. Sera’s young, married daughter is pregnant as well. Umbriger reveals the privileges of the rich as they contrast with the poverty, neglect, and hopelessness of the poor. Both women share their lives daily, yet live by vastly opposing rules and expectations. “But after all the years of working in Seraba’s home, Bhima has no idea what she thinks, she realizes. And why should you? She chastises herself. You an ignorant, uninformed woman , and Serabai, educated and foreign-traveled.”

A review of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart remarks that “Divakaruni’s talent and originality lie in her ability to discern [the] basic emotional motifs beneath the flashy “exotica’ of Indian, and American, lifestyles. She finds the real points of departure between the two cultures and, in putting her finger exactly there, activates the universal.” I found this to be true in this story of two cousins born on the same day to mothers who are widowed on the day of their daughters’ births. Sudha, the poor relation, is kind and beautiful while Anju Chatterlee is brilliant and defiant. The two have an inseparable bond which is tested by the revelation of a dark family secret and the arranged marriages which halts plans for college and independence. Anju leaves for America with her new husband while Sudha moves in with her husband and a dominating mother-in-law. Both women experience love, loss, and friendship as they yearn for independence.

Jhumpa Lahiri recently joined my list of favorite authors. Her short stories and novel examine the difficulties, and privileges, of living between two conflicting cultures with distinct religious, social, and ideological differences. Lahiri explores the difficulties of cultural assimilation for the new Indian immigrants as well as the cultural conflict experienced by their American born children.

In The Namesake, Lahiri moves between the world of India and America as she tells the story of the Ganguli’s, a young Bengali couple who move to Boston. At the birth of their first child, the Ganguli’s are forced to choose a name for their son in order to leave the hospital. Unlike Indian culture where a baby is given a good name by an elder and a pet name by the family, American children are given a legal name at the time of birth. The good name has not arrived from India in times so the Ganguli’s name their son Gogol after Ashoke’s favorite author and in honor of the book which once saved his live; Gogol’s pet name is now his legal name. Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path with conflicting loyalties, emotional family clashes, and a series of complicated love affairs. Lahiri’s penetrating insight reveals the means by which we slowly, often painfully, come to know ourselves.

Always a fan of dark humor, I eagerly read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. The White Tiger is the name our hero gives to himself as Balram Halwai spends 7 nights writing a response to a statement he heard on the radio that the premier of China is on a mission to know the truth about Bangalore. Balram is an expert on the truth of the harsh realities and hidden cruelties of the “new India.” In the course of his narrative, Balfour justifies his transformation from an honest, hardworking boy from “the Darkness” of rural India to a cold blooded murderer and entrepreneur. "But isn't it likely that everyone in this world...has killed someone or other on their way to the top?...All I wanted was a chance to be a man--and for that, one murder is enough."

From the glamour of Bollywood to the grime of Slumdog Millionaire, make India a destination in your summer reading.

Recommended Reading:
Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri
Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
The Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri
The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai
Madras on Rainy Days – Samina Ali
Savoring India: Recipes and Reflections on Indian Cooking – Julie Sahni
My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Parsi Home Cooking – Noloufer I. King

Destination: A New State of Mind

To most library lovers, picking up a good book is like taking a mini vacation.   Given the seemingly rare time to freely do as we please – the typical holiday, the weekend, or the few precious minutes amid our hectic days and nights  -  we hungry bookworms delve into our favorite reading material with gusto, hoping to be transported away, if only momentarily, to the rich world of our unique interests and imaginings.   The concepts of book and break are almost one and the same.  Whether cruising the waters of the Pacific or lounging in the backyard lawn chair, by bringing our books along, we double our experience; by reading, we take a vacation within a vacation.  And the rewards for picking up that book are matchless.

For this book junkie, the measure of a good book (and a good vacation for that matter), depends less upon the setting and time, and more upon the state of mind in which it places me during and after the turning of pages.  The following righteous reads, both fiction and nonfiction, transcend time and place, and carry my hurried, anxious mind steadily and mercifully to a more relaxed, open, and peaceful point of understanding within myself.  As I emerge from their pages, I find I have changed or grown as a person in a way, and it is certainly most fulfilling. 

I often reach for "Iron John: A Book About Men" by the poet and activist Robert Bly.  Based on the Grimm brother’s fairy tale by the same name, Iron John is a hearty exploration of the development and meaning of manhood in contemporary American society.  According to the Grimm’s tale, something strange has been happening around a remote pond in the forest near the King’s Castle – when people go there, they don’t come back.  One day a young boy asks the King if he can help, and upon arriving at the place, what he finds at the bottom of the pond, oddly enough, is a large man covered with hair the “color of rusty iron” from head to toe.  According to the author, this mysterious man represents the true, positive masculine psyche in every man.  Mr. Bly examines both boy and hairy “wild man,” likening their relationship to an initiation into manhood, given from father to son.  The exceptional splendor of the book is evident in the author’s personal poetry interspersed throughout, powerful poems that tap into the ancient, almost spiritual roots of the “man” inside all males.  All in all, this is a healing, uplifting read.

Another book that challenges my perspective and shapes my mind in a beneficial way is "Steps on the Path to Enlightenment" by the Buddhist monk and scholar Geshe Lhundub Sopa.  The word “Geshe” refers to one of the highest academic degrees in Tibetan Buddhism and is roughly equivalent to a doctorate degree in the western world.  Geshe Sopa’s brilliant book is an exposition of a 14th century text on Buddhist philosophy, "The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment" by Je Tsongkhapa.  In the foreword to Sopa’s book, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, himself the highest authority on Buddhist thought today, writes that the primary goal of these writings is “to discipline and transform the mind.”  What I enjoy about this book is both the clear, systematic presentation of the Buddhist path and the authoritative nature of both the author and the text.  Geshe Sopa was one of the Dalai Lama’s personal debate partners in their lengthy education as monks, and the text itself is still prominently used in Tibetan Buddhist training today, not only for monks and nuns, but for lay people as well.

My favorite book to date, one that strangely settles my mind instantly and peacefully upon reading only a few lines, is John Steinbeck’s novella, "The Pearl."  Based on a Mexican folk tale, it is the story of pearl fisherman, Kino, his loving wife Juana, and their infant boy, Coyotito.   Kino and his family lead a meager life on the colorful shores of the Gulf.  One morning, Coyotito is bitten by a scorpion and falls deathly ill.  Kino must quickly find payment for medical treatment for his only child, and so he dives deep into the dark ocean waters and, fatefully, unearths an exceptionally large pearl, “perfect as the moon,” one that he is certain will pay for help for his sickly son and fulfill his dreams of a better life for his modest family.  But in this deceptively simple story, things aren’t always what they seem.  What follows is a parable rich in meaning and delivered with Steinbeck’s keen perception into the intricacies of human nature.  The story’s pacing and the author’s descriptive language are fresh, alive, and almost meditative, beckoning the reader to heed the life lessons contained within.  As Mr. Steinbeck writes in the opening lines, “If this story is a parable, perhaps everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it.  In any case, they say in the town that…”

Other recommended reading:

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Insomnia by Stephen King

The Way to Freedom by the Dalai Lama