I used to read a lot more often than I do now, and even though these days I seem to spread my spare time much more thinly there’s still nothing quite like sitting down and escaping the world for a while with a good book. That being said I think I might start to add reading recommendation’s here (I’m not sure why I never have before, must be the aforementioned neglecting my brain through lack or reading), for those of you who might share my tastes or opinions (or are willing to ‘take my word for it’ even if you don’t).
I’ve (literally) just finished reading ‘Sea Otters Gambolling in the Wild, Wild Surf by John Bennett’, which was recommended to me by my girlfriend (who rather handily works in a library and being the sweetheart she is brings me home anything she thinks I might find interesting), and now I can heartily recommended it to the rest of the reading world.
Sixteen-year-old Felix is bored and stressed. He’s stressed about his ‘A’ Level results, stressed about working for that mad old bag Mrs Pretzel, stressed about what the future holds. He’s also feeling mighty guilty about the possibly fatal combination of laxatives and scrabble tile (Z, ten points) he fed to Mrs P’s spaniel, Vespasian. But it’s not the stress or the guilt that initiates the bizarre quest that takes him half way around the world on a stolen debit card – it’s curiosity. Felix is very curious about a statue he finds in the permanent clearance sale at ‘The House of Crap’ – a statue depicting a fat man and a sea otter in sexual congress. “Sea Otters Gambolling in the Wild, Wild Surf” is the story of where Felix’s curiosity takes him, to Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Francisco; on a journey that challenges his preconceptions about the world, his plans for the future and his relationships with his family. Will he get home before his little sister discovers what he’s up to? What’ll happen to Vespasian? Will he get the passes he needs to get into University? Whatever!
