Saving Fish From Drowning

This is the book I am reading, first of a stack I got at the Klamath Falls bookstore on our adventure last week. This hasn't even been in paperback a year. I love Amy Tans books. When her first book "The Joy Luck Club" came out in 1989. I was not interested. It was not until a few years ago in Mexico that a friend encouraged me to read it and as always in Mexico there was a lack of reading material in English and so I tried it. Wow. Then I was fortunate to find 2 of her other books down there that winter too; "A Hundred Secret Senses" and "The Kitchen God's Wife", both fun and absorbing reads. I am 2 thirds of the way through this one and find it a tad more contrived but also see her experimentation as a writer, which is a great experience in itself.

The next book is "Cause Celeb", by Helen Fielding of the Bridget Jone's Diary fame. I just found "Bridget Jone's Diary" at the thrift store this summer and thought it was v. good. The story was shallow but the writing new and refreshing. I then had the good fortune 2 weeks later to find the sequel to the Diary, "Bridget Jones, the Edge of Reason", equally silly story but v. v. good writing idea. I totally enjoyed it. Great fun summer reads. Saw the movies, terrible. So here is her first book, I am looking forward to seeing her beginning writing.

Another treasure found is a fairly recent Moon Travel Puerto Vallarta Handbook. Which is good as I spend a lot of time visiting friends near PV, it was my first love on the Mexico mainland and my old book is just that, really old.

Statues in Puerto Vallarta

"Oregon River Tours" by John Garren is a great guide to touring Oregon rivers. It has great maps and river profiles. It was published in '76 so we will still need to check something more recent before we head out but many of the maps are still accurate.

The Rogue River in Southern Oregon

"Journey Into Cyprus", by Colin Thubron looks really interesting. The New Yorker says, "A master of the telling anecdote....who makes travel writing an art." I love travel tales almost as much as I like to travel. Many more books get read, then travels taken....

A lucky find was the Lonely Planet, "Bali and Lombok". William and I are traveling to the East next winter and one spot considered is Bali. This is a very recent guide book and only $4.

Bali

This next one is one I am not familiar with, "Arrow of the Blue Shinned God", by Jonah Blank. The cover states, "Possibly the most perceptive book that I have come across on India since the British Raj ended." We are also thinking of going to India and this looks like a great book to give us insights into this fascinating country and culture.

India

This next book, "The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata", is a book written by a sometime collaborator of Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares. This is a treasure to have found. This is why I like bookstores.


We are also considering visiting Thailand and the next book is "Tales from Thailand", by Lotus. This is an old book, 60's but it really looks interesting, Lotus is an Englishman who lived in Siam (Thailand) from 1902 to 1930.

Thailand

I have to be honest, the next book in the stack in "Sultry Climates, Travel and Sex", by Ian Littlewood. I know nothing about it, I liked it's cover. And title...

Next is a great book, "How To Get Lost and Found in New Zealand", by John McDermott. We do have friends here we would love to visit, it sounds like a fascinating place.

The last 2 books are by Louise Erdrich, "The Beet Queen" and "Tracks". I feel in love with her first book, "Love Medicene" years ago. When I found "The Beet Queen" and realized it was a sequel, I was thrilled. I bought this copy to give to a friend, but I didn't even know "Tracks" the first in the series exsisted. Wow. I can't wait to read it. Not only in does Erdrich look like she is a lovely person she is a Chippewas of North Dakota and writes some of the most compelling stories I have ever read.

Louis Erdrich

So that's it - that's my score from Klamath Falls secret bookstore. I mostly do buy books online now. Sometimes great books are to be had for little more than the shipping. But there is still something magical about going to a small book store and finding books that become treasures to you that you would not have even known existed. Just like this store, pile of books on the floor. Special ones set to the top or side. You could never go through all of them, booty for another day.


Now, on to finish "Saving Fish From Drowning"....



Thanks for thinking.