A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein was an entertaining novel from the author of the excellent 2008 book The Art of Racing in the Rain.

This latest effort from Stein is set in his home city of Seattle about tells a story of family, secrets, ghosts and big choices made by the book's 14-year-old narrator. I don't know I found myself terribly happy with the ending (as opposed to the writer of this Seattle Times review of A Sudden Light who found the finale "immensely satisfying"), but I thought the book an interesting and at times poignant read.

Fast Company Magazine - May 2009 Issue

Several stories of note in the May issue of Fast Company Magazine...

The longest story I want to mention here is that by Garth Stein on Seattle... the Fast Company City of the Year. It's got a lot of interesting things in it about a very cool place, but I noticed it less due to the content and more because I recognized it's author as the guy who wrote the excellent novel "The Art of Racing in the Rain".

Several smaller pieces were the "Top iPhone Apps" (and there's almost certainly a bunch of new cool ones at the time this post is being written) and the two below related to the book industry.

"Blurb's $30 Million Sold Proves Print Still Rocks" is about the San Francisco based self-publishing company that can be found online at http://www.blurb.com/ and "Shelfari Brings Social Networking to Book Reading" about the Amazon subsidiary which caters to book readers and is online at http://www.shelfari.com/.

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein

In his book "The Art of Racing in the Rain", Seattle author Garth Stein weaves a fantastic tale narrated through the inner voice of a dog as he observes the life challenges faced by his intrepid owner. Through this looking in on family heartbreak and challenge, the dog/narrator provides insightful life lessons that in many ways... only a dog could.






While this is probably not a book that will resonate with all, it's lyrical and deep in meaning nature is sure to appeal to many... particularly those who love both wisdom and dogs.