From Sea to Shining Sea: Present-day Journey into America’s Past – Gavin Young

I’ve only recently discovered Gavin Young, but he’s fast become one of my favourite “travel” writers. “Travel” because by and large he’s not an explorer or a visitor passing through the places he writes about. Rather, he describes people and places that he has met during spells as a foreign correspondent, giving you a far deeper insight into all three.

From Sea to Shining Sea is the first of his books I’ve read where he does travel around, but the book does not suffer from the “brief glances from the moving train” approach. In it, Gavin Young focuses on a selection of places in the US which have drawn him due to their historical, literary or geographical significance. Starting in New York, he travels from east to west, from the eastern seaboard’s whaling past, through Altanta and the Civil War, to the Alamo and San Antonio and the cession of Texas from Mexico to a Republic, to LA in the era of Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, ending up in the Yukon, drawn by Jack London‘s tales of the wilderness and the gold rush, and many more places, and people past and present, in between.

Buy it: Amazon link

B is for Burglar – Sue Grafton

Another of my pre-Christmas haul of reading from Barbican Library, and still in the crime genre – not my usual fayre, but I like to dip into it every now and again.

I’ve read a few Kinsey Millhones before, and thought I’d best start from the beginning, and B was as close as I could get. I do have C and D on the bookshelves to speed on through though.

A Californian ex cop and feisty female private eye, Kinsey Millhone makes a good heroine, and Sue Grafton’s plots are convoluted enough to keep you turning the pages, while not having too many nightmare inducing moments.

Buy it: Amazon link

Blow Fly – Patricia Cornwell

Quite the scariest crime novel I’ve read in a while, so no surprises that I had nightmares last night, even if all the twists and turns take place in the USA. Unlike the other books covering other parts of Kay Scarpetta’s life, she isn’t a central character in this one, which focuses more on the people close to her and her chillingly evil arch enemies.

I’ve missed out on a lot of background developments by skipping straight from Cruel and Unusual to Blow Fly, but that’s because the Barbican library didn’t have any of the ones in between, and I’m not enough of a crime fan to actually buy the books. As and when I see any, either in the library or second hand, I’d definitely pick them up – Patricia Cornwell writes good crime!

Amazon.co.uk link: Blow Fly – Patricia Cornwell
Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

An Evil Cradling – Brian Keenan

The last of my holiday reads, although probably not the best for a nervous flyer to read on their way home (Trivandrum – Bahrain – Heathrow)…. in fact, I only managed a few chapters before and between flights, and have been steadily albeit slowly working my way through the rest since I’ve been back.

There are a few occasions when the book could have done with a bit more editing – mainly parts where previous views or stories are repeated – but that is an extremely minor niggle as you get the benefit of Brian Keenan’s eloquent prose, as he describes some of the details of the 4 years he was held hostage in Beiruit. He offers his recollections and interpretations of the behaviour of both his fellow hostages and his captors; some humourous, some violent and disturbing, always insightful.

It is amazing true story, and one which few people would want to be able to tell.

You should read it, even if you don’t think you want to. It would be interesting, although unlikely, to read such a first hand account written by someone held in Guantanamo Bay.

Buy it: Amazon link