So, I’m still around.

I have no idea if any of the five souls who read this blog noticed or not, but my absenteeism this summer has been out of control. 

I have managed to read a few books in the meantime, so turns out I’m not a total flake.  Remember when I told you about I Was Told There’d Be Cake?  I was delighted when the Bentonville Public Library was kind enough to lend me Ms. Crosley’s second gem, How Did You Get This Number. 

It’s the same general idea as the first (i.e., a collection of perfectly awkward and painfully hilarious autobiographical-esque tales).  I’m still trying to decide which is funnier.

I also struggled through, but ultimately bested, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  Author Rebecca Skloot did something I’ve never seen done before (which isn’t saying much, but I digress) by combining what felt like one part biography with one part science textbook and two parts history lesson.  The biography is primarily that of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died in the early 1950′s of cervical cancer and whose cancer cells were taken, without her knowledge or permission, by her doctor and then successfully cultured, distributed, and ultimately sold to many doctors, researchers, and civilians all over the world.  The book also documents the author’s relationship with Henrietta’s descendants, primarily her daughter, who are interesting, to say the least.  I could have done without about one-half of the science textbook part.  In fact, I think I really only enjoyed the first third of the book and the afterword.  The afterword, you say?  Yes, the afterword.  It appealed to the philosopher in me which totally made reading the entire book worth it. 

After a few hundred pages of science and history lessons I was ready for something a little lighter, so I picked up The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace.  Wallace also authored Big Fish which I haven’t read, although I did see the movie many years ago.  I should have known The Watermelon King would be weird.  I figured it would be whimsical, maybe even fantastical, but I was definitely not prepared for the degree of weirdness.  That said, I loved most of it. 

Wallace weaves a story of a young man, Thomas, who has returned to a small Alabama town, famous for their watermelons, to learn about his mother who died there on the day of his birth.  In the process, Thomas (and the reader) meets some great characters – some tragic, some hilarious, and some both.  He also learns about the town’s history and traditions and, consequently, why he matters to a town he’s never known.  For the first two-thirds of the book, I felt like Wallace might be a genius.  The story was intriguing and the characters were believable and entertaining.  Wallace started to lose me in the last third of the book, and by the last page, I was mostly confused and disappointed.   This last part reminded me of my college essays – it had the skeleton of a great idea, and even had a few really good parts, but it felt underdeveloped.  The ending was such a stark contrast to the intricacy and richness of the rest of the book that it probably felt more anemic than it really was.  Overall, it was a fun summer read, and I would recommend it with that qualification.  Regarding the weirdness:  you’ve been warned.

Wondering why you’re reading book reviews?  You can learn more about my mission here.

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