Richard's Best Book 2004

I read somewhere between 50-75 books every year. These are mostly fiction with several technical books thrown in.

At the end of last year while I was clearing things up in California; I went one evening to see the movie "Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World". It was based upon a book by Patrick O’Brian. I dropped by the bookstore and got the book. O’Brian wrote 20 of these books that take place during the early 1800’s mostly involving the British Navy in the War against Napoleon. So my big read last year thanks to the Tucson Public Library was 25 of O’Brian’s books. The Captain & the Doctor, their families and adventures make for great reading and I even learned a bit of history in the bargain.

I usually have 3 or 4 books I am working on and Anita says I should finish one before I start another but it doesn’t seem to happen. When I pick up one of her books to see what she is reading she gets nervous because she thinks I might steal it. Right now I just finished reading "The Red Tent" by Diamant and "The Story of Ruth" by Hamilton I got from Marj. I am working on several books on electronics, "The 9/11 Report", a Hornblower novel by CS Forester, and "Odysseus: A Life" by Beye.

The main reason I am writing this is because I want to tell everyone about the best book I read in 2004. It was not "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown though I did read three of his books this year. It was a book called "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I just happened to pull this book off of the shelf at the library. I loved every minute of the book. It was a great story about an East Indian Boy who grows up in a Zoo and his family’s migration from India to Canada. It has an extraordinary character named Richard Parker. There is even a twist at the end, which makes you re-think the whole story. I gave the book to Anita and she loved it too. I would say this is a don’t miss book.