Revelry Review: What I Read on Vacation

Beyond Bogota: Diary of a Drug War Journalist in Colombia by Garry Leech

Not exactly vacation reading, but it was a good read nonetheless.  Leech uses his story of being briefly detained by the FARC in Colombia to weave together the broader narrative of Colombian history.  I work on Latin America-related stuff, so this was helpful for that.

Driving with Dead People by Monica Holloway

This book was heartbreakingly real.  It's the fictionalized story of Holloway's dysfunctional family and examines the role of each family member in making it that way.  There isn't all that much in the way of plot twists and turns, but the emotions are so raw that I found myself feeling like a voyeur into this family's trials and tribulations.

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell

Cute, easy read.  I'm scared that the movie version will be awful.  I just can't picture it in my head after reading the book.  Oh...and I never want to cook French food EVER.  Animal bones, marrow, eggs.  Ew.

The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

You. must. read. this. book.  Travel writing mixed with positive psychology mixed with humor.  Weiner, an NPR correspondent, travels to the world's happiest--and least happy--places to see why or how they got that way.  Really great read--made me equally want to hop on the next plane out of the country and curl up in my house with my friends and family around me.

{Photo credit: rachel sian}