Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux

Hotel Honolulu, Paul Theroux. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company/ Mariner Books, 2001, 2002.  452 pps., e-book.

     Buddy owns an eighty-bed hotel and gives a howlie (non-Hawaiian, in this case also the narrator) a job managing it. Seems the other manager did things like bricking up the door of a guest's room when he didn't see eye-to-eye with the guest. So he had to go.

     The howlie-- whose name we never learn-- goes native and marries Sweetie. Sweetie is the daughter of the hotel resident prostitute. Sweetie and he have a brilliant child named Rose. The family lives in the hotel.

     Besides managing the hotel, the howlie reads Tolstoy. Buddy likes that his manager has written a book and does not hesitate to tell everyone that. The howlie's muse is on strike and nothing is forthcoming. Meanwhile, the howlie learns the backgrounds of many of the hotel's guests and divulges them in this fictional tale. 

     This review does not do justice to the book.

sapphoq reviews says: Paul Theroux is my favorite travel writer and I am finally getting around to reading more of his fiction. His ascorbic humor is evident in Hotel Honolulu. I liked this book. The rats dashing around the hallways, the drunks in the bar, and the beautiful Hawaiian weather made me want to visit the parts of Hawaii where tourists fear to tread. Hotel Honolulu is sort of an adult coming of age party. Outstanding and highly recommended to all fans of Paul Theroux. Those who require something different in their fiction will also like this book. 

50 Simple Questions for Every Christian by Guy P. Harrison

50 Simple Questions for Every Christian, Guy P. Harrison.  Amherst NY:  Prometheus Books, 2013.  e-book, 381 pps.

http://www.guypharrison.com
@Harrisonauthor on Twitter (r)

     Guy P. Harrison (50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True, 2012; and others) asks questions from the viewpoint of a skeptic.  50 Simple Questions for Every Christian offers (50) questions and some well-researched answers according to skepticism, science, and logical reasoning.  The questions range from the existence of a god to musings about evolution vs. intelligent design to a god and his followers behaving badly.  There is included notes, a bibliography, and an index.

sapphoq reviews says:  I enjoyed 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian even more than 50 Popular Beliefs.  The questions are not limited to what I think of as the common ones.  Guy P. Harrison provides answers and his observations which do not bully Christians.  Although some of the answers are commonplace, others aren't.  Some Christians may take offence at this mildest of atheist books where no offence is intended.  Highly recommended. 

    

My Dog, The Paradox by The Oatmeal

My Dog: The Paradox: A Lovable Discourse about Man's Best Friend, The Oatmeal.  Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC: 2013.  ebook, 36 pages.


http://theoatmeal.com/
@oatmeal on twitter

     If you aren't familiar with The Oatmeal, go there right now.  Then come back here if you are still interested in my review.  The Oatmeal put up a lengthy dog comic up on his blog and it then became a book (and also an e-book).  It really is quite good.

     The dog of the book is adorable, modeled after his "real" dog Rambo.  The book lists the things that Rambo is afraid of and the things he relishes, stuff he has eaten and upchucked, and what happens anytime The Oatmeal returns.  The cartoons are now in vivid color. 

sapphoq reviews says:  The Oatmeal has created a lovable tribute to his lovable dog.  Get this book and read it.  Even after the worse of Thanksgiving dinners with the family that removes the fun from dysfunctional, you are sure to laugh out loud.  High recommended.

I'm Down by Mishna Wolff

I'm Down: A Memoir, Mishna Wolff.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009.  e-book, 208 pps.

     Mishna and her younger sister are white.  Their divorced parents are white.  But their dad thinks he is black.  He is so enamored of Black Culture that he lives in a black neighborhood and raises his children as if they were also black.  The two sisters attend a summer recreational program with not much recreation in it.  Mishna learns how to cap.  She despairs of her dad's increasingly bizarre girlfriends and eventually is forced to retreat to her mother's home in an affluent [predominantly] white neighborhood.  She discovers that a few of her white rich girl classmates are pretty mixed up in spite of their very different upbringing.

sapphoq reviews says:  Mishna Wolff has written a fine memoir of her unique upbringing.  Her memories are treated with both seriousness and humor.  I could picture her as a younger in my mind.  Highly recommended as an anecdotal exploration of what it means to be the Other in the United States of America.

The Carpet People by Sir Terry Pratchett

The Carpet People, Sir Terry Pratchett.  New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ Clarion Books, 1971, 1992.  Illustrations: 2013.  e-book, 166 pps.

     I adore Discworld totally and absolutely.  The Carpet People is not set in Discworld but it is a short novel that Sir Terry Pratchett wrote in his younger years and then re-worked 21 years later along with new illustrations. 

     The world is made up of carpet.  Various people live among the hairs in villages and cities which have different colors.  There is a desperate king and a quest and heroes and a war and enemies and a cave underneath the castle.  The ending denotes another new beginning of course. 

sapphoq reviews says:  I enjoyed The Carpet People immensely.  Sir Terry Pratchett colored in his charming black-and-white illustrations for the 2013 edition and two galleries of art are included in the back of the book.  Anyone who loves Discworld will be interested in The Carpet People.  Highly recommended.