Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009 by Elizabeth Kolbert





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UNDER THE DOME

Only about 400 pages into UNDER THE DOME, but it seems like Stephen King is back. LISEY'S STORY was pretty good. DUMA KEY maybe not as good. His short story collection released last year, JUST AFTER SUNSET, was pretty solid, but UNDER THE DOME is his best in a long, long time. Maybe since THE GREEN MILE. Loving it so far.

Summer's Here Again

Ok, so I haven't blogged in awhile, and I don't think anyone cares. But since summer is here again, thank God, I'm going to try to get in as many books as I can. Twenty was a good number, so I'll shoot for that again. Should be a little easier since my children are a year older. We'll see. I haven't blogged in about five months, so I may grow tired of documenting what I've been reading quickly, but at least I have good intentions.

JOHN TYLER by Betsy Ochester

Got a book from the library during my daughter's story time. It was a book written for probably middle schoolers, but I found it very informative. I didn't know how powerful John Tyler was as a president. He took over for William Henry Harrison, and many thought the vice president would assume the control of the country, but Congress would do most of the moving and shaking. Tyler felt he was president and insisted on taking the oath of office.

He wasn't the best political leader because he didn't know how to compromise, but he stuck to his guns even when powerful men like Henry Clay tried to take him down. A really underrated president.

ROCK SPRINGS by Richard Ford

I've been on a bit of a Richard Ford kick. I think he's an incredibly good writer. His words just flow, and it's been a pleasure to read his work.

ROCK SPRINGS is a collection of short stories set in Montana that all pretty much deal with family relationships. There are murder, cheating, divorce. All the good drama every family saga should have. I highly recommend this collection.

Clyde Edgerton

I read a great short story last night called, "Send Me to the Electric Chair" in the anthology BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 1997 ed. Annie Proulx, a Deering High graduate. Edgerton made the short story into a novel called WHERE TROUBLE SLEEPS. It is certainly a novel I'm am going to read in the near future.

THE SPORTSWRITER by Richard Ford

To be honest, I liked this book, but it moved way too slowly for me. I read three-quarters of it, but had to put it down because it took way too long for Ford to say what he had to say. But who am I to criticize Ford, one of the greatest writer in recent memory. THE SPORTSWRITER is superbly written, there is not doubt, but with so many books out there to read, I just couldn't finish this one. I do recommend it to anyone with a lot of time on their hands. Much of the writing is dated. For instance, the use of 'Negro' and Detroit being a city a tourist would actually venture to.

Brother One Cell

I guess from wanting to escape the cold Maine winter, I began reading some travel writing. I picked up the book, BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING 2008, and one of the notable writings that did not make the collection was "My Korean Nightmare" by Cullen Thomas. That title grabbed me, so I did a little research and found the book ONE BROTHER CELL that the article was actually an excerpt of.

With this book, I got to know the country of South Korea much better. I thought there might be some abuse and possibly some prison rape in this book, but no such luck. Instead, I got a thoughtful, sometimes boring, account of a privileged American who got caught smuggling pot into a country he was supposed to be teaching English in. Thomas, by the end of the memoir, seems to have learned his lesson. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in what it would be like to be an American who had to live in a S. Korean prison for three years or anyone who wanted to learn a little more about the country. It was very well written and insightful. The only problem I had is that maybe it was about 50 pages too long