“The Inheritance of Loss” is really, really depressing. I heard an interview a few weeks ago with Kiran Desai, and the book sounded interesting. So when we were at the bookstore and my dad asked what he should read next, I picked it up and said, “I heard this was good.” It did, after all, win the 2006 Booker Prize.

I finished it today. I don’t think Dad will like it. I don’t think I liked it.

I’m reading “The Life of Pi” next. It also won the Booker Prize. It’s also about an Indian. Named Patel. Just like “Inheritance.” Oh boy.

I finished “What Now, King Lear?” a few days ago. It’s a silly mystery novel; the plot unravelled quite steadily, to the point that I really didn’t care who did it by the end. “Gil Yates” is the investigator’s PI alter ego; by day, he works for his wife’s father’s real estate brokerage. He hates his job, his father-in-law and his wife. He was a little mean-spirited for my taste.

In short: Not my favorite book.

“The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists” is an exceptionally silly book. It was fun to read, though, and it’s very short. So if you hate it, at least it will be over quickly.

The pirates managed to do a pretty decent job of mingling with the scientists, nodding politely and saying “Really?” a lot as they listened to them drone on about their latest inventions and discoveries, but the Pirate Captain soon found himself involved in a particularly awkward conversation about molecules, so he was relieved when FitzRoy interrupted him before it got to the stage where he had to say if he was for or against them.

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I handle all of Rockford’s science shin-digs.