The Sands of Windee

I am a big fan of the Leaphorn-Chee Navajo Tribal Police mysteries by the late Tony Hillerman. I've also enjoyed a couple of Hillerman's other books, so I was very sad when he died in October of 2008. In recommending his books to a friend, I looked at the Hillerman entry in Wikipedia and found that he had been inspired by and had long given credit to Arthur Upfield, an Australian writer who authored a series of mysteries featuring a brilliant and unorthodox detective, Napoleon Bonaparte. Bony is half English and half aboriginal, with the strengths of both heritages. Although these books were written in the thirties and forties, I found that our library has many of them. I just finished The Sands of Windee - I think I like it more than Hillerman! A clever plot, with vivid characters, many enjoyable incidents, sprinkled with outback lore. A quick and very enjoyable read!

Four Seasons in Rome

After visiting Jesse, Eileen, and Henry in Rome, we got to re-visit them, in a way, through this delightful book, which Jesse let me take home. Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr, describes a year with his family in Trastevere while he was supported by a Rome Prize Fellowship. The book has a story arc, but largely consists of observations on life and parenting, set against the backdrop of Rome, beautifully captured in quick, vivid sketches. The subtitle gives a flavor of this very pleasant read: "On twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world."

Netherland

Karen Knudsen gave me Netherland as a present - what a great read! The framework is the story of a Dutch man, married to an English woman, living in New York following 9-11. His wife is shaken by 9-11 and her own demons, goes skittish on their marriage, and returns to England with their young child. He commutes back and forth, trying to restore their marriage and understand himself. But the story focuses chiefly on the man's involvement with cricket, and a cricket enthusiast and promoter. The jacket blurbs say it's strongly reminiscent of The Great Gatsby, and nearly in the same league. Well, I barely remember Gatsby and didn't care for it all that much - shame on me, as I know some members of this family are true believers - maybe I'll try it again. Anyway, Netherland is wonderful - many unusual and arresting observations, an unsettling atmosphere, thoughtful insights into personality. Highly recommended! And Barack Obama read it!