Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is my fourth Bryson book, and I really enjoyed the others, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Home, and A Walk in the Woods. This one felt less polished. I didn’t feel like I got a good sense of his travels, it was focused more on comedy, and the humor came off as aggressive or hostile throughout the book. I think part of the issue is that he wrote this book before the ones he wrote that I enjoyed. I think he must have improved a lot since this one.

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A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! I've always thought I'd love to hike the Appalachian Trail (#bucketlist) but now I've been dissuaded. I actually appreciated that Bryson cheated quite a bit because I think that's what I'd prefer to do one day.

He went from Georgia to West Virginia, discussed Pennsylvania a bit, and then returned to the Northern part of the trail later. In general, I enjoyed the discussion of the Southern locations more, either because I am somewhat familiar with those locations, or because having actually hiked that part of the trail all at once, he gave it more color.

The book was very funny, especially some of his friend's jokes, but sometimes it was a little unnecessarily mean.

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The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a cute very readable mystery book, and the kids get to learn a lot about Benjamin Franklin though it's sometimes difficult for kids to suss out the fictional parts.

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No Baggage by Clara Bensen

No Baggage: A Minimalist Tale of Love and Wandering by Clara Bensen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I heard about this book back when it came out because it got a lot of media attention for the gimmick of the book which is that two people that just started dating travel Europe together with no luggage. A minimalism book meets travelogue. In reality, the book is more about her existentialism, her strange romance with her travel companion, and a little bit about mental illness. She a very good writer so the existentialism is especially fun to read. The romance was a little difficult to read as her romantic companion is in turns withholding and teasing, and that is totally not my scene.

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The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Started off promisingly, but then all the numerous examples got boring. In addition, the guy who walked and took a vow of silence was inscrutable. Was he mentally ill?

Finally, the author did not examine any contrary point of view, such as the Buddhist belief that desire is the root of suffering. This, despite the author acknowledging that many of the quests felt like a bit of a letdown once they were completed.

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Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lorde’s unique way of thinking and communicating is on display in these essays about race and feminism. This is especially true in the lengthy interview in the middle of the book. I might have done better to start with her poetry though.

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Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Riveting! I have no personal interest in mountain climbing (though I like hiking- the flatter the better) and certainly, I have no interest in climbing Mount Everest, but this book kept me turning the pages as quickly as I could.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it left me wanting a more literary or philosophical examination of life and death. My first thought was it's crazy to climb Mt. Everest. But my second thought was - well, none of us are making it off this planet alive. Maybe the issue with climbing Mt. Everest is more an issue of age and family situation. But there was no real exploration of any more meaningful exploration of the choice to scale the mountain though there was a fair bit of discussion about the duty the people on the mountain did or didn't owe to each other, though most of that had a somewhat indirect quality about it.

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Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau

Cape Cod: Illustrated Edition of the American Classic by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some interesting parts but mostly really boring even for me, who really cares about and regularly visits Cape Cod. Highlights included the mentions of the sea animals, and everything and everyone who washes ashore- though I don't hear about treasure washing up anymore.

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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ever want to experience the mental illness/breakdown of a philosopher? Also need a few motorcycle maintenance tips? This is the book for you. Some talk about mindfulness and zen as well but not the main topic in my opinion.

Spoiler alert. My hard copy is an original copy. My digital loan from the library had a 10-year anniversary edition Afterword that totally devastated me.

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Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I feel like this is the part where I have to defend why I liked this so much. But no. It was a very enjoyable book. It was bad ass. It was feminist. I might even read it again one day. I liked the journey itself, I liked her writing, I liked the people she met, I liked all of it.

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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I first read this book, I kind of hated it. (Not sure why I read it again, but...) My biggest issue was that she seemed to have left her husband for no reason, and didn't appear to try to work it out without him at all, and so it was really hard to relate to her. Back then, I also didn't have divorced friends. Now I understand the fact that she declined to trash her husband in the book doesn't mean she didn't have great reasons for leaving him.

Also, back when I read this book the first time, nothing very terrible had ever happened to me. After the death of my dad, I was depressed for a long time (maybe I still am?) so now I can relate to her sadness in the book. I've also tried meditation (it's very hard) and understand how much weirder it is than it seems. Gilbert got a lot flack for trying to "find herself" in India (but not for trying to "find herself" in Italy), but that's not really what it's about. She's trying to achieve a different state through meditation- which a lot of people have tried to do. It just so happens that she goes to India to study meditation full time.

I liked the book much better this time, but I do think it could have been tightened up with better editing. Less rambling would have made the book better.

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A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! I've always thought I'd love to hike the Appalachian Trail (#bucketlist) but now I've been dissuaded. I actually appreciated that Bryson cheated quite a bit because I think that's what I'd prefer to do one day.

He went from Georgia to West Virginia, discussed Pennsylvania a bit, and then returned to the Northern part of the trail later. In general, I enjoyed the discussion of the Southern locations more, either because I am somewhat familiar with those locations, or because having actually hiked that part of the trail all at once, he gave it more color.

The book was very funny, especially some of his friend's jokes, but sometimes it was a little unnecessarily mean.

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A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle

A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some light spoilers ahead, but I tried to refrain from really telling anything.

First, this book is not for kids unless you're prepared to discuss sex, consent, and people taking advantage of teens.

As background, Calvin and Meg are 41 years old now, and move back to the US for Calvin's job. They settle on another island, this time in South Carolina. Their 7 children are a little older now: Polly (16 years old), Charles (14), Sandy "Zan" (12?), Den (10?), Peggy (8), Johnny (6), and Rosie (4).

While the whole family is mentioned, this story is mostly about Polly's "coming of age." She makes friends with a bunch of much older people in South Carolina: Maxine and Ursula who are in their 50s, and a medical intern Renny that she's dating. He's the absolute worst person in this book in my opinion, but Polly doesn't seem to notice. Max encourages her to take a trip to Athens, where she meets a total creeper guy Zachary in his 20s. He's the second or third worst person in this book. Again Polly doesn't seem to notice. Instead she focuses on being mad at Max for basically no reason at all. The story flashes back and forth between her town in South Carolina and Athens.

There are a lot of issues with this book, the biggest is that it is SO MELODRAMATIC. Maybe that's perfect for teenage girls? Another problem is the super high number of creepy characters willing to hit on 16-year-old Polly. Polly is tall, but she makes it clear that she does not look like an adult, so it's not an innocent mistake. Given that this was written in the 1980s we can't blame culture for this disaster. Another issue is that a whole bunch of new characters are introduced about 70% of the way through the book. Nope, sorry, I can't care about new people this late in the game.

Nonetheless, if I grade it on a curve, it's the best in O'Keefe series, and maybe one of the better in the bigger Kairos series (which is the 8 books in the Time quintet + O'Keefe series). There are references to great books, and there are a few deep thoughts.

More of a spoiler: Netson's Disease is fictional but I'm not sure why, as there are plenty of parasites that injure the heart. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/americans-may-be-more-at-risk-from-deadly-heart-parasite-than-realized/

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