I’m Just a Person by Tig Nataro

Short and fun enough for vacation–but the whole thing really just kind of felt like she got a book deal because of her one lightning-in-a-bottle performance, and didn’t actually have anything to say. At least not yet. She wrote well about her mother but it didn’t feel fully considered–and the whole compressed into a narrative that didn’t have a natural shape.

The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer

Well this was wonderful. Unobtrusive and beautifully executed with gorgeous moments and a permeating understanding of flaws people have, without ever judging them or implying she’s any better.

Julie Summers, late 20s wishfully bohemian daughter of a wealthy white man in South Africa, member of a group of friends at “The Table” in the El-Ay Cafe. She meets her “Arab Prince” when her car breaks down–and they stay together for mysterious and wrong reasons. The surprising/inevitable ending. Exactly my sort of book.