Dominican Republic - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

#1079
Title: Dominican Republic - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
Author: Ilana Benady
Year: 2010
Publisher: Kuperard
Pages: 168

A reasonable introduction, though very much focused on the majority culture Dominican and woefully deficient on the culture and experience of the many non-majority, poor, disenfranchised Dominicans of Haitian ancestry (for example, in the southwest). Not at all useful for that part of the country, where some French phrases and descriptions of Haitian customs would have made a positive difference in my travel experience.

Cutting for Stone

#1078
Title: Cutting for Stone
Author: Abraham Verghese 
Year: 2009
Publisher: Knopf
Pages: 541

I enjoyed this enough that I read another book by the author, but found it bloated for what it was. The parallelism of the different story elements grew predictable after awhile in a way that a shorter novel could have avoided. The protagonist's twin brother remains a mystery, but a strangely unremarked one given the ruminative character of this novel.