Anne Patchett’s latest book, State of Wonder, 2011 is good. It was rough going for awhile as the characters were unappealing but by the end she’s got you totally involved in all of them. The Amazon sounds overwhelming and too wet and hot and dangerous! It’s a good story; the ethics of pharmacology, fertility, malaria, exploitation of people and places.

A fast but interesting read is the book written by a doctor, recommended by Abraham Verghese; Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor’s Story by Steven Berk, 2011. He was taken at gunpoint from his home, and survived to tell the tale. It’s well written – a good read.

and knitting, a present made: