Fall

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, 2003
An odyssey through India.  Semi-autobiographic story of Roberts, an Australian who breaks out of prison & feels to Mumbai.  He talks about the people, how they are full of smiles and warmth, love of dancing and celebration.  Generous, good-hearted people.

The narrator goes by Lindsay, the name on the stolen passport, which is shortened to Lin in India.  Lin embraces the friendship of hustler-guide Prabakar and is invited to Prabakar's home village hours from Mumbai where he learns Marathi, the local language foreigners rarely learn.

Part of Lin's adventures include living in the infamous Mumbai slums, spending time in prison, joining the Abdel Khader Khan Mafia, pursuing the love of American Karla Saaranen & embarking on a mission to deliver arms to Afghanistan.

Written while Roberts was serving time in prison, the story includes many insights on human characteristics and philosophical discussions, which to be honest, I found a bit tedious.  Regardless, the novel is magnificent.

Fully Alive: Using the Lessons of the Amazon to Live Your Mission in Business And Life by Tyler Gage, 2017
Fascinating story of how a young college student Tyler Gage wanted to bring guayusa tea to the western world.  A staple of Amazonian tribes, guayusa is a natural caffeinated tea with a pleasing taste.

After graduating college, Gage and fellow Brown student Dan MacCombie move to Ecuador to start working on manufacturing guayusa to eventually use in energy drinks, a $3.2B marketing in 2008.  The work these two do to start up the business in Ecaudor is incredible, not counting the work that must be done in the States to produce the end product.

A good general business primer, Gage discusses the need to listen to experts, swallow your pride, continuously prune & weed your team, focus on customers & know your numbers.

Although Gage was almost fired by Runa's Board of Directors, he did manage to stay on and make the transition from starting a company to the very different job of managing an established company.  Factoring in providing a livelihood of the Amazonian Kichwa tribe of Ecaudor, Runa is a pretty amazing story.

Fully Alive provides insight into the spiritual rituals of the Amazonian tribes, balancing the focus on profits and revenue with mindfulness and social responsibility.

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta, 2017
I often find male authors lacking in capturing a woman's voice, and Tom Perrotta is no exception.  Although Mrs. Fletcher was very readable, I did not buy into the choices Eve Fletcher made.  A single mom whose only son Brendan has started college, Eve is left with an empty house.

She takes a class on gender, taught by transgender teacher Margo Fairchild.  She agrees to meet her employee Amanda for a drink outside of work.  None of these decisions seem odd, but the habit Eve embarks on & the wild night that ensues after having her classmates, including her son's high school classmate Julian, over for drinks do not ring true to me.

While Eve adjusts to her empty house, Brendan is also having difficulties adjusting to college life.  In high school, Brendan was the popular, cocky, superficial lacrosse player.  In college, Brendan's jock behavior is no longer acceptable and while his roommate Zach outgrows the behavior, Brendan struggles to do so.