The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

 This is originally a French book by Muriel Barbery, translated by Alison Anderson. This is Barbery's second book. 

Barbery is a philosophy professor and it shows. The chapters are short; sometimes just a page. So, it is structured like a thriller that has mini-cliffhangers (3 foot cliffs) at the end of each chapter. Here are a couple of Chapter names - "The Miracles of Art - Profound Thought No. 1", and "The Poodle as a Totem - Profound Thought No. 2". There are altogether 14 Profound Thought chapters in this book. If you just want the story, then you can skip all the profound thought chapters. But, if you are gojng to read this book after reading what I wrote above, you are going as much for the philosophy as for the story. There are other kind of chapter names as well, and they are "Profound" too, such as - On Wars and Colonies" and "Prophet of the Modern Elite". I am tempted to be the child in the Emperor's Clothes story, but I will refrain. Maybe I am just not smart enough to see the benefits of reading the deep thoughts. Although there are lots of deep thoughts, and philosophising, there are pop references to comtemporary movies(eg. Hunt for Red October) and TV shows (Bosch) in addition to a bunch of philospohers, sucha as Kant, Freude, Husserl

This novel was a best-seller in France and has been treated well by the critics, as evidenced by the reviews printed on the first two pages of the book. The description of each deep thought is "deep"and requires concentration to make sense of the text. Sometimes, the thought is just a thought and appears unrelated to the story or just tangentially related. 

The story centers aournd two protagonists. Reneé is a concierge in a Paris apartment building with an interior courtyard, garden and eight luxury apartments. Paloma is a twelve year old girl who is exceptionally intelligent and hides that fact. She does not want to join the rat-race of adulthood and has decided to commit suicide when she reaches thirteen years of age. Reneé is very intelligent and like Paloma, puts on a façade of a normal working class concierge who is expected by the pompous tenants to have no other life or interests.  Reneé's secret is easily seen through by Kakuro Uzo who moves into the building. Reneé has a literally fat cat named Leo, and Kakuro guesses immediately that the cat is named after Tolstoy. At first, Reneé is terrified of Kakuro's guessing her myriad interests. But, soon the two of them develop a bond. I cannot reveal the ending. Maybe there is a sweet ending or maybe there isn't.

If you are used to thrillers and mysteries, be forewarned that nothing much happens. However, the book still holds you and carries you to the end. You have to struggle through a bunch of philosophical thoughts or you can skip those chapters without losing the thread of the story. Finishing the book would be rewarding whether you care about the philosophy or not.

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

Another wonderful book given to me by my daughter. There is a theme here. They give me books related to airplanes and space, which is perfectly fine by me. This one, as the title makes clear, is by an astronaut. Hadfield grew up on a farm in Canada and it is about how he always wanted to be an astronaut and about his life after he became one. So, this book is about flying a lot higher than the author of another book, Skyfaring by Marc Vanhoenackerr, that I have blogged about.

Hadfield grew up on a farm in Canada. Canada does not have its own astronaut program. So, Chris knew that it would be hard for him to apply to become an astronaut at NASA. But, against all odds he became an astronaut anyway. He writes about his journey to becoming and then being an astronaut in a very engaging way, often humorous and always holding the reader to his story. It never gets boring or too much of "me".  There are always interesting anecdotes or just events described interestingly. 

Hadfield has recorded a number of videos in space. Chris's personal rendition of David Bowie's classic Space Oddity"Space Oddity" has received almost 100,000 views. 

Leave no Trace by A. J. Landau

 Leave No Trace is actually by two authors, Jon Land and Jeff Ayers, who have made up the pseudonym,  A. J. Landau.

This book, like all "beach read"s is an entirely forgetttable book. I returned it to the libray before I wrote about it and now I now have to stop and think hard to remember what it was about. Of course, that may say more about my memory recall than the book. Anyway, the story is about someone or some nafarious oirganization targeting the US national parks, starting with the Statue of Liberty. So, a successful attack on the Statue of Liberty on page 1 should catch the reader's attention right away. Like typical beach reads, this book moves fast with short chapters that end with mini-cliffhangers to keep you wanting to go to the next chapter. 

The protagonist, Michael Walker, is a National Park Special Agent, if there is any such position. As in all such mystery thrillers, the story is far-fetched and the connections between people and events are tenuous. But, who cares about such things when the story wants you to keep reading and you just want to kill some time either on a beach or waiting for a flight.