The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales

#816
Title: The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales
Author: Bessie Head
Publisher: Longman
Year:1992
109 pages

I've been reading a lot about Africa in general and Botswana in particular this year, and the evidence for how much I've learned is that this short story collection was nicely illuminated by my previous explorations. It would have been enjoyable even without the background knowledge, but the stories, which tell tales about peoples lives in their villages (not folktales, as might be inferred), just lit up. Head is a strong writer who doesn't pull any punches. Her narratives are frank about the status of women, sexuality, violence, politics, religion, superstition, and jealousy. Fortunately, much of her oeuvre is available in Heinemann's African authors collection.

An African Awakening

#815
Title: An African Awakening
Author: Valerie Bell
Publisher: Authentic
Year: 2007
96 pages

There are a few odd factual errors, and I live in a very different world from Bell, but I was more impressed by this than I expected to be.

The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles, #3)

#814
Title: The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles, #3)
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher:Hyperion
Year: 2012
401 pages

A reasonable end to a trilogy that also strongly hints at a second series. Riordan wraps up his dangling plot points well, including a predictable but entertaining solution to the "ZOMG i have 2 bfs what to do what to do??" trope so present in contemporary YA fiction. Riordan is clever in his weaving of contemporary disasters into his narrative as evidence of its reality.

The structure of this series has never grown on me. I don't believe the voices of teen siblings swapping a microphone back and forth.

Bored of the Rings

#813
Title: Bored of the Rings
Author: Henry N. Beard
Publisher: Signet Books
Year:1969
160 pages

I've read this countless times before, but this time I read it aloud to my partner. There are a reasonable number of parts that withstand the test of time ("Oh, the leaves are falling, the flowers are wilting, and the rivers are all going Republican"). There are others that do not, and are so far removed from the present that Google cannot recall their referents. However, it still evokes pleasant memories, and, as my partner commented, "So <i>that's</i> why you sometimes say, 'Look! The Winged Victory of Samothrace!'"

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

#812
Title: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Publisher: Riverhead
Year: 2012
242 pages

Audiobook.

Well-written popular management and psychology of motivation text that is generally accurate, which is not true of all of them. Pink argues against overuse of extrinsic motivators (rewards, carrot-and-stick) and for facilitating intrinsic, internal ones. He includes an annotated bibliography and applications to settings other than business as well.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague

#811
Title: Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2001
308 pages

Brooks has a beautiful grasp of description that's well-showcased here. I didn't find the last quarter as Hallmark-y as some other reviewers; a tad melodramatic, but ultimately well-rendered. Compare to Willis's Doomsday Book and Eifelheim for somewhat their similar content (plague) and tone.

Bill Bryson's African Diary

#810
Title: Bill Bryson's African Diary
Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Broadway
Year: 2002
64 pages

Sadly, this begs the question, "So what?" Michael Dorris, faced with the same offer/task, did a beautiful job in Rooms in the House of Stone: The "Thistle" Series of Essays, which managed to be small, brief, but filled with useful observations and understated but sincere sentiment. Bryson's account comes off more like notes about a little junket. It gives very little sense of Africa, perhaps because it tells rather than shows. As other reviewers have noted, the humor seems insulting at times. Poor Bill has to fly in a small plane. How about the people who don't even get to walk because they're in refugee camps? He could have gotten away with this if there was more to connect the reader to the Africans he interacts with, but there's little of that, and not that much about what CARE does, either. It reminds me of de Botton's A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary, another sponsored gig that is info-light and seems constrained by the necessity of praising one's benefactor.