I enjoy reading and like breaking out of my typical 'espionage, mystery-thriller' books to read books of different genera. What books have you read in the past or recently, atypical of what you usually read, and would recommend. Please give title, author and a bit of a description.
Here is one I picked up at the beginning of the summer. If you happen to read it, let me know what you thought of it. I enjoyed it
One Big Damn Puzzler- John Harding
I must admit this funny little (540 pg) book attracted my attention with its Schereschnitt cover design. That's what made me pull it off the bookstore shelf (besides, black and white kinda sticks out in between all sorts of colorful cover bindings). I was looking for an English book. And it looked like it could be funny... some light reading. The back cover had this to say-
"On a remote South Pacific island, the struggles of an elderly tribesman to translate Hamlet into local pidgin English are interrupted by the arrival of an unexpected visitor. William Hardt is an obsessive young American lawyer who has come to help. From that moment on, nothing will ever be the same- for what (and who) William finds on the island will challenge both his and our notions about love, life and even death."
Okay- so it sounded like it could be interesting- especially since the title was taken from the line of Hamlet translated 'Is be, or is be not, is be one big damn puzzler:' I found it humorous, creative, moving, and probably worth a second read if I want to figure out all the Shakesperean inferences in the plot. I was too involved in the storyline to pull many out the first time round.