The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks

Book review: The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks I have been following the author of this book on Twitter for some time. He is a shepherd in the Lake District in England, and the photos he posts of sheep walking in meadows and across streams are gorgeous idealic images. This book is his chronicle of a year in the life of his farm. So you get all four seasons and a description of what happens at different times of years. Also described is the history of the area and shepherding. A charming narrative of a life that I am sure is not easy and not as romantic as you come away with. Between this, H is for Hawk and The Outrun you would get an impression that life in the UK is all country walks and rural fairs. These are wonderful fantasies and maybe says something about who has the time and inclination to write books, but all the urban problems are not covered, no poverty, crime and hardship. Well some of that in The Outrun, but that is basically what she is leaving behind.

Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Lie on the Road by Finn Murphy

Book review: Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Lie on the Road by Finn Murphy This surprisingly interesting memoir turned out to be one I could not put down. I got the iBook sample of this book after seeing something in the NYTimes Book Review, and ended up reading it over the weekend. This is a well written memoir of a life of a middle class raised white guy who took a different path. Part philosophy and part a description of the details of a life and profession that none of us would have a clue about, he describes a life as an outsider who has found his niche. One of the great things about this is the leap he writes about from his young life to being in his 50s. He describes being a teenager, how he gets into the moving/truck driving world. Then at 31 he walks away from it, only to come back to the life at age 51. There is absolutely no description of what he did in the interim 20 years, which whether it was meant to or not keeps the reader engaged. An interesting literary device. This is an example of why I have come to like memoirs so much, especially when they are written by people who are not professional writers but who apparently have a natural affinity for writing.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

Book review: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald This recent best seller has been much talked about, mainly for its writing. It is so rare to find something that is such a joy to read. This memoir is the story of the author’s year after her father passed away. To deal with her grief she adopts a young hawk, and enters the age old world of falconry. This was one of those can’t put it down books that I will probably go back and read again. She weaves stories of raising and caring for the hawk with reminiscences of her father, her delving into the falconry world and culture with her journey through grief.

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan

Book review: Barbarian Days by William Finnegan The story of a life time of surfing provides a history of surfing over the last 50 or so years. By happenstance the author ended up in surfing meccas so fell into the world of surfing at a young age. He chronicles the changes in surfing from a fringe sport to really something mainstream and gentrified, as we tend to do with some many things on this planet. But he is still able to find those ‘endless summer’ moments, and weaving the story of surfing with his biography and his family creates a very pleasant reading experience.

Late to the Ball Gerald Marzorati

Book review: Late to the Ball Gerald Marzorati The title of this book is a fun pun. This chronicles the life of this man who decided to take up tennis relatively last in life, and the age of 45. So late to the ball refers to both tennis and the concept of taking up something late in life, and the troubles with trying to train your body and mind to do something later in life, that may have been relatively easy if you had started early. This is an optimistic book in that the person taking this up later in life has different expectations that a younger person would. No expectation of a scholarship to college or actually being good enough to be a pro or semi-pro. Just taking up something for the challenge and fun of it, and to test yourself. Again, the neuroscience piece is represented here.

Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker

Book review: Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker This very entertaining memoir is the chronicle of Biana’s year spent delving into the world of wine connoisseurs. It does provide interesting insights into the lives of these obsessed people, and once again touches on the neuroscience of the brain and how it adapts and changes. She travels within different circles of the wine world, restaurants, retailers, contestants, vineyards and critics. She does a good job of not only describing these worlds, but also of questioning them and posing the asking how valid or how self manufactured some of this is.

Factory Man by Beth Macy

Book review: Factory Man by Beth Macy This is a surprisingly interesting story of the furniture industry in the US. Mostly based in the South, this is really story of what the globalization of this industry specifically but a map of what the globalization of manufacturing is about. The author uses the story of one man to illustrate how sending the manufacturing of furniture has ruined US based jobs. Of course, in some cases the jobs were not great ones to begin with, and the questions arise about keeping the family based industries at home, while preserving jobs, preserves a hierarchy of a system that is basically bigoted in the first place. I think she does a good job of providing information on the complicated issues that arise around isssues of employment and globalization. The issues that are identified with this book are universal, but I like the specifics of delving into one industry as deeply at the author does to illustrate the points.