Country Driving

Author: Peter Hessler



I picked up this book to prepare me for my trip to China. I was flying in to Shanghai and wanted to get a better understanding of the local culture and get some insight into what had made it so successful. Peter Hessler is a staff writer at the New Yorker and I am always happy to read a book from someone who has been a career journalist. The book does not disappoint and is extremely well written.

There are three parts to the book each of which can be read separately. For the first part, the author decides to rent a car from Beijing and drive all along the great wall. He describes how varied Chinese culture is especially where it mixes with Mongolia. While it was interesting in the first few pages, it was hard to keep your interest as the author explored town after town that had little to hold your attention or curiosity.

The second part of the book is about a village and offers a glimpse into China before all the urbanization took over. The author shares some very personal stories here and the characters are well developed. You can't help but marvel at the frugality and simplicity of the lives in these villages.

The last part of the book was the most fascinating for me as it told the story of how china turned into a manufacturing super-power. The author followed the creation of one of these mega industrial zones through the inception and growth of a button factory and it was quite interesting and fascinating to read about it.

Overall, the book is well written and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in China and wants a broad perspective of the culture.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Author: Garth Stein



Another one of those loveable novels that are a breeze to read but don't give you much food for thought. For full disclosure I should mention that I am not one of the dog-lovers who drools at the thought of learning more about a dog's life. However, the dog Enzo, does appear more human than anyone else in this book. He has the maturity, wisdom and occasional rage that you can identify with and the author has done a great job of giving the reader a view into what some rather dysfunctional human events would look like from a neutral point of view. While the concept of a narrative from a dog's point of view is cool, I quickly got tired of it and the owner of the dog, Danny, is portrayed as a very ideal and wronged human being. The author would have been better served if Danny had a few warts that could be exploited to make the book more interesting. After the "cool" concept wore off, I was eager to finish this book and move on. Thankfully that was not hard as the writing style was easy and line spacing was generous.

Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen



This one is a perfect fit for a summer reading list. You will learn a little about the US circus business while the author develops the many different interesting characters in the story. It is a heartwarming tale with a good deal of romance thrown in and I loved it. I guess a lot of people did and it didn't take long for the film industry to release a movie that is very true to the storyline in the novel. Both the book and the movie are good entertainment, although I much preferred the book. It won't take you long to read the book as it is well written and a breeze to read. Don't expect anything too deep though.