reading (Skinny Dip)

I finished Carl Hiaasen's "Skinny Dip" on Thursday. The plot and cast of characters in this one run similar to his other works I've read. There are variations in this one though, the muscle bad guy gets better developed. The other characters mostly follow the same general patterns laid down before. It's a fun, light read.

The finish doesn't have the irony of "Sick Puppy". Happily it leaves out a lot of the gratuitous technical descriptions of damage from fight scenes that shows up in some of the other books. Although if you don't like descriptions of male reproductive organs in all sorts of states you might want to skip this one.

29. Carl Hiaasen "Skinny Dip"

reading (French Milk)

Lucy's "French Milk" arrived in last night's post. I immediately put down what I had been reading. I can't be impartial about this book. I like Lucy. I like her art.

This is a personal book, a first person travelogue in words and drawings. For me it was a real treat. I didn't get to hear the details of Lucy's trip to Paris when they were happening. Now I get to read about the trip in its entirety.

It's hard to talk about favorite bits, perhaps I'll say most favorite bits: the sketch of Audrey Hepburn (she captured that heart stopping look), the choice of framing in the picture of mom with the map, the contrast of the drawing of the same, the expression on the flight from Chicago to NY. The flow of the narrative and choices of subject matter work well I think. I was surprised how much time was spent on getting to Paris, but I think it set the scene and put essential structure around the bits in Paris. Yes, there is a lot of time spent on food, but this is a gourmet in Paris, anything less would be completely unreal.

I wonder if all the little arrows are a conscious stylistic thing or a self confidence thing. Some of the little arrows are essential to understanding. But some seem unnecessary and maybe busy, the text and the drawings in those cases were sufficient for understanding and flow.

I know I'll be picking this up and rereading or just looking at the drawings periodically. I'll even let other people read it as long as they can do so without it leaving my house.

Oh, Lucy, the outfit you wore to Oscar's grave looks so very good on you. It's such a cute picture!

30. Lucy Knisley "French Milk"