corked by kathryn borel

The tale of a father and daughter - and a trip to France to taste wine. I thought this a very appropriate read as lately I had been struggling with my relationship with my father, and trying to connect with him on another level.

Kathryn Borel and her father, Philippe, have a somewhat complicated relationship - it is her hope, that through learning about his passion, wine, that she might find a way to get closer to him. There were many times in this book that I felt connected with the author and her struggles with her relationship with her father, herself, and her ex-boyfriend. Other times, I admittedly skim-read - I'm not sure if this was because of my short attention span in the jungle, or if the writing was really not that riveting. I'm undecided.

In the end, it is somewhat enlightening and comforting to know that I am not the only that has struggled with my father-daughter relationship.

the girl who played with fire

the second in Stieg Larsson's trilogy, and even better then the first book. it kept me entertained in hot Iquitos. Lisbeth Salander is by far one kick-ass herione - how appropriate that she should have to face her dark past just before i headed into the jungle to face mine. from amazon:

"Fans of intelligent page-turners will be more than satisfied by Larsson's second thriller, even though it falls short of the high standard set by its predecessor, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which introduced crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist and punk hacker savant Lisbeth Salander. A few weeks before Dag Svensson, a freelance journalist, plans to publish a story that exposes important people involved in Sweden's sex trafficking business based on research conducted by his girlfriend, Mia Johansson, a criminologist and gender studies scholar, the couple are shot to death in their Stockholm apartment. Salander, who has a history of violent tendencies, becomes the prime suspect after the police find her fingerprints on the murder weapon. While Blomkvist strives to clear Salander of the crime, some far-fetched twists help ensure her survival. Powerful prose and intriguing lead characters will carry most readers along."

Going instantly in the opposite direction, I decided to read a much-talked about book called The Help. Mostly I don't read new hardbacks, unless I have the galleys, but my mother-in-law loaned it to me. She had to read it for her book club. I think thousands of women had to read it for their book club. You may have read it but I don't think you did. It is told from the narrative of three women, a white 20-something aspiring writer, a 50-something black maid and nanny who doesn't talk back, and a younger black maid who does. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the 60s, right when the civil rights movement is just getting going, and things are amping up to a dangerous level. The young aspiring writer has moved back in to her parents' house and is looking for a topic to write about that actually means something. She decides she wants to tell real stories about real maids and their experiences working for these white families, in particular, these white women (of which she is one). I really liked this book. The characters were very well-drawn and it was a moving story. It was definitely one of the better books I have read in the last few years, although I'm not sure I'll keep a copy. I didn't really change me at all. Maybe I should read it a second time, not when I'm up all night with a toothache.

Burning Wire

So, I used to be a big Jeffrey Deaver fan. Or at least I loved his first Sachs/Rhyme mystery The Bone Collector and then read each consecutive one hoping to find the same quality. Finally I stopped. There's just not enough time to read things you know will disappoint you. But... I got a galley of his newest book, not out yet, The Burning Wire, and it kinda harkened back to the quality of the first one. Still not as good, but I liked it, engrossing, all about a man who kills people by rechanneling electricity. It was actually kind of kickass. Can't say I didn't see the end coming, but I didn't mind. I liked it.