After a few days on Grand Cayman, I was starting to get a feel for the place. It was very civilized, but it felt a bit forced. I’d seen only one other interracial couple since we’d been there. Portraits of the Queen and Prince Charles hung at the airport. I’d made a joke about tea time one day only to have one of the Chaplain’s friends casually mention meeting someone for tea the next day.
Our family loves Greek mythology. We have lots of kids’ versions of the stories floating around the house, but until recently, I’d never read a Greek myth written for adults.
Here are two of my favorite Greek mythology books, one for kids, and one for adults, and why I chose them.
Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (In That Order) by Bridget Quinn, illustrated by Lisa Congdon, came along with me on my recent trip to the Cayman Islands with the Chaplain. I read most of it sitting at a couple of pristine stretches of beach on Grand Cayman, and those times were some of my favorite parts of the trip.
What made the book a great beach read?
When we got off the plane on Grand Cayman, we were greeted at Customs by lines of white people, wearing beachy clothes and smelling of laundry detergent and sunblock. Lots of families. At least one person in each family group had a shirt touting a destination from a previous vacation. These were professional tourists. The kind that go on vacation to the Caribbean.
I go on vacation in the Caribbean, too. But I’ve never done it as a stranger. Our many trips to Trinidad and Tobago have been met with family at the other end, and our trip to the Cayman Islands was no different.
Since the Chaplain’s friend had arranged our accommodations, we didn’t know the address of the place where we’d be staying – something you need to provide at Customs. The Customs Officer called the Chaplain’s friend on his cell to find out the address, while we waited at the counter, hoping the friend would answer a call from an unknown number.
It took me so long to read this book that some of the photos I included in this post are from April, almost two months after I started reading the book.
I finished it at the end of July.
How good could it be if it took me so long to read?
Well, I was savoring it.
