First of all, I can’t believe that my 150th post was about radishes. That just seems absurd.

Secondly, I’ve read a number of books lately, but haven’t been particularly inclined to write about them. So, I’ve got a little catch up to do.

About a month ago I read “On the Island” by Tracey Garvis-Graves.

I was looking for something fluffy to read. Something adventurous and romantic. Amazon had this as one of their top rated download books and I figured I’d go for it. All in all, it was a fun time. Just the kind of book for reading on a sunny day in the yard or on a beach.

The story follows 30 year old Anna Emerson, who is hired to tutor nearly 17 year old T. J. Callahan for the summer. The Callahan’s are vacationing on a tropical island and T.J. and Anna are scheduled to fly in a few days after the rest of the family. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and their plane goes down in the middle of a series of uninhabited island chains. They are stranded there for many years and the story begins as a story of survival.

They encounter dangers such as sharks, disease, injuries, and the constant fight for food and water over these years. Also, about two years into their survivalist adventure, after T.J. turns 18, they start to develop feelings for each other.

If a 32 year old and an 18 year old fell in love in say, Chicago where they were from, the story would feel a little wrong and icky probably. But the storytelling is done in such a way that it seems perfectly natural. They were each other’s only companions, with no hope of rescue, for years before anything happened between them. They had saved each others lives on numerous occasions. They were each other’s other half.

All in all, it was a fun read. The adventure and means of survival were interesting and watching their unorthodox love blossom was touching. It wasn’t a great work of literature or anything. If you want to read a truly fabulous fictional story of survival, try “The Life of Pi”, but you worried about these characters surviving their challenges, applauded their smart solutions to all the crazy things that came up, and found yourself rooting for their love story.

If you find yourself looking for something fun for the sun, check it out. (But not if you are planning on flying to an island on a small plane.)