Let words take you on summer vacation
Published 1:20 pm Friday, June 25, 2010
Please, no books about dysfunctional families (unless they’re fictional and funny), and no memoirs (even if you’re Christopher Hitchens).
Summer is a time for fictional fun, mysteries and adventure. Books that keep you awake, turning pages, not put you to sleep.
So here’s an eclectic list of books that have kept me engaged, some recently, some from way in the past. Maybe you would enjoy them, too, or have already. Some are worth rereading.
If you love the fantasy and magic of the Arthurian legends, then you might not like Bernard Cornwell’s trilogy, “The Winter King,” “Enemy of God” and “Excalibur.” But Cornwell’s down to earth take on squabbling British kingdoms, the threat of invading Saxons and incursion of the strange new Christianity on the old British gods makes logical connections to the growth of the legends, grounding “magic” in believable occurrences of superstition and exaggeration.
Many of the names are familiar, Lancelot and Guinevere to name a couple, but the characterizations are sometimes surprising. The series first was published some 15 years ago, but the story is, of course, timeless.
On the theme of trilogies, it’s hard not to mention the release this summer of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” completing (maybe not?) the Millenium trilogy kicked off by “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Girl Who Played With Fire.”
The two unlikely protagonists and eventually friends, Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, and Lisbeth Salander (The Girl), a computer whiz with issues, team up (sort of) to crack a 40-year mystery involving one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, then a sex-trafficking operation and a series of murders (of which Salander is suspected). And that’s just the first two books.
The third book picks up where the second leaves off, with Salander hospitalized with a bullet in her head, still under suspicion of the murders. Does she get her revenge? Do geckos sell auto insurance?
From the dark underbelly of Sweden we go to the darker underbelly of drug cartels and corrupt cops (well, pretty much any official, even priests) in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. “The Dark Minutes” by Martin Solares takes us on a sordid tour, beginning with police detective Ramon Cabrera investigating the murder of a local journalist and finding a connection to the murders of some young girls back in the ’70s. The story goes into an extended flashback to those events, a coverup and conviction of an innocent man. There is a feverish quality (at least in translation) and occasional literary levels in Solares’ writing that make for more than the average police procedural.
If you want your summer mysteries a bit lighter and more whimsical, try “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann. When shepherd George Glenn is murdered, it’s up to his flock to solve the case. Yes, the sheep, led by Miss Maple, unravel the mystery in ovine fashion, leading the clueless humans to the evidence.
Miss Maple is definitely smarter than your average sheep, and has to prod the flock (some more woolly-headed than others) into action. Their observations of human behavior is hilarious at times.
Want a dog detective instead? Well, Chet’s for you, and he narrates the stories in believable doggy dialogue, easily distracted by food, cats, interesting odors and bouncing balls. “Dog On It” by Spencer Quinn, is the first in a series, followed by “Thereby Hangs a Tail” and “To Fetch a Thief” (due out in September). Chet’s partner is Bernie Little, owner of the Little Detective Agency, which seems perpetually in debt.
In “Dog On It” the case involves a missing teenager, her divorced mom and a shady dad, who smells of cat, Chet notices. That marks him suspicious in Chet’s opinion. The second book finds the pair enlisted as bodyguards for a pampered show dog, and you can imagine Chet’s reaction on meeting Princess. And then Princess and her owner are kidnapped …
A delightful summer read on a completely different note is “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa” by Nicholas Drayson, which is not a bird guide at all, but a charming novel set in Kenya.
Mr. Malik, a widower, has taken up bird-watching because he is smitten by the tour guide, Rose Mbikwa, but is too timid to ask her out. A rival enters the scene, and a competition of bird-spotting ensues for the right to ask Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball, unbeknownst to her.
Mr. Malik encounters all sorts of problems, including belligerent Somalis, while the wealthy rival flies off to expensive preserves. Along the way, the reader learns a little about life and politics in Kenya, and even a little about birds.
On a final note, I offer a book I read many, many summers ago, and still read again every five or 10 years. It’s a kid’s book (Hey, I was a kid when I first read it), “Mistress Masham’s Repose” by T.H. White, author of the much better known children’s book “The Once and Future King.”
Maria, the 10-year-old orphan who inherits a deteriorating estate (and a couple of despicable guardians) leads a lonely life until she discovers a secret on a small island in the lake on the property. The descendants of Lilliputians brought back by Lemuel Gulliver from his travels have been living for centuries on the island, their tiny kingdom safe — until now.
Maria means well, but her attempts to improve the Lilliputians’ lives often has disastrous results. When she finally learns her lesson, she has a new problem. Her guardians have discovered the secret and have big plans for making their fortune.
I think I’ll read it again this summer.
Ron Ramey: 425-339-3443; ramey@heraldnet.com
