Plants Don't Drink Coffee is a fun, colorful read, with many quirky characters telling their stories that take place before and around one summer. This particular summer is important, only because the boy, Tomas, is living with his aunt, uncle, and cousins while his father is sick in the hospital. There are many stories told, from different mouths, about the events that take place before and during this time. Tomas helps his cousin Ines collect bugs all summer, and learns many interesting things about the insect world. Not to worry, he comes to his own strange conclusions about some insects, and the rest of the world on the way. His other cousin discovers that his grandfather was a world renowned carpenter, though nobody seems to remember just exactly how his big competition ended. Did he win? Tomas's uncle, who is obsessed with rugby, takes his passion to new levels, with a little help from his best friend, the townsfolk, and well, the Welsh and Irish, of course! And there is Piedad, who never married the famous architect, though we do not know just exactly why not.

The translation reads well in English, and the narration style is based on frequent repetition, which evokes the way people really talk and think in some parts. It certainly reminded me of my mother's side of the family, who tell a lot of gossip and stories, and repeat things incessantly as the stories unfold.

Recommended for those who like insects, rugby, and needles. Not recommended for those who like golf (just kidding!) ( )

Unai Elorriaga (1973-) was born in the Basque region of Spain, and has worked as a translator, critic, and writer. He is currently a professor at the Instituto Labairu in Bilbao, and has published three novels, including SPrako Tranbia (A Tram in SP), which won the 2002 Premio Nacional de Narrativa, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Spain.

Plants Don't Drink Coffee was originally published as Vredaman in 2005. It was translated into English last year, and published by Archipelago Books earlier this month.

The narrator, Tomas, is a young boy who is living with his Aunt Martina while his father recuperates from illness. He adores his older cousin Iñes, who is studying entomology at university, and he desires to catch the rare and elusive blue dragonfly, as the person who catches it will be "the most intelligent person in the world".

Tomas observes his slightly off center relatives that live in Aunt Martina's home. His uncle Simon is obsessed with rugby, and engages in a plot with his friend Gur to create a rugby pitch on a private golf course. Mateo, Tomas' cousin and a skillful pilferer of library books, learns about his grandfather Julian, who competed to be the best carpenter in Europe, but no one will tell him if Julian won the event. And Piedad, an elderly friend of Aunt Martina, tells endless stories about her old lover Samuel Mud, a famed architect, whom she never marries due to a family secret.

This is a lighthearted and beautiful story of seemingly ordinary people who engage in mildly odd and surreal quests, and is definitely recommended. ( )